Aa
Do u have to be skinny to recieve treatment
been diagnosed with Hep C 1b liver disease stage 3....now they saying I need to have a gastric bypass before treatment can even be started......U mean us chubbies no weight loss no treatment??? Could it be possible I may never see treatment???
"It's not easy to keep your mouth shut, but the rewards are good. "
ROFLMAO --- my hubby says this --- but it isn't food he's talking about.... He thinks I "gab" too much sometimes... Like when the lights are off and I'm still awake -- and he's not...
Of course --- his rewards are, of course, of course... the best... *GRIN*
Meki
ROFLMAO --- my hubby says this --- but it isn't food he's talking about.... He thinks I "gab" too much sometimes... Like when the lights are off and I'm still awake -- and he's not...
Of course --- his rewards are, of course, of course... the best... *GRIN*
Meki
You only have to be skinny to be a model or an anarexic, but your liver works harder when you are overweight. Diabetes can also set in. So, you have to cut out pizza, ice cream, butter, bread, and everythinjg that tastes great unless it's vegetables and fruits. My Gastro also warned me against getting heavy. It's not easy to keep your mouth shut, but the rewards are good. Since I don't have a weight problem, my doctor says I'm ready for treatment. Remember, the general rule is that if it tastes great, it's probably not good for you. Otherwise, it's up to you...
Magnum
Magnum
I started at 215
I'm 170 now.
Went down at beginning of TX and then gained weight the last part of TX.
Starting to lose weight 1 year post TX.
Finally starting to move around. LOL!
Anyhow - I don't think WEIGHT will stop TX - although there are those who believe in weight based Riba dosing - and RIBA is very hard on your body.
So they may want your weight to be within weight based Riba dosing - if you're above 350 lbs - they may have a serious problem trying to do this.
Much luck - I think you'd be fine --- but if you want a bypass - please feel free to do this first. It may be too hard afterwards. For a few years.
Meki
\
I'm 170 now.
Went down at beginning of TX and then gained weight the last part of TX.
Starting to lose weight 1 year post TX.
Finally starting to move around. LOL!
Anyhow - I don't think WEIGHT will stop TX - although there are those who believe in weight based Riba dosing - and RIBA is very hard on your body.
So they may want your weight to be within weight based Riba dosing - if you're above 350 lbs - they may have a serious problem trying to do this.
Much luck - I think you'd be fine --- but if you want a bypass - please feel free to do this first. It may be too hard afterwards. For a few years.
Meki
\
Do you have insurance to cover the gastric bypass surgery? if you do I would look into it..If it sounds like something you think you want and medically need and it is coverd maybe its worth a try...Tx can be hard on your body im a corn fed country gal, and i developed high blood pressure from tx and im 2 yrs post tx and still on meds for it...But Big People can clear the virus and be svr im living proof...you are being given a neat chance to heal a lot of your body through weight loss and clearing the hepc virus can you imagine after it is all over you would feel better than you have in years..if gastric bypass sounds to much there is the lap band procedure that you might look into also.
Blessings
Goldyn
Blessings
Goldyn
thanks for ur response.....But specialist in Pittsburgh wants this.... Im doing second opioion...
To be a candidate for gastric bypass surgery a patient must be at least 100 lbs overweight. That is far beyond being "chubby", it is morbid obesity, which causes a whole constellation of medical problems and risks. It is likely that your doctor will not prescribe this very difficult and dangerous treatment for a patient whose health is so severely compromised.
Rosey,
I have posted a few studies that show why your doctor is suggesting weight loss. If he has recommended gastric bypass there may be several reasons for this. Firstly, you are probably morbidly overweight and the bypass would allow you to lose weight at a much faster rate than conventional weight loss programs and this would allow you to start treatment as soon as your weight reaches an acceptable level. Secondly, people who are overweight simply do not have the same percentages of reaching SVR (40 - 50) as those who are not overweight. You are a geno 1 with stage 3 liver disease and should treat as soon as medically possible. The weight can be a real issue and it might be worth your while to endure the unpleasantness of bypass in order to increase your chances of clearing the virus. Good Luck - Trinity
Overweight people have poor response to hepatitis C treatment
New research suggests that obese patients in treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection are more likely to achieve better results if the abnormalities associated with excessive fat tissue are corrected first. Obesity is considered a metabolic condition, not merely a matter of being very overweight, according to lead author Michael R. Charlton of the Mayo Clinic and colleagues. In HCV-infected patients, obesity is associated with inflammation and insulin resistance, a prediabetic abnormality of blood sugar. Obese HCV patients may also have steatosis, fatty liver disease; liver scarring; fibrosis progression; and poor response to standard HCV treatments interferon and ribavirin. In addition, HCV patients with obesity-related fatty liver disease are at increased risk for more advanced liver disease. The investigators identified weight loss to reduce fat tissue as a key step to improving response to treatment. Treatment with diabetes drugs like metformin and pioglitazone to raise insulin sensitivity and reduce fat accumulation in the liver might help reverse disease progression, according to the report. Administering higher doses of combination drug therapy for an extended period of time could help offset the decreased drug response. Doses could be determined by body mass index instead of weight, the team wrote. “Treatment strategies that focus on improving underlying metabolic factors associated with poor response to combination therapy are more likely to overcome the low sustained viral response rates observed in obese patients infected with HCV,” the researchers concluded. (Reuters)
Researchers put 19 overweight people with HCV on a 12-week diet and exercise program, with a goal of losing about 1 pound per week. At the conclusion of the study, average weight loss was approximately 13 pounds. In addition, several markers of liver health improved, including a decrease in liver enzymes (higher numbers suggest more liver damage) and a reduction in the amount of scar tissue and fat in the liver. These changes indicate a decrease in the severity of the liver disease. Those who continued on the weight loss program for another 12 months had sustained improvement in the health of their liver. A surprising finding is that these improvements occurred even though the virus was not eradicated from the body. This study therefore suggests that overweight individuals may be able to improve the health of their liver, even if they continue to suffer from chronic hepatitis C.
Since this study only examined overweight individuals, it is unknown whether people of normal weight with HCV would also benefit from the same diet and exercise program. It is important to note that going on a diet is not a substitute for medical treatment for hepatitis C, but rather an additional approach to help improve liver function. Please consult a physician or nutritionist before starting any diet or exercise program.
I have posted a few studies that show why your doctor is suggesting weight loss. If he has recommended gastric bypass there may be several reasons for this. Firstly, you are probably morbidly overweight and the bypass would allow you to lose weight at a much faster rate than conventional weight loss programs and this would allow you to start treatment as soon as your weight reaches an acceptable level. Secondly, people who are overweight simply do not have the same percentages of reaching SVR (40 - 50) as those who are not overweight. You are a geno 1 with stage 3 liver disease and should treat as soon as medically possible. The weight can be a real issue and it might be worth your while to endure the unpleasantness of bypass in order to increase your chances of clearing the virus. Good Luck - Trinity
Overweight people have poor response to hepatitis C treatment
New research suggests that obese patients in treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection are more likely to achieve better results if the abnormalities associated with excessive fat tissue are corrected first. Obesity is considered a metabolic condition, not merely a matter of being very overweight, according to lead author Michael R. Charlton of the Mayo Clinic and colleagues. In HCV-infected patients, obesity is associated with inflammation and insulin resistance, a prediabetic abnormality of blood sugar. Obese HCV patients may also have steatosis, fatty liver disease; liver scarring; fibrosis progression; and poor response to standard HCV treatments interferon and ribavirin. In addition, HCV patients with obesity-related fatty liver disease are at increased risk for more advanced liver disease. The investigators identified weight loss to reduce fat tissue as a key step to improving response to treatment. Treatment with diabetes drugs like metformin and pioglitazone to raise insulin sensitivity and reduce fat accumulation in the liver might help reverse disease progression, according to the report. Administering higher doses of combination drug therapy for an extended period of time could help offset the decreased drug response. Doses could be determined by body mass index instead of weight, the team wrote. “Treatment strategies that focus on improving underlying metabolic factors associated with poor response to combination therapy are more likely to overcome the low sustained viral response rates observed in obese patients infected with HCV,” the researchers concluded. (Reuters)
Researchers put 19 overweight people with HCV on a 12-week diet and exercise program, with a goal of losing about 1 pound per week. At the conclusion of the study, average weight loss was approximately 13 pounds. In addition, several markers of liver health improved, including a decrease in liver enzymes (higher numbers suggest more liver damage) and a reduction in the amount of scar tissue and fat in the liver. These changes indicate a decrease in the severity of the liver disease. Those who continued on the weight loss program for another 12 months had sustained improvement in the health of their liver. A surprising finding is that these improvements occurred even though the virus was not eradicated from the body. This study therefore suggests that overweight individuals may be able to improve the health of their liver, even if they continue to suffer from chronic hepatitis C.
Since this study only examined overweight individuals, it is unknown whether people of normal weight with HCV would also benefit from the same diet and exercise program. It is important to note that going on a diet is not a substitute for medical treatment for hepatitis C, but rather an additional approach to help improve liver function. Please consult a physician or nutritionist before starting any diet or exercise program.
I don't know - I can see both sides myself. At 5"8 and 205lbs (up from 150!) I'm no skinny bones myself these days--BUT -- I do know that the treatment is significantly less successful in the obese - possibly due to complications of obesity. This is even more complicated by the fact that long term HCV is directly related to insulin insensitivity and metabolic syndrome which makes it that MUCH harder to lose weight and have enough energy for exercise.
So the treatment costs 30K for a year of the drugs alone plus maybe that much more for all the lab work and other tests...so we're looking at 60K here. Does an insurance company or health care agency want to spend that much cash on someone with a low (or significantly lowered) probability of treatment success? Add on to that that the complications of severe obesity may put the patient at significantly higher risk.
It's food for thought (hehe).
As for me...I've cut WAY WAY down on everything...I really wasn't eating that much to begin with but I'm reading the grams of fat on the backs of everything now. I'm exercising portion control (deck of cards on meats) and cutting severely back on carbs. I WANT to lose weight because that means that I will have a higher chance of a CURE - it's my life .
Andromeda
So the treatment costs 30K for a year of the drugs alone plus maybe that much more for all the lab work and other tests...so we're looking at 60K here. Does an insurance company or health care agency want to spend that much cash on someone with a low (or significantly lowered) probability of treatment success? Add on to that that the complications of severe obesity may put the patient at significantly higher risk.
It's food for thought (hehe).
As for me...I've cut WAY WAY down on everything...I really wasn't eating that much to begin with but I'm reading the grams of fat on the backs of everything now. I'm exercising portion control (deck of cards on meats) and cutting severely back on carbs. I WANT to lose weight because that means that I will have a higher chance of a CURE - it's my life .
Andromeda
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