Time frame for your liver to heal

Does anyone know how long or when your liver begins to heal . Is it during treatment ? or does it take more time?  I am geno 1b  grade 3 stage 2 pretreatment. I am undectable since week 4 of treatment . I am in week 15 of treatment now.

[mycoldfeet]

I belive the healing begins when the cause of the inflamation (inflammation) is removed, I.E. the virus, alcohol ect. The amount of healing depends on whether a relapse of either happens. The liver is extroidinary in it's ability to heal and one of the largest organs in the body, and only a portion of it has to work properly to make a large difference. Interferon has been shown to have a positive effect on healing the liver, but if it is because it slows or stops the virus from entering the cell for those with a maitenance dose or tx who knows?

[GrandmaA]

Even if a patient doesn't achieve SVR their liver heals a great deal because of bathing in the interferon for 6 months. And your liver can even improve a stage or two just from trying the treatment.

[antman]

is that right? sounds like there is no real downside to tx. except for the sx , that is. and then, that seems to vary from person to person. hearing that makes the decision to treat even more compelling. even though i decided to treat already. thanks for the input.
antman

[NYgirl]

Also - taking interferon GREATLY reduces your chance of getting liver cancer, and that was one of my biggest reasons for doing treatment. I know a woman battling liver cancer who has HCV and didn't treat and well - it's NOT the disease you want to get because it's pretty much fatal.


There are a LOT of pro's to doing treatment - which is why I am an avid suppoorter of trying. The sides suck - yes = but not more than terminal cancer.

[GoofyDad]

Now hold on all ya little ponies....

I'm hopiing for regression as much as anyone, but I don't think it's realistic to think regression is assured. Even with SVR, it's not a given.

Generally, HCC is an outcome following the onset of cirrhosis. Attempting treatment is no assurance that one won't progress on through cirrhosis and on to HCC.

In many cases, combo therapy is a good thing, and it can definitely be beneficial without SVR. But I don't think we should get into the mindset that it's the silver bullet.

[GoofyDad]

Just re-read my previus post and I think I wasn'r clear. Combo therapy is a lifesaver, no doubt about that. And it's appropriate for many of us. But I would be cautious about thinking of it as a promised path to immproved histology. Anyone have any studies on the likelyhood of fibrosis regression with SVR vs. w/o SVR? That would be pretty interesting, I think.

[APKhaos]

No studies here, but anecdotal reports from the clinic where my VX trial is running.

Seems they were skeptical of improved histology post-svr. However, they say they are now watching it closely in their patient community and are seeing significant improvements. No sure what proportion of the population this suggests, nor the inital conditions of these cases.

[SixtiesSage]

Well I do know that it takes abot 2 years for your body to completely replace itself with new cells; all except brain cells which last much longer.

That is why eating right is so important. Without proper nutrition, it is impossible for the body to rebuild itself correctly.

[shawn_hsp]

I'm not sure, but I think it does healing constantly. From what I heard from my aunt (she's a pathologist) the liver heals the most around 12am to 4am.

[illo]

Milk Thistle (Siymarin) is supposed to help with regeneration of the cells:

First silymarin stabilizes and strengthens liver cell walls, stopping toxins from entering. It acts by inducing formation of liver cell proteins, which are incorporated into the cell walls, making them stronger and more resistant to toxins.
Second, by increasing the rate of protein synthesis, silymarin enhances regeneration of liver cells.
Third, are the antioxidants and free-radical scavenging abilities of this marvelous weed. As if these impressive effects weren't sufficient, the fourth mechanism silymarin gets involved in is the enzyme and catalytic activity of the LIVER. It inhibits production of the enzymes which produce substances damaging to the liver, while at the same time preventing the depletion of glutathione on liver cells, a substance which mediates cell metabolism