Hepatitis C: Basic Education

Let me start by saying that when I see patient with hepatitis C, the first thing I actually do is just try to reassure them. Because people come in in a panic. They think it's the end, it's the end of their life. Almost 80% of people with hepatitis C will die from other causes not related to the hepatitis C. The Centers for Disease Control has realized that there are a lot of people out there with hepatitis C, probably 75% of people with hepatitis C don't even know they have it because they really don't have any known risk factors. So the Centers for Disease Control, just in the last year or two, has recommended what we call birth cohort screening and that's where they're recommending screening anyone born between 1945 and 1965. So it's no longer considered a disease of people who did drugs or got blood transfusions; there are a large number of people out there with hepatitis C who have no known risk factors. You really don't get symptoms, on the average, until you get cirrhosis, which is what we think of as complete scarring in the liver. But otherwise, most people don't know they have it. They only found out they have it because they have routine blood testing in their liver tests, in particular, the AST and ALT, which are liver enzymes. Now, we're getting a cure rate of 95%, if not higher. The treatment could be as short as eight weeks, more commonly 12 weeks, and probably no longer than 24 weeks. So patients have some power within themselves to kind of talk with your doctors about these things and they should ask their doctor, "Do I need to be screened for hepatitis C? Have you checked my liver tests?" There are many people out there with hepatitis C from all walks of life, from all types of experiences, a lot of things that people did when they were young, in their twenties, maybe even doing now, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. Because shame will only prevent you from getting the treatment and the help that you need.