hepatitis c

[erickson13]

i need some help understanding the result of my test from hepatitis c  and would like to know how is it and how bad is it?   hepatitis c quantitation. is. 45940.  iu/ml
  hcv log 10.  4.662.     log10 iu/ ml

[erickson13]

thank you very much im schedule to do the testing on october 28.  to see how bad is it and what are the steps i should take.  thank you again

[willbb]

The test reflects that you have  Hepatitis C with a viral load of 46,000.

The log representation is just another way of stating  the same.


and would like to know how is it and how bad is it?   hepatitis c quantitation. is.
----------------------------------
the Amount of virions measured in 1 ml of blood .is not any indication of how bad it is. Patients measure from 10's of thousands  10's of millions on any given day.(with varying degrees of liver damage not dependant on viral load)

If not done yet,your physician should be ordering a genotype test( as there are a number of diff. hepatitis C types ) as the treatments vary depending on what type one has  ,along with full blood tests (liver panel) .

Current treatments are approx. 70 -80 % succesful (depending on many factors)

Having the virus can damage the liver ,however this often takes many years and often decades,and only a biopsy or often a  fibroscan and /or fibrosure blood test can ascertain this damage(fibrosis )

Then discussion can take place about possible treatment now or in the future(as there are currently a number of treatments being tested in trials)

Good luck and welcome..
Will

[still_above_dirt]

The log10 is just that, it is the logarithm of the viral load count. Viral load has such wide variations, that they "compress" its range and use logarithmic representations to quantify it. For example, numeric range of 10 to 100,000 has a logarithmic range of 1 to 5. The doctors, I think, tend to think in terms of the log10 scale.

If you tested positive for antibodies, they would remain even if you cleared the virus spontaneously. Most people don't, though. So the viral load test will confirm active infection. Its utility is also for tracking the progress of treatment over time in eradicating the virus.

How bad is your hep c? This number won't tell you that. A better indication can be had from routine blood chemistry tests comprised of liver function tests, white/red blood cell and platelet counts, etc. There has recently been a technique that analyzes some combo of numerous blood test enzymes, in order to hazard a guess as to the state of health of your liver. The best indication of the state of your liver, however, would be to have a liver biopsy.