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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Chronic Hepatitis C, No Improvement With Interferon, Riboveron Treatments. Does Repeated Treatment Affect Liver?

hello, my husband is 62 years old and has hepatitis c for 30 years. The two interferon/riboveron treatments did not cure him. Can doing the treatment a third time actually hurt his liver more than just leaving it? Does the treatment do any damage to the liver/ because I have the hep c also (i am 56 and have also had it for 30 years) I have never done the treatment and am doing okay....
Wed, 30 Jan 2013
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hello,
The treatment combination,your husband took was right,although there are many other drugs available for treatment and continuous research is being done for better molecules.
You should consult a gastroenterologist and would require treatment if  there is chronic active hepatitis however treatment is most effective in first 6 months of infection.
About 50 to 80 % of cases who take treatment get cured completely.
This infection resolves spontaneously in 10 to 50% of cases,which occurs more frequently in individuals who are young and female.
HCV induces chronic infection in 50 to 80% of cases.Approximately 40 to 80 % of these cases clear with this treatment.In rare cases infection can clear without treatment.
Most of the infected cases show minimal or no symptoms during the initial few decades of infection.
About 10 to 30 % of cases develop liver cirrhosis over 30 years of infection and those who develop cirrhosis have 20 times chances of developing liver cancer and this becomes 100 times more if a person drinks alcohol.
There is no vaccine against HEPATITIS C.
Thanks
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Chronic Hepatitis C, No Improvement With Interferon, Riboveron Treatments. Does Repeated Treatment Affect Liver?

Hello, The treatment combination,your husband took was right,although there are many other drugs available for treatment and continuous research is being done for better molecules. You should consult a gastroenterologist and would require treatment if  there is chronic active hepatitis however treatment is most effective in first 6 months of infection. About 50 to 80 % of cases who take treatment get cured completely. This infection resolves spontaneously in 10 to 50% of cases,which occurs more frequently in individuals who are young and female. HCV induces chronic infection in 50 to 80% of cases.Approximately 40 to 80 % of these cases clear with this treatment.In rare cases infection can clear without treatment. Most of the infected cases show minimal or no symptoms during the initial few decades of infection. About 10 to 30 % of cases develop liver cirrhosis over 30 years of infection and those who develop cirrhosis have 20 times chances of developing liver cancer and this becomes 100 times more if a person drinks alcohol. There is no vaccine against HEPATITIS C. Thanks