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.
So I met with Dr. Ditreich (sp?) at Mt. Sinai, and I have some infor to share
1)TT,CC etc. -- It never made sense to me that someone who didn't survive a killer flu would be around to have descendants. But he explained that the C comes from surviving a particular virus, and they don't know which one it was. There's a similar gene for HIV; that one is related to beubonic plague. He said the TT/CC will still matter for the new TX, but not as much as with inteferon
2) THe combo that everyone wants from the two different drug companies -- he says he has someone in his office who's good at fighting with insurance co's and may be able to get it for his pts. If not, and we were to get one drug covered and buy the other out of pocket, it would be $35,000 (That lets me out)
3) He also said some large study showed that people with HCV had twice the likelihood of dying than people without, even if they had no liver disease. He explained that the chronic inflammation leads to other diseases. THis makes more sense to me than trying to understand how a virus causes cancer or heart disease.
4) He also pushed getting vaccinated for Hep A and B, saying I would have a 40% chance of dying if I contracted one of them.
Now my personal stuff -- he gained points with me by not asking how I got it, but lost points for dismissing my concerns about Riba (He actually said that drug is "nothing"). He also lost points for responding to my concerns about long-term sides of the new Tx's by saying that most drugs that are dandangerous don't make it to approval (I rea d somewhere else that 50% of all approved drugs are later recalled; that may not be true, but I know there are a decent number)
Overall, I liked him. ANd my good news is that my fibroscan was 6.9, stage 1. Very different from my fibrosure! And supposedly the fibroscan is more accurate than a needle biopsy because it covers a larger section of the liver. So I can wait for better TX! WEll, I was waiting, but I was feeling unsure about it. NOw I can wait and relax.
1)TT,CC etc. -- It never made sense to me that someone who didn't survive a killer flu would be around to have descendants. But he explained that the C comes from surviving a particular virus, and they don't know which one it was. There's a similar gene for HIV; that one is related to beubonic plague. He said the TT/CC will still matter for the new TX, but not as much as with inteferon
2) THe combo that everyone wants from the two different drug companies -- he says he has someone in his office who's good at fighting with insurance co's and may be able to get it for his pts. If not, and we were to get one drug covered and buy the other out of pocket, it would be $35,000 (That lets me out)
3) He also said some large study showed that people with HCV had twice the likelihood of dying than people without, even if they had no liver disease. He explained that the chronic inflammation leads to other diseases. THis makes more sense to me than trying to understand how a virus causes cancer or heart disease.
4) He also pushed getting vaccinated for Hep A and B, saying I would have a 40% chance of dying if I contracted one of them.
Now my personal stuff -- he gained points with me by not asking how I got it, but lost points for dismissing my concerns about Riba (He actually said that drug is "nothing"). He also lost points for responding to my concerns about long-term sides of the new Tx's by saying that most drugs that are dandangerous don't make it to approval (I rea d somewhere else that 50% of all approved drugs are later recalled; that may not be true, but I know there are a decent number)
Overall, I liked him. ANd my good news is that my fibroscan was 6.9, stage 1. Very different from my fibrosure! And supposedly the fibroscan is more accurate than a needle biopsy because it covers a larger section of the liver. So I can wait for better TX! WEll, I was waiting, but I was feeling unsure about it. NOw I can wait and relax.
I just hate waiting. He wasn't my trial doctor but I saw him before my trial and no that it's over.
I would HIGHLY recommend him.