What's The Treatment? - 2
In the most serious cases of HCV, the final treatment available is liver transplant. Eight out of ten transplants are successful; however, a successful transplant does not stop the HCV from reinfecting and destroying the new liver. Therefore, a liver transplant patient may have to undergo another year of chemotherapy or a second liver transplant. 20-30% of transplanted livers eventually test positive for cirrhosis due to HCV. According to Canadian Medical Association, hepatitis is the most common reason for liver transplantation in Canada. In the US, there are over 18,700 medically approved patients waiting for donor livers and the waiting list grows annually; only 1/3 of the people approved for transplant eventually receive one. To help meet this transplant need, doctors are considering splitting the donor liver to be transplanted into two recipients.
Many drugs for HCV are in the testing phase. Two of these drugs are Hepatazyme and Anvirzel. Human subjects using Hepatazyme showed no reduction in liver function tests. The testing was halted on humans after one of the test monkeys went blind. Anvirzel is still undergoing testing and is not approved in Canada nor the USA. However, many people purchase this medication from Honduras and find their symptoms are reduced and liver function tests return to normal.
Many people, the author included, are using nutrition or alternative medicine in hopes of halting the progress of liver disease until a treatment with few sides is found. The links section of this site has many alternative treatments listed.Although HCV is likely to result in 4 times as many deaths worldwide as AIDS, the funding for AIDS is 366 times more than HCV. In the US, $1,150,000,000 is spent annually on research, support and treatment of the 700,000 people infected with HIV/AIDS ($1,643.85 per person); however, only $4,500,000 is funded for the 3,500,000 people infected with HCV ($1.29 per person). Statistics show a similar trend in Canada. Thus it looks like it may be a long time before a cure will be found.
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