Hep C Treatment & You

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For brevity's sake, I'll just mention a recent one. In a recent paper by Lisa Backus and colleagues, data were collected from , HCV patients with genotypes 1, 2 and 3. Those with cirrhosis, liver cancer, HIV or history of liver transplantation were excluded. The data were from the Department of Veterans Affairs, collected Of the 40, patients treated with interferon-free DAA regimens, 39, There were 62, untreated patients. First, the mortality rate for patients who did not have an SVR was more than two and a half times that of patients who did.

Second, the mortality rate for untreated patients was nearly three and a half times that of SVR patients.

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Suppose though that you already have cirrhosis. This is where the benefits of HCV treatment begin to narrow. What we do know is:. It's important to note that liver cancer deaths have nearly doubled since the s. Hepatitis B, fatty liver, obesity, inactivity, alcohol and other lifestyle factors contribute to cancer risk. I examined global data. Information from regulatory agencies outside of the U.

However, if you don't trust regulatory agencies, there is a source that is above reproach.

Meet James Freeman, MD, the Australian physician who defied authority by prescribing generic hepatitis C medicines to patients who could not otherwise get treatment. With over patients and no links to big pharma or government regulatory agencies, I asked Freeman if he had concerns about the safety of DAAs. Freeman responded, "To me, the remarkable thing about these medications is actually how safe they are, not how dangerous they are. Freeman points out that initially, the United States rationed treatment.

This means that the sickest patients were the first to be treated; older patients who were already at risk for serious complications and death. In fact, they did better than one might expect.

The Basics

Freeman does caution that no drug is percent safe. However, DAAs are safer than hepatitis C infection. Most of that death rate is not liver failure or HCC; it's cardiovascular, diabetes, lymphoma, and renal cell carcinoma, and more, all of which occur at higher rates in hep C patients. Freeman stated emphatically that if he had concerns about the safety of hepatitis C medicines, he would sound the alarm. Most of us aren't skilled at understanding data.

HIV & AIDS Information :: HIV & hepatitis - Hepatitis C treatment

If you don't know how to interpret that information, it can be overwhelming. There are tens of thousands of adverse events. Honestly, it looks like DAAs are dangerous. Freeman helped me out on this one by organizing the data so I could see it more clearly. Looking at reports collected from to , there were deaths with an estimate of a million people treated. This sounds huge, but given the seriousness of the patients' medical conditions, you'd expect it to be ten times that.

In other words, deaths sounds horrible and is, especially if people you know are among the counted , but the fact that the number is so low affirms the safety of DAAs.

The FAERS reports are raw, and without supporting information, some of the reports are useless or misleading. For instance, hepatitis C was reported as a side effect of DAAs. Clearly, the reporter made a mistake. Our brains are wired to connect dots, even when they shouldn't be connected.

Treatment basics for people living with Hep C

A friend with cancer told me that there is a lot of cancer in our county. She wondered if this was due to a factor unique to our community. In fact, the cancer rate where I live is no different from anywhere else. A more likely explanation is that because my friend talks openly about her cancer, others talk to her about their cancer. She sees cancer all around her. So, if you post to Facebook that your loved one died from liver cancer after having undergone HCV treatment, you may be hearing from people with similar experiences.

You may draw false conclusions about this. Here is another way that hepatitis C treatment may be incorrectly implicated: Also, if more than one person experiences the same adverse event, we may draw false conclusions. This is why science designs studies to minimize bias. Our experiences are subjective, and not useful indicators of truth. We latch on to studies that support our claims.

These studies were small and had flaws. Larger studies show us otherwise. However, if you feel strongly in your belief, it can be hard to let go of research that supports your claim. We see what we want to see. We care about each other. It's painful when loved ones are hurt or die. We want to know why; we may blame others for these injuries.

We feel helpless and want to protect others from suffering the same misery. We turn to social media, warning others about the dangers of DAAs. There we get affirmation for our beliefs because we meet people who had similar experiences. This affirmation feels like proof, but it isn't.

We confuse experience with evidence. Personal experience creates our beliefs. If we are convinced that DAAs caused a medication side effect or cancer, there is little reason to believe otherwise. We think we have evidence, when in fact we have anecdotes. Your doctor will be able to tell you more about your liver after ordering more tests.

If you miss taking your hepatitis C pills, the medications may not work to cure you. And the virus may become resistant to treatment, meaning some drugs may not work as well if you need to be treated again. Your doctor or nurse can help you. People who use street drugs have the right to be offered hepatitis C treatment.

It is possible for people who use drugs to take treatment and be cured of hepatitis C. Having social supports and a safe place to stay can help. Talk about your situation with a health worker you trust. The hepatitis C drug ribavirin can cause severe birth defects and must not be taken during pregnancy, and both partners should not use ribavirin at least 6 months before trying to get pregnant. There is not a lot of information yet about the safety of newer treatments during pregnancy.

Recent Data

For more information, please see Getting ready for hepatitis C treatment. Hepatitis C treatment is expensive. However, paying for treatment is becoming easier as more programs are available to more people to help pay for the medication, including publicly funded drug benefit programs, private health insurance and drug company programs. There are also programs run by the federal government for specific groups such as Inuit and First Nations people, people in the military, prisoners and people who got hepatitis C from a blood transfusion received between and A nurse or doctor can help you figure out if you qualify for treatment and if you can get financial support from any of these programs.

What If You Don't Trust the Data?

For more information, please see hepatitis C treatment coverage in your region. Sometimes it can take a while to get treatment. Learn more from your doctor or nurse about staying healthy while waiting for treatment. After treatment, you need to continue to take care of your health and the health of your liver. This is true even if you are cured.

Also, learn how to keep yourself and others safe from hepatitis C. For more information on staying healthy, please see Living with hepatitis C. Overview of national data on opioid-related harms and deaths Government of Canada. HIV dual therapy and antibodies. Delstrigo approved in Canada for HIV treatment. Eliminating hepatitis C among people who use drugs: How do I tell my kids?

Production of this Web site has been made possible through a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

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