HCMSG - Hepatitis C Mentor & Support Group, Inc.
Search
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Board of Directors
    • Medical Advisors
  • Resources
    • Corona Virus
    • Hep C Facts & Stats
    • Medications and Treatments >
      • Patient Assistance Programs
    • Reading
    • Links
  • Programs/Training
    • The Circle Model >
      • THE CIRCLE Registration
      • Group and Facilitator Guide
    • Hepatitis C Online Training
    • The Hepatitis C Education and Support Group Assistance Program
    • Healthcare Provider Training
  • Newsletter
  • Blog
  • Support Us
    • Holiday 2020
  • Contact Us

A Boomer Balancing Act :When to Treat Hepatitis C Now or Wait???

7/5/2012

11 Comments

 
June 29,
2012|By Don Sapatkin, Inquirer Staff
Writer
   Roughly two million to three million baby boomers are chronically infected
with hepatitis C, putting them at risk of serious liver damage if left
untreated. Dramatic improvements in what is now a very unpleasant drug regimen
are expected over the next several years.


Should they wait?


Before deciding that this story doesn't apply to you, note that chronic
hepatitis C can lie dormant for decades with no symptoms. Most people who have
it are unaware of the infection. So the first step is to get a blood test, which
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month proposed recommending
for everyone born from 1945 to 1965.


 
 
 
 
If it's positive, the short answer about what to do next is - sorry - ask
your doctor. People with significant liver disease need to be treated now while
others may have reason to hold off. But physicians say that complexities of the
condition, other medical issues, classes of drugs and their side effects mean
that patients should not attempt to choose on their own.


"This is a rapidly evolving field," said Rajender Reddy, director of
hepatology for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, where about a dozen
different drug combinations are in clinical trials.


Baby boomers account for more than 75 percent of Americans infected with the
blood-borne virus. That's partly because transfusions and blood products weren't
screened until 1992 but mostly due to drug use with shared needles, even just
once or twice, as teenagers or young adults. After years of chronic infection,
more and more people are arriving at hepatologists' offices with advanced liver
disease, which also makes the underlying virus harder to suppress.


But there have been plenty of reasons to avoid treatment.


The longtime standard regimen - weekly injections of immune-boosting
pegylated interferon plus twice-daily ribavirin pills - takes 48 weeks, causes
nasty side effects, and works less than 50 percent of the time.


In May 2011, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first changes in a
decade: adding to the standard either Merck's Victrelis (also called boceprevir)
or Vertex Pharmaceuticals' Incivek (telaprevir). The direct-acting antivirals
nearly doubled the percentage of patients whose virus was reduced to
undetectable levels, essentially a cure. In the case of telaprevir, the duration
of treatment for some patients was cut to 24 weeks or less.


 


 
11 Comments
cosmetic surgeon sydney link
7/9/2012 08:26:36 pm

Thanks for posting this vital information it is important to have regular check ups and try to have a healthy diet. I don't knew much about hepatitis C but now you have certainly transferred the knowledge

Reply
eye laser surgery link
7/17/2012 02:58:41 pm

Some diseases have the time duration or we say an appropriate stage to do treatment, you know more about it. Thanks for sharing.

Reply
LASIK Jefferson City link
7/26/2012 10:56:04 pm

Some stages in diseases are that where we have analyze that this the correct stage or not. Well you are very good at it.

Reply
Body Contouring Sydney link
8/6/2012 11:02:07 pm

You made a great point right there. I made a investigation on the topic and found many people will agree with your article. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I wish you post again soon.

Reply
Thesis Literature Review link
8/22/2012 03:05:15 pm

Before deciding that this story doesn't apply to you, note that chronic
hepatitis C can lie dormant for decades with no symptoms.

Reply
home remedy for yeast infection link
9/10/2012 08:48:32 pm

I am extremely impressed with the view point. Thanks for sharing such useful information in your blog. A great content for getting the proper information regarding the subject.

Reply
north shore optometrist link
9/13/2012 08:10:20 pm

I've been looking for information like this for quite a while and found your blog post. Thanks so much for the information.

Reply
linen mens tunics link
9/19/2012 03:13:19 pm

I am totally agree with your oppinion.thank you for share,it will be great helpful for my life.

Reply
Back Pain Management link
10/25/2012 05:10:22 pm

I always like to read a quality content having accurate information regarding the subject and the same thing I found in this post. Nice work.

Reply
search here link
5/2/2013 07:19:30 pm

Now, that was detailed information about Hepatitis C and its treatment. I appreciate this post. Thank you so much for sharing this piece of information here with us. Looking forward to read cool stuff like this on your blog.

Reply
best essay writing services link
10/10/2013 01:03:33 am

Really liked your article. Usually these sites do not write something interesting. And your article and informative and original. Thanks to the author.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Privacy Policy