Posted on 02/28/2014 3:07:41 PM PST by neverdem
Forty years ago, a beloved neighbor was bedridden for weeks at a time with a mysterious ailment. She knew only that it involved her liver and that she must never drink alcohol, which would make things worse.
It was decades before the cause of these debilitating flare-ups was discovered: a viral infection at first called non-A, non-B hepatitis, then properly identified in 1989 as hepatitis C...
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But with two newly approved drugs and a few more in the pipeline, a new era in treatment of hepatitis C is at hand. These regimens are more effective at curing patients and generally work much more quickly than previous treatments.
Hepatitis C has a variety of genetic forms — at least six. Most American patients are infected with genotype 1. The new treatments must be carefully selected for each patient, because some drugs are more effective than others against particular genotypes.
The new drugs, sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) and simeprevir (Olysio), are each approved for use with interferon and ribavirin for treatment of genotype 1 infection. Sovaldi already can be used without injected interferon to treat people infected with genotypes 2 and 3 — about a quarter of all hepatitis C patients in this country...
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One very grateful recipient, John DiFazio, 62, a Vietnam vet and retired firefighter living on Staten Island, said that since the late 1990s he had tried half a dozen different treatments for hepatitis C, all various combinations with interferon, and none had cleared his body of the virus.
He started the new drugs in January and within seven days, his viral count had dropped to 938 per milliliter from 2.8 million. Now six weeks out, it is 104 per milliliter.
“I’ve had no side effects,” Mr. DiFazio said. “I can do everything I want to do.”
(Excerpt) Read more at well.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Funny Egypt says they have a cure and the NY slimes comes out with this story.
My favorite sister died of Hepatitis C in 2003. I’m glad there is now an effective treatment, but I wish it had been available back then.
First of all no intact Hep C virus has ever been found,...hence no vaccine development. They have only isolated genetic fragments. Two, no therapy can rid your body of the virus. The statement is ridiculous. Three, the mortality rates for treated and untreated are exactly the same. Mortality span is similar. All new drugs have significant side effects and these are no different. Ask anyone who has had to tolerate interferon and high dose steroids. Not pleasant.
I’m sorry for your loss, but count your blessings. Many folks have only one sister or brother.
VN Vets should get themselves checked out. NOW!
“I’ve had no side effects,” Mr. DiFazio said. “I can do everything I want to do.”
Are his significant side effects still to come?
My husband was just diagnosed in November. We were shocked. My husband’s older brother was a drug addict and got him to try IV drugs when my brother was a teenager. My husband only did them a couple of times before he straightened out, and we are so in shock by this diagnosis.
His doctor is very hopeful of the new medication that will be approved hopefully in the next couple of years.
My husband may also have autoimmune hepatitis. If so, he can’t take the interfeuron.
Right now, my husband’s liver is in excellent shape. Good thing my hubby lived a straight and narrow life after his wilder teenage years.
Oh, I do appreciate the surviving siblings, too, and know that our family is fortunate in that 5 of 6 are still alive and reasonably well for our ages (53 to 63). Still, I will always miss Becky as long as I live.
There is an electron micrograph of a Hep C virus over on Wikipedia. There are also several Hep C vaccines in the pipeline.
I’ve had the Hep A and B vaccines. I’ve always been worried that there is no Hep C vaccine yet, since the risk factors for getting Hep C are pretty much the same as those for Hep A and B.
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