http://www.hivdent.org/medical/medRQET072003.htm

"People with hepatitis C whose livers remain healthy may be better off not undergoing drug treatment, which can produce severe side effects and does not always work, researchers said on Tuesday."

This article was upsetting to read since I have been on treatment for about 2 years now. It appears there are no guarantees if you decide to treat or if you decide not to treat.

http://www.hivdent.org/medical/medRQET072003.htm

"People with hepatitis C whose livers remain healthy may be better off not undergoing drug treatment, which can produce severe side effects and does not always work, researchers said on Tuesday."

This article was upsetting to read since I have been on treatment for about 2 years now. It appears there are no guarantees if you decide to treat or if you decide not to treat.


That is correct.

thanbey

In the ideal world should the patient self decide if to treat or not. The problem is, how to explain to the patient all the relevant informations necessary for this decision.

I am a person having HCV for over 30 years, and finishing the third tx. I am one of the persons which the mentioned article suggest not to cure. It was my decision to try the third tx, and I can say that my decision was based on relevant informations. And I am happy that I decided like this. My reasons were (and still are):

- I do not want to live with the nasty virus in my blood
- I do not want to be dangerous to my friends, to my neighbourhood
- today, I can undergo the tx. I am relatively healthy and strong, and I can pay it, if necessary. There is no guarantee that all of this remains valid. In my coutry there is a
saying: "If there is something what you can do today, do it today. Do not wait till tomorrow."

I know, this are my personal priorities. And every person have the priorities different.

Petr

My frustration comes from wanting something definite. With other diseases I have contracted in my life, I went to the Dr. and the Dr. gave me specific medicine for the illness. What I have learned in the past 2 years I have been diagnosed with Hep C is that there are not a lot of treatment options, and the ones they have available have no guarantees. A 60 % success rate doesn’t sound that good. I started with 48 weeks of Pegasys and am now on Infergen (since I relapsed), with oral Ribavirin. Now that I have started the treatment, I might as well finish it, which will be in Sept. 2006. Maybe I will be in the percent that responds this time. I keep wondering, what if this round of tx. doesn't work?

The answer depends on your point of view, who and what you believe,the definition of "cure," and your particular interpretation of the the issues.

Bottom line is that we are still learning and that we just don't know yet. But, we know that the SVR is a moving target and what we thought was true, is not necessarily true. The medical definition of cure is the complete absence of the disease. As testing gets better, that becomes a higher bar to reach and the old definitions no longer apply. A 60% success rate would be an improvement on what a patient can realistically expect at present. And, the risks of long term after effects are there but seldom discussed.

thanbey

I discussed this article with my Dr., esp. the first sentence which states "People with hepatitis C whose livers remain healthy may be better off not undergoing drug treatment, which can produce severe side effects and does not always work, researchers said on Tuesday." My liver is not healthy, so this article does not really apply to me. My Dr. is confident the indicated treatment for my disease, Hep C with some cirrhosis, is the right choice for me. I guess we will find out sometime after Sept. 06.