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About Fibrosis Regression
I am wondering about the regression of liver fibrosis on all oral treatment. Before anyone starts reminding me that it is too early to give a definitive answer, let me say I have thought about it but I just want others to speculate with me. I read in the advocate that regression can occur even in cirrhosis with surgery or interferon treatment. But what about non-interferon treatment? What are the principles and factors that make such regression possible with scarred and damaged tissue? To put it another way, will I ever be able to have a glass of wine again and not feel like I have to sleep for two days afterward?
Curing the virus is always a good idea. Having little to no liver damage is a good thing. Treatment will not be comprised by liver disease as it is in person with stage 3 and 4.
Best of luck with your treatment!
Hector
Best of luck with your treatment!
Hector
PS I didn't want to question it to much as I wanted desperately into the trial with drugs I have been waiting on for about 20 years :)
Thank you Hector. I asked my doctor (a researcher) about my score and and she only shrugged and said I was the lowest in the research cohort and that at the extreme ends the results were less dependable. Even if it were f=1 I would think that quite lucky. I asked if it might be due to an immune system working overtime (since I have a couple of immune system problems) and she said she didn't know. Actually, I don't believe it. It could be that fatigue is an effect of my diabetes but feeling groggy for 24 hours after a glass of wine or a very small amount of pain medicine is, I would think, highly unusual for a well functioning liver but then, I am not a physician.
The regression occurs when there is no longer any virus present. Doesn't matter if that is achieved by an all oral regiment or triple therapy because the liver has the ability to heal itself, especially when there is nothing attacking it. If SVR is attained and depending on the initial degree of liver damage most studies show fibrosis regression can and does occur and can be as much as much as one or two stages. Again, it depends on how much liver damage the patient had prior to treatment. A cirrhotic liver or those with advance fibrosis will never revert back to stage 0 but the fibrosis will diminish with most and the overall health of the liver will be greatly improved.
IMO, you will be able to enjoy an occasional glass of wine after you become SVR.
IMO, you will be able to enjoy an occasional glass of wine after you become SVR.
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If your FibroSURE 0.19 test result is accurate you have no fibrosis to begin with. <0.21 Fibrosis=0. So you have no measurable damage to recover from. You should have no limitations on your lifestyle based on liver damage. (Except of course while on treatment). Has your doctor commented on this? If you were infected in 1972 as you say in your Journal, your liver has the least amount of damage I am aware of in that length of time which is great.
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Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/test-catalog/print.php?unit_code=91402
"Useful For
Assessment of Liver status following a diagnosis of HCV. Baseline determination of liver status before initiating HCV therapy. Post-treatment assessment of liver status six months after completion of therapy. Non-invasive assessment of liver status in patient
who are at increased risk of complications from a liver biopsy.
Interpretations:
Quantitative results of 6 biochemical tests are analyzed using a computational algorithm to provide a quantitative surrogate marker (0.0-1.0) for liver fibrosis (METAVIR F0-F4) and for necroinflammatory activity (METAVIR A0-A3).
Fibrosis Scoring:
0.74 = Stage F4 - Cirrhosis"
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If a person has liver damage (assuming it is not irreversible damage) once the agent that is causing liver inflammation stopped. I.E. alcoholic stops drinking, hepatitis C cured, hepatitis B is managed, the liver will begin repairing itself. The process of repair is similar to any wound healing progress. Dead call are replace by normal tissue and the normal cells are "told" to create other new cells or stem cells are "told" to create other new healthy cells.
Cheers!
Hector