10 Things Not to Say to Someone Who Has Hepatitis C—Lucinda K. Porter, RN

This post first appeared on Lucinda Porter’s blog at Every Day Health, Navigating Hepatitis C; permission to reprint granted

10 Things Not to Say to Someone Who Has Hepatitis C
By Lucinda Porter, RN
Published Mar 14, 2014

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ~Epictetus

If you live with hepatitis C, chances are that someone has said something to you that showed ignorance or insensitivity. Perhaps you know someone with hepatitis C and you are not quite sure what to say. Here is a list of ten things not to say to someone who has hepatitis C:
 
1. How did you get that? How someone acquired hepatitis C is personal. Some people have a history of using injection drugs, and even if they just tried it once, they may feel ashamed. If they want you to know how they got hepatitis C, they will tell you.
 
2. You look great. We all like to look good, but when someone says this to us when we don’t feel well, we feel discounted. If you know the person really well, you could say, “I know that looks are only skin-deep, but you look great despite having hepatitis C. How do you feel?”
 
3. Your problem is you just don’t get enough exercise. Or, if you just ate a better diet… These sorts of comments don’t help, and may hinder. Keep your advice to yourself.
 
4. You still have hepatitis C? I thought you got rid of that. Hepatitis C is not like a cold. It is a chronic infection, and although some people have been cured, not everyone has undergone treatment for it. Sadly, some people have been treated, but did not have good results.
 
5. God doesn’t give us more than we can handle. If someone says this to me when I am having a hard time handling my current circumstances, I feel weak. Personally, I can’t imagine that God is calculating how much I can handle.
 
6. You should try this supplement I am taking—it cures everything. Unless you are a doctor, it’s best not to give medical advice. Everything goes through the liver, and no supplement has been proven to cure hepatitis C.
 
7. You think you have it bad…so and so died from hepatitis C. Remarks like this are more frightening than comforting.
 
8. Everything happens for a reason. This may or may not be true, but even if it is true, it isn’t soothing.
 
9. Your problem is that you feel sorry for yourself. Try positive thinking for a change. I am an optimist, but telling someone else to put a positive spin on something shows lack of compassion. Rather than telling someone how to feel, try being positive in your own life. This may be contagious to those around you.
 
10. I’ve heard that hepatitis C is no big deal. Quit your worrying. In the U.S., more people die from hepatitis C every year than from HIV. Hepatitis C increases risk of dying from other diseases, and patients die younger because of it. Hepatitis C is a big deal.

What can you say? Try to be positive. And remember, it’s more about listening than talking. Try, “I don’t want to pry, but if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here to listen.”
 

Advancing the Treatment and Prevention of Hepatitis B and C

Subtitle: National APAMSA Hepatitis B and Conference – November 2014

BOSTON, MA — On Saturday, November 8, 2014, the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) hosted its annual National APAMSA Hepatitis B and C Conference featuring some of the world’s leading hepatologists. Through a series of lectures and a research poster session, the annual conference seeks to inform medical and premedical students about the current developments in Hepatitis B&C treatment and prevention. A physician-student mentorship luncheon session also presents additional opportunities for conference attendees to engage in discussions about Hepatitis B and C outreach efforts in their local communities.

With over 2 billion people in world affected by HBV in the past and present, and with 15-40% those cases developing liver cirrhosis, liver disease, or liver cancer, we really have the opportunity to have a global impact in treating this disease.

                                                                                                                                             – Dr. Daryl Lau

Although Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) are not identical viruses, they are transmitted through similar methods and both are among the leading causes of liver cancer in the world. HBV and HCV are commonly referred to as the “silent killers” because infected patients can remain asymptomatic for many years and may not experience symptoms until the infection has progressed to chronic stages, resulting in severe liver disease or cancer. Therefore, those infected can unknowingly transmit the virus to others. Over one million people in the world die each year from HBV and HCV liver associated diseases. Furthermore, since both are transmitted by blood and blood-derived bodily fluids, there are concerns about the potential of mother-to-child vertical transmission.

Read more...

Australia: 5 Facts About Liver Cancer, Australia’s Deadliest

Liver cancer, the growth of tumors in the liver, is among the common cancers with over 700,000 new cases reported in one year alone. The major reason for the incidence of this dreadful cancer is identified as liver infection of Hepatitis B or C virus. A scary finding by Hepatitis Australia shows that for every person dying of liver cancer in Australia, there is a new person diagnosed with the disease. With cases that lead to death increasing in an alarming rate, medical world is taking more efforts to tackle this disease. Here is a look at some of the facts about liver cancer.

Prevalence is more among men and old people: Liver cancer is observed to be more prevalent in men than in women, and it tends to be found more in old people. More than 80% of all reported liver cancer cases are in developing countries in Asia and Africa.

One of the major causes is Hepatitis infection: Cirrhosis, where scar tissues replace healthy tissues in the liver, is considered as one of the major causes of liver cancer. This is brought about by chronic alcohol use, persistent viral infections, and certain auto immune diseases. Long term hepatitis B infection (often undetected) is cited as a major cause of cirrhosis by experts. A lot of liver cancer cases are due to smoking, diabetes and obesity.  Exposure to aflatoxins, arsenic, vinyl chloride, etc are also considered as potent causes for the disease.

Read more...

Portugal: Portugal agrees to treat 13,000 hepatitis C patients

LISBON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Portuguese government has agreed to treat up to 13,000 people infected with hepatitis C in the next three years, Portuguese Minister of Health Paulo Macedo said on Friday.

"We will be able to treat more sufferers in a fairer way. We will open way to initiate the eradication, the elimination of the disease," he told a press conference.

He said that the government would pay every treatment undertaken by sufferers of hepatitis C.

Read more...

Spain: Hepatitis C patients protest in Madrid demanding access to medicine

Nayara is only 21 years old and has already reached the final stage of Hepatits C, a burden she has had to endure since the day she was born.

She was infected with Hepatitis C by her mother from birth. A disease that kills 12 people a day in Spain alone, according to the platform of those affected.

Dozens of those affected by the disease have gathered with their friends and families outside Gilead's Spanish headquarters to protest. The US pharmaceutical company produces Sovaldi, the medicine that can save the 200,000 people, who like Nayara, are infected by Hepatitis C in Spain.

Read more and watch the video here

Georgia refuses Hep-C cure for poz guys

News in gay Atlanta of a drug that can eradicate previously incurable Hepatitis-C in 99 percent of cases was tainted last week by the state picking and choosing who can get it, excluding thousands of HIV-positive patients. It’s renewed a clarion call by activists to expand Medicaid.

The 12-week drug regimen known as V-Pak works, but it’s expensive – as much as $80,000 per patient. The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, which includes Georgia, negotiated a discount to about half price, but each state must decide whether or not to offer it under various programs.

In Georgia, that meant Hepatitis C patients under Medicaid will get V-Pak. But HIV-positive people with Hep C on ADAP, the HIV prescription assistance program, can’t. State agencies say they’re hamstrung by the cost to offer life-saving treatment to some and deny it to others, according to WABE.

Read more...

Portugal: Gov't reaches deal for Hepatitis C drug

The Portuguese government has finally reached an agreement with an American pharmaceutical firm to bring an innovative drug to treat Hepatitis C to Portugal. 

The deal comes one year after the drug from Gilead Sciences reached Europe.

According to reports the Ministry of Health and national drugs watchdog Infarmed managed to negotiated a price that will enable more patients to be treated for less than €25,000 per treatment.

Newspaper Público reports that the plan is to treat between 10,000 and 12,000 patients with the new drug over the next three years.

Source: http://theportugalnews.com/news/govt-reaches-deal-for-hepatitis-c-drug/33932