|
hepatitis C the silent epidemic
Don't become a victim of the "silent epidemic": Find out today if you have hepatitis C, or learn to avoid it You may not know it, but a silent killer may lurk inside your body. And if you don't find and treat it, you may wind up dead. Even if you don't have it yet, you could be at risk and not even know it.
It sounds too dramatic, but it's true: the virus known as hepatitis C is one of the nation's newest and most frightening health threats, infecting the bodies of 4 million Americans, killing 10,000 every year and causing more than half of the liver failures that lead to transplants. Still, most people who have it or might someday catch it don't suspect a thing. Scientists at the University of Michigan and elsewhere are hard at work on a vaccine, and treatments can keep hepatitis C from shutting down the livers of a sizable number of those it infects. But, says Fred Askari, M.D., Ph.D., U-M assistant professor of gastroenterology, the most important weapons against the virus are awareness and testing. "It is estimated that as many as nine out of 10 people who are infected with hepatitis C may be unaware that they harbor the infection," says Askari, who authored an authoritative guide on the disease. |
Home. About Us. FAQ's. Timeline. Tools.
Get Recruited
Articles.
|
|
Many infections don't cause symptoms, or the symptoms are mistaken for something else, he says, until it's too late. "Within a decade, if no new treatments are found, the death rate from hepatitis C may actually eclipse the number of deaths caused by AIDS or breast cancer." The rapid spread of hepatitis C is an impressive feat for a virus that was only identified 10 years ago. Even more impressive is the battle that medical scientists are waging against it. Already, new treatments can clear the virus from the blood and livers of 20 percent to 40 percent of patients. Tests have been developed to screen the nation's blood supply, though many infections can be traced back to blood transfusions made before screening began in 1992. Most of the disease's risk factors have been deduced by studying those who are infected, though the source of a full 20 percent of hepatitis C cases is unknown. The news for prevention and treatment may be encouraging, but Askari stresses that there are still ways to be exposed to hepatitis C - mostly through tainted blood. |
Risk factors include:
- Blood transfusion or use of blood products such as clotting factors before 1992
- Having been tattooed
- Having ear or body piercings done
- Sharing razor blades
- Promiscuous unprotected sexual activity
- Intravenous drug use, even just one time
- Intranasal cocaine use
Even having a manicure or pedicure may carry some risk, experts speculate, if the instruments used aren't well sterilized. "Any form of blood that's infected with hepatitis C and comes into contact with someone else's blood is an opportunity for spreading the infection," Askari explains.
Anyone who faces one or more of these risk factors should have their blood screened for hepatitis C immediately, says Askari. Even if you don't meet any of these criteria, you may still be among those who unknowingly caught the virus another way, and may still wish to be tested.
It's also important to get screened even if you don't think you have any symptoms, he stresses. Hepatitis C's warning signs are often vague, and don't appear in everyone who carries the virus.
However, symptoms do include:
- Fatigue
- Joint aches
- Muscle aches
- Flu-like symptoms
- Sweats
- Bloating
If you do find out you have hepatitis C, there are several options to treat the disease. Injections of interferon, which boosts the immune system, can be combined with the antiviral drug ribaviran to put many patients into remission. More treatments are on the way.
One of the greatest worries with the hepatitis C "silent epidemic," Askari says, is that there won't be enough donor livers to replace the inflamed, scarred, cirrhosis-damaged organs of the disease's carriers.
Though not everyone who has the virus in their body will experience liver failure and need a transplant, the number is large enough that it may make the existing shortage of donor organs even worse, Askari says. "Those of us who are not infected should sign our donor cards and help increase the number of organs available to all who need them," he adds.
Research continues on how best to prevent hepatitis C infection and liver problems that come from it. At the U-M, this includes work on how best to vaccinate against the virus, which many change from year to year like influenza. Askari and others at the U-M are studying substances called adjuvants, which could be administered along with a vaccine to help the immune system.
For now, Askari says, the best defense is to insist on sterile equipment for manicures, pedicures, shaving and tattooing, and to avoid contact with the blood or personal items of others. The nation's current blood supply, however, can be trusted because of the screening process now in place.
Dr. Askari's book, "Hepatitis C - The Silent Epidemic: The Authoritative Guide," is available from Perseus Publishing Corp.
Hepatitis A, B and C are the most common forms of viral hepatitis. Viral hepatitis can be a potentially fatal disease, one that affects millions of Americans.
Click here for the latest news and treatments for Hepatitis C.
SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
Baseball I
Basketball I
Bowling I
Cross Country I
Fencing I
Field Hockey I
Football I
Golf I
Gymnastics I
Ice
Hockey
Lacrosse I
Rowing I
Skiing I
Soccer I
Softball I
Swimming
I
Tennis I
Track
and Field
Volleyball I
Water
Polo I
Wrestling
© College
Sports Scholarships
Contact the Webmaster
The long distance runner and some pissed off Bees. The worker bees have a meeting, the drones, being drones, don’t give a shit and the queen being the boss cant attend. They take a vote; kick the old queen out with a bunch of drones and the workers who didn’t vote in favor and send them on their way.