Let’s Dispel Some Hepatitis C Myths

Unfortunately when things scare people they feel the need to listen to rumors and gossip instead of searching out the truth. This is just as true with diseases as with anything else. If you have the Hepatitis C virus, or someone you care about does, dispel the myths, ignore the rumors and get some facts so that you understand what this infection really means. If you are reluctant to talk to your health care provider at this stage search the Internet. You can answer almost any question you have on hepatitis through this means.

For example, many people, as soon as they hear the word hepatitis, assume it is the end of their lives. This is far from true. In most cases when a person is diagnosed with Hepatitis C they have twenty to forty years before they will have to deal with their livers have suffered serous enough damage to show signs of dysfunction. Studies show that only fifteen to twenty five percent of those with chronic Hepatitis C actually die from a result of this infection. The remaining will live long and productive, nearly normal, lives.

Other myths include the one that says that there is no treatment for Hepatitis C that will have results that are good enough to be bothered with. This is very untrue. Treatments for Hepatitis C, Interferon alone or in combination with Ribavirin have a fairly good success rate. These rates for type one can be forty to fifty percent where the viral loads, which is what shows up in the blood of those infected, can become undetectable. In types two and three the success rate can be as high as eighty percent. Those who do not see the infection dissipate will still see improvement to some degree. Don’t let anyone tell you that treatment is not worth considering.

Some people believe that the higher the viral loads a patient is showing the worse their symptoms will be. This is absolutely not true. There is no medical proof that shows any correlation between the two. This myth then grows into the one that says if your viral loads are high that the disease will progress much faster. This is also not true. Researchers have seen that the viral loads do not necessarily reflect the liver damage or its progress.

Wishful thinking has prompted rumors that there is a vaccine that can prevent Hepatitis C. This unfortunately is not the case. There is a vaccine against Hepatitis A and B, but researchers are still working hard to find one for the C virus.

Whispers about new drugs with improved treatment outlooks arriving on the scene anytime has become a problem. It has caused some patients to feel reluctance to begin a drug therapy program because they believe that a better drug is just around the corner. There are many drugs being worked on to improve treatment for Hepatitis C, but these will not be out to the general public before 2010 at the earliest.