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Hep C interferon treatment
If you complete the process of the Hep C interferon treatment, is it true that the virus is only in remission? I was explained that the virus never leaves your body but that the treatment will put it into remission. That this protocol isnt 100% cureable because this is in the blood. Whic is correct. My mother has Hep C and is in the 5th week of treatment and she is having a bad go of it. The side affects were explained to her and she believes the Doctors office misled her.
Hate to rain on everyone's parade but successful treatment of HCV is exactly as stated 'Sustained Viral Response'. Not a remission but not a cure. See- Journal of Virology (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC415836) to read a study of 16 HCV SVR patients (5 spontaneous and by 11 treatment). Though all patients were undetectable by PCR, this study used very finite detection methods and found HCV with evidence of replication in all subjects. But on the brighter and more practical side- my doc explained it as 'yes, once SVR is achieved HCV seems to be still there and active at the most minute levels but it is no longer able to inflict damage or increase in quantity. That is why you see liver biopsies improve a full grade over 4 to 6 years, why SVT seems permanent even as patients age and why even those who have SVT prior to transplant remain PCR undetectable in spite of immunosuppressive therapy.' So in short SVR is simply SVR and not a cure..think of it as chicken pox that doesn't ever seem to become shingles.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Unlike other chronic infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, people with hepatitis C can be cured of the virus. This means that drug therapy can remove hepatitis C from a person’s blood so that it cannot be detected even when using very sensitive tests. Sustained virological response, or SVR – also known as viral cure – occurs when a person’s hepatitis C remains undetectable six months after treatment ends. Achieving a viral cure is important because it may reduce the risk a person has of developing liver failure and liver cancer, as well as other problems related to hepatitis C.
Viral cure is the ultimate goal of hepatitis C therapy
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Viral cure is the ultimate goal of hepatitis C therapy
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Hi i do know water water water is important she has to drink lots of water it helps with a lot of sides good luck
PS: Sustained Viral Response (SVR) is attained if a person is free of the virus (Undetectable) 24 weeks after the end of treatment.
Welcome to the forum.
Not everyone who treats is cured. The cure rate is high, but there are still some people who do the treatment and for them, it does not work. These people will be able to treat again at some point in the future and hopefully they will be cured at that time. I am just pointing this out because treatment is not yet 100% successful and it does not cure everyone.
You don't say which treatment your mom is on. However, regardless of which treatment she is on, if your mom completes the recommended treatment for her Genotype, and IF she attains what is called Sustained Viral Response (SVR), then she is cured. If she attains SVR/cure, then the virus is gone. She would no longer have the virus in her body. Therefore, the disease would not be in remission, it would be gone and she would be cured.
She would still carry the antibodies, but antibodies are not the same as having the disease. When the body gets a disease like Hepatitis C, the body produces antibodies to it. The antibodies are not virus particles. They are produced because the body is responding to being attacked by the virus. So, even though she will always carry the antibodies to Hep C, she will not have the disease/the virus itself and it cannot become reactivated if she is cured/attains SVR.
As far as the side effects go, many doctors downplay the side effects and do not really prepare the patient for the side effects that they get from the medications. There are drugs that will help alleviate many of the side effects and the doctor be aware of these and offer them to your mother. If you post the side effects she is having, we can tell you what may help alleviate the side effects. Keep in ind that some cannot be alleviated (fatigue, no motivation, no energy, etc.) but others like nausea or vomiting, rectal problems, aches and pains, headaches, rash, itching, low blood counts, psychological problems, can be treated. So post which side effects she is having and we will do out best to offer solutions.
Not everyone who treats is cured. The cure rate is high, but there are still some people who do the treatment and for them, it does not work. These people will be able to treat again at some point in the future and hopefully they will be cured at that time. I am just pointing this out because treatment is not yet 100% successful and it does not cure everyone.
You don't say which treatment your mom is on. However, regardless of which treatment she is on, if your mom completes the recommended treatment for her Genotype, and IF she attains what is called Sustained Viral Response (SVR), then she is cured. If she attains SVR/cure, then the virus is gone. She would no longer have the virus in her body. Therefore, the disease would not be in remission, it would be gone and she would be cured.
She would still carry the antibodies, but antibodies are not the same as having the disease. When the body gets a disease like Hepatitis C, the body produces antibodies to it. The antibodies are not virus particles. They are produced because the body is responding to being attacked by the virus. So, even though she will always carry the antibodies to Hep C, she will not have the disease/the virus itself and it cannot become reactivated if she is cured/attains SVR.
As far as the side effects go, many doctors downplay the side effects and do not really prepare the patient for the side effects that they get from the medications. There are drugs that will help alleviate many of the side effects and the doctor be aware of these and offer them to your mother. If you post the side effects she is having, we can tell you what may help alleviate the side effects. Keep in ind that some cannot be alleviated (fatigue, no motivation, no energy, etc.) but others like nausea or vomiting, rectal problems, aches and pains, headaches, rash, itching, low blood counts, psychological problems, can be treated. So post which side effects she is having and we will do out best to offer solutions.
Hep C is the only virus (out of Hep B and HIV) that can be CURED. If she remains clear of the virus for 24 weeks after stopping treatment, she has a good chance at being cured.
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