There is nothing more important for a person who is infected with hepatitis C than to get treatment as soon as possible.


Yet there are a number of obstacles to getting treatment.

Of course, the most obvious obstacle to hepatitis C treatment has been the cost of the medication. However, the availability of generic hepatitis C medication largely solved this problem.

Even so, there are a couple of things that I often hear from people who have recently been diagnosed with hep C and have sought hep C treatment:


From Their Doctor

“I’m feeling tired all the time and just not feeling well, but my doctor says that my liver is fine and there is no need to worry about getting the hepatitis C treated.”

From Their Insurance

“I have tried to get treatment for my hepatitis C through my health insurance, but they keep telling me that I am not sick enough to qualify for insurance.”

Best Practice for Treating Hepatitis C

Both the above statements are counter to all best practices for the treatment of any disease. We all know that the sooner one treats a disease the greater are the chances of a cure and the greater are the chances of not sustaining permanent damage from the disease.

This best treatment practice is especially true for the treatment of hepatitis C, where the worst consequence of having hepatitis C is the development of liver cancer.

Nearly every week I hear from someone who has learned that they have developed liver cancer as a result of their hepatitis C.

However, even if liver cancer does not occur, the other risk of death from hepatitis C is liver failure as a consequence of advanced cirrhosis.


What Is Liver Cirrhosis?

Liver cirrhosis is caused by damage to the liver that replaces healthy liver tissue with scar tissue. Liver cirrhosis is caused by the hepatitis C virus destroying healthy liver cells. For anyone with hepatitis C, this destruction of liver cells by the hep C virus is happening every minute of every day.

There is no dormant or inactive phase of hepatitis C… if you have hep C it is damaging your liver.

Death from liver cirrhosis results when the liver is so damaged by the hepatitis C virus that it can no longer function and death soon follows.

To read the rest of this entry, click here. Greg’s blog is reprinted with permission, and the views are entirely his.