Hepatitis C Support Group

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne viral disease which can cause liver inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact with an infected person's blood. Many people with HCV infection have no symptoms and are unaware of the need to seek treatment. Hepatitis C infects an estimated 150-200 million people worldwide.

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allaboutliving 03/15/2014

There are very few long-term studies of people w/HCV that can be used to track the true % of people who have serious HCV disease progression. This is due to the fact that it is very difficult to diagnose acute HCV. Another reason is that the test to identify HCV wasnt developed until 1989. This is a very interesting study & it does provide important & reassuring info. that HCV disease progression is generally slow for many people. It also reinforces the benefit of tx.

http://hcvadvocate.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/hcv-in-women-long-term-follow-up.html

LoveEachOther 03/15/2014

Nice article find, AAL! No matter what stage, gender, VL, symptoms, treatment attempts, age, or freakin' eye color! it is important to treat!

We should all flood them with video messages with our personal struggles and hardships with this disease, so then we are not just a monetary number to them!!!!

:D

WarriorGal 03/15/2014

Thanks, as always, ALL. It is by sharing the vast amount of information we come across that we all benefit!

"Patients with self-limited HCV infection or SVR after antiviral treatment were protected from progressive liver disease and showed the best clinical long-term outcome.

So treatment is vitally important if you don't spontaneously clear.

I have long believed that if tx didn't work for me i'd outlive it and die with it, not of it... BUT, it would always be there as a concern... like living with a time bomb whose fuse may not always progress at the same speed, and in fact has been reported to progress quicker with age.

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