Is untreated HCV a death sentence?

[pcds]

I have read many posts from people that say if untreated you wll die of complicatons of HCV.  That is not true.  Only 5% get liver cancer and it's hard to tell the progression of cirrohsis especially if your lifestyle is healthy.   I've had HCV for 40 yrs and only stopped etoh 2009.  Stage 0-1.  People are different.  I work in a hosptal ICU, 8 years and have seen 1 liver cancer from HCV and the patient was a heavy drinker.   All the HCV patients I see in the ICU with GI bleeds, cirr. are actively drinking heavily.  I am not saying this virus is a good thing to have, I am treating currently.  I just want people who want to wait for less toxic drugs not to bee so fearful if their liver can wait.

[mikesimon]

There's no pain like my pain....or your pain.....or...oh never-mind.

Mike

[HectorSF]

Thanks all. But these is no need for interruption or translation. The posts are here and anybody can read them for themselves.

The statistics are flat out wrong, the understand of liver disease and its development is pure hookum, and comparing diseases she knows nothing about with "I...didn't know how I would lose more then 6 months of my life.  I don't think it was worth it." Is pathetic at best.  And she has the gall to question Eureka like her 6 months of treatment suffering is the be all and end all of suffering. How embarrassingly rude and callous. And this is someone who works in the care giving/medical field and you would think might know better.

She shows no understanding of true suffering, no empathy toward others, no respect for anyone's elses suffering other then hers own. The amount of self absorption would make Narcissus jealous. Well at sometime it is time to say enough is enough and we are tired of it especially when it comes to someone judging and illness that I have to live with that is beyond her comprehension. If you don't understand something ask about it, before posting your ignorant prejudicial views out as though you have some knowledge of what you speak of.

All of this nonsense would be funny, but I and some of my friends have to live with ESLD and/or liver cancer every day and I find it offensive to go on a medical forum for the discussion hepatitis C amongst fellow sufferers and people who have been affected by this disease and see someone dumping their ignorant nonsense about why people develop advanced liver disease as if it had any basis in reality.

Such statements as "I see many people in the ICU with hep c and all of them are drinking alcohol, that's why they are so very sick." Shows the level of ignorance posted here. Most people are know who have advanced liver disease and so are unable to treat are doing there best to stay alive another day. We live in pain everyday so give us a break. Her words are a hurtful to me and my friends who never know how many tomorrows we might have.

Hector

[pooh55811]

Very well said, Dave.

[Willy50]

I earlier mentioned that I did not think that those older statistics are correct and that when one looks at infection over the course of 30 or 40 years the numbers look quite a bit more bleak.
There are other factors such as co-morbidities and extra-hepatic conditions which are being found either caused or exacerbated by chronic Hep C.
...and then there is the quality of life issue......

BUT.....

When I read the first post, impression was that the OP, whom I barely know was making a statement which I inferred was something along the lines of;
---------------------------------
.....if this is the mortality percentage of the rough aggregate of Hep C infected......does that mean that we all regardless of how we care for ourselves end up with the same outcome; the 5% mortality rate?  
If one takes better care of oneself, perhaps we have better odds, a better outcome; a different outcome than the aggregate of HCV infected, some of which obviously includes people who drink and end up affecting the oft quoted statistics.
------------------------------------------

Given that in the past year..... the cure rate will probably have gone from 45% to 75%.......and given that new, safer easier therapies are within 5 years of us, is it reasonable to wait?  

That latest Abbott trial netted a 90% SVR rate treating geno 1's for 12 weeks without interferon.  This is not isolated; Vertex netted a 90% SVR rate with 12 weeks w/ 2 PI's &SOC.  Pharmasett is working on something that looks easier as well and attainable.  Looks like 90% SVR rate is quite attainable.

I think that the OP was just undercutting the notion that one must treat now or die.  They NEVER said for everyone to wait or that anyone deserved to die, or that 5% was acceptable or that we were all "dirtbag alcoholics:
That was my takeaway.....

willy

[toby47]

Well said Dave, its time to move on.

[spectda]

This thread has become a lynch mob more then a discussion. It's very sad in my opinion. We give people who are very sick or have very sick relatives support and love here, we also do it for people who are treating.

Personally I disagree with some of what judy said (basically the comments about lifestyle and alcohol) I don't think she was saying that the 5% who got really sick were unimportant.

If I had HCC or ESLD or my husband was dying from it I would feel even more emotional about her comments then I already do, and I definitely have very strong feelings, sadness and compassion for those in this situation especially those I am close to here. It could be anyone one of us and we should all remember that. We can be in the 5% (or whatever the heck the real number is) regardless of how well or poorly we have treated our body and liver.

I think Judy's post was not thought out well and emotionally driven from being on treatment and feeling fearful and anxious. Even if her pain can not be compared to the suffering of our dear friends Hector and Eureka she is obviously having a rough time.  I hope she will see that at some point and apologize as Deb wisely suggested. At the same time I believe that returning to the lynch mob is scary. Why don't people just leave it alone at this point.


Prior to this post I don't believe anyone thought of her as an inconsiderate human being or without compassion, hopefully many still don't. I do however believe that many of us have experienced her fear and anxiety of tx and hcv, not uncommon qualities in this group.

-Dave