Hepatitis C Information Central

Currently, there are about 200 million people worldwide who are infected with the Hepatitis C virus, 4+ million of those are in the United States (estimates go as high as 15 million) and 5 million in Western  Europe. The prevalence seems to be higher in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe. In industrialized countries, HCV accounts for 20% of cases of acute hepatitis, 70% of cases of chronic hepatitis, 40% of cases of end-stage cirrhosis, 60% of cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and 30% of liver transplants according to the February 1999 consensus statement.

The incidence of new symptomatic infections has been estimated to be 13 cases/100,000 persons annually. For every one person that is infected with the AIDS virus, there are more than four infected with Hepatitis C. The CDC estimates that there are up to 230,000 new Hepatitis C infections in the U.S. every year. Currently, 8,000 to 10,000 deaths each year are a result of HCV, and by the year 2010, it is estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 patients will die annually of HCV related chronic liver disease. Although the incidence of new cases of HCV (Hepatitis C Virus) is declining, an increasing number of HCV patients are identified with cirrhosis and will face its complications of liver failure and cancer.

There is no vaccine and no completely effective treatment!

I would like to address a thought that so many people with Hepatitis C seem to have. I've heard this question at least a hundred thousand times..(asked it myself once)

"Why was I given this disease there is no cure for?"

I  personally feel that we were given this disease because we are strong enough to handle it. Because we will do something about it. Because we can do something about it. We can build our web pages, we can write to our government officials, we can educate the public, our loved ones, yes, even our Doctors about this disease. There are so many misconceptions about this disease. I hope that in the following pages you will find the answers to some of your questions.

You will hear that this disease can be spread by kissing  and hugging your loved ones, this is not true.

We have this disease because we will overcome it. I truly believe that. Having a positive attitude about all of this, is what will get us through it. But, we can't do it alone. We must work together to get this done. We must join together to win this battle. This truly is the battle of our lives. As well as for our lives.

"We have this disease because we can handle it." I know when you're first diagnosed that you are not thinking like this, but given a little time you will. If you don't think of yourself as a strong person, I think you will change your mind on that opinion soon...

Please visit our Hepatitis discussion and support bulletin board. You are going to find some of the best support on the internet on this board.
We have just started a new bb for Veterans with Hepatitis C, VETS WITH HEP C. If you are a veteran with HCV please join others like yourself here to share. This is a new bb and will take some time to get going.

To Subscribe to the HEP C INFO Only email list, Please register here. This is NOT a two way list. There are over 4,600 people on this list, so it will never be a 2 way list. You will receive no more than 3 or 4 Hepatitis C related information posts in any one day (Unless of course they find a cure!). Some days you will not receive any posts.  Many of these articles are technical, many are the latest news articles. You will receive a reminder once a week for the chat at Dr. Koop's website.

Many people have asked me what I do for my hepatitis. I have tried Interferon, it did not work for me. Currently, I am taking Maximum Milk Thistle I have tried many of the Milk Thistle products, but I find that I feel 100% better with this particular brand. (No, I am NOT being paid for this). I have more energy and less liver pain. While Milk Thistle will NOT cure hepatitis, it does help to protect the liver.