Hepatitis C infection is at least four times more common than HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis C causes more deaths than AIDS in the U.S. now.

One in every 33 Baby Boomers (born from 1945 to 1965) is living with Hepatitis C, but only about a fourth know they are infected.   Hepatitis C is a silent and hidden epidemic.

Any direct blood to blood contact can spread the Hepatitis C virus.   Even a trace or invisible amount of blood can cause infection.   You may not remember or be aware of an exposure.

Hepatitis C can cause liver cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, or liver failure without any noticable symptoms until damage to the liver is very advanced.

Hepatitis C is treatable and curable.  And once the virus is gone, the liver can begin to heal itself. 

There is a simple blood test to detect Hepatitis C antibodies in the blood, but the test is NOT offered as part of a routine physical exam or regular blood tests.

You must ask to be tested!  Ask your healthcare provider for a simple Hepatitis C test.   Find out whether you are part of the hidden epidemic of Hepatitis C.   If you are, Hepatitis C can be treated and cured and support is available. 

Visit our website's Resources section to find information about Hepatitis C, financial support options, and support groups in New York.

Have a good weekend.
Dara

More than four million Americans are infected with Hepatitis C.   Two thirds of them are Baby Boomers, born between 1945 and 1965.   One in every 33 Baby Boomers has Hepatitis C...but only about one fourth of these Boomers know they are infected. 

These are surprising statistics until you know a bit about Hepatitis C.   People infected with Hepatitis C often feel no symptoms of the illness, even if they have had the virus for years, and even if it has done a great deal of damage to the liver.   The "silent" and often symptom-free nature of Hepatitis C infection is one factor that has made it a hidden epidemic for decades.   Unfortunately, as Baby Boomers age the devastating and deadly effects of long term Hepatitis C infection are exploding...with steep increases in cases of cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, and liver failure. 

If you are a Baby Boomer it is not too late to find out if you are infected and stop Hepatitis C in its tracks.  Hepatitis C can be cured, and the liver can repair itself in most cases, once the virus is gone. 

Ask your doctor for a simple blood test to learn your Hepatitis C status.   Even though Hepatitis C is much more common than HIV/AIDS, the Hepatitis C antibody test is not a part of routine medical blood work, or a routine physical exam.  You have to ask your doctor to be tested. 

Be safe...learn your Hepatitis C status.  Hepatitis C is dangerous if untreated, but it is a curable illness. 

We waited thirteen years between the approval of Ribavirin in 1998 and the approval of the first direct acting antiviral agents to fight Hepatitis C (telaprevir and boceprevir) in 2011.   But now the pace of development and testing of new drugs and drug combinations to fight and cure Hepatitis C is moving at incredible speed.

With the approval and use of the first direct acting drugs in 2011, the rate of cure for Hepatitis C treatment (for genotype 1) increased from about 45 percent to about 80 percent.   These first direct acting agents improve treatment success dramatically, and cure many more people, but they must be used with the traditional treatment drugs, Interferon and Ribavirin (Interferon must be injected and causes difficult side effects for many patients). 

But in April 2011, the world of Hepatitis C treatment changed forever when the results of initial tests of an all oral treatment regimen were published.   This marked the first viable attempt to develop an Interferon-free treatment that could cure Hepatitis C.   Now a number of all oral, no Interferon drug combinations are in active development, testing and clinical trials.   The results are very promising!

One Hepatologist said that Hepatitis C drug development and testing moved from exponential to "warp speed" after April 2011.   The promise of a cure for Hepatitis C using all oral treatment is on the horizon.   This is very good news for Hepatitis C patients!

If you have Hepatitis C, or care about someone who is infected, this is a time of real hope!   If you have Hepatitis C and have never treated, or failed treatment in the past, talk with a Hepatologist about the new drugs being developed and tested right now.   

If you don't know your Hepatitis C status, ask your doctor for a test!   If you have Hepatitis C, talk with a Hepatologist about getting rid of the virus for good!