Hepatitis-C

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Anybody can Explain Hepatitis-C and how to cure by Alternative medicine?

Thanks

[Guest guest]

> Message: 2

> Mon, 17 Nov 2003 17:20:52 -0800 (PST)

> manisha kale <manisha_kaleus

> Hepatitis-C

>

> Hi,

> Anybody can Explain Hepatitis-C and how to cure by Alternative

> medicine?

> Thanks

>

 

Hi Manisha

 

Here is some material I developed that should provide some interesting

reading on Hep C. Personally I treat hep C as a non-specific

indication of liver injury, usu. associated with self-abusive

lifestyles, e.g. intravenous drug use, alcoholism, recreational drug

use etc.

 

"Although grouped along with HAV and HBV, the hepatitis C virus (HCV)

is considered to be quite a different pathogen, from the family known

as Flaviviridae, close cousin to the viruses that cause bovine

diarrhea, hog cholera, and yellow fever. Comprised of a single strand

of RNA, HCV contains just one gene, coding for a polyprotein that is

subsequently spliced into at least 10 functional proteins. Researchers

have identified more than 100 strains of the virus and grouped them

into six major "genotypes," which tend to cluster in different regions

of the world.

 

The evolution of HCV began when clinicians knew observed a small

fraction of transfusion recipients suffering from short-lived flulike

symptoms followed in some cases by liver disease years later. To

distinguish the disease from HAV and HBV, they originally called it

non-A, non-B hepatitis. Researchers from Chiron Corp. and the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finally determined the

infectious agent in 1988, and pubslished paper describing it and a

method for testing for it in blood samples.

 

There is no evidence pointing to where or when HCV first infected

humans, as no other species appears to serve as a natural host. Studies

clearly have established that the main routes of transmission are by

tainted blood transfusions and non-sterile needles. The development of

a screening test in 1990 has virtually eliminated the spread of HCV

through blood transfusions in industrial countries, and now sharing

contaminated needles is the most common route of infection. Although

the numbers of infected persons has dropped dramatically since testing

began, the CDC estimates that perhaps 1.8% of the U.S. population

harbors the virus, and as these patients age, HCV-related liver

disease, accounting for 8000 to 10,000 annual deaths in the United

States, is the single most common reason for liver transplants.

 

Apart from direct blood contact HCV appears to be a very difficult

agent to transmit, with only 6% maternal-to-fetal transmission is low.

Some have suggested that HCV can be transmitted sexually, the CDC

officially stating that sex accounts for between 10% and 20% of the

infection in the United States. The actual evidence however is far from

convincing, with little data to support these numbers

 

The severity of HCV varies enormously from person to person and there

are few reliable indicators to predict who will do well or badly. It is

estimated that 15% to 25% of people infected with HCV will effectively

deal with the virus during initial infection, with the remaining

proportion of patients developing a chronic infection. The prevalence

of any significant clinical complication of the disease is estimated to

be between 10% to 20% of chronically infected people, with an even

smaller percentage developing hepatocellular carcinoma. Several studies

show however that the majority of patients have none of these symptoms

even 20 years after infection. In one seven year study of more than 400

patients who had tested positive for HCV, and whose infection could in

most cases be traced to a transfusion or injection, only 13% of 81

patients who had undergone liver biopsy had evidence of severe

hepatitis (8%) or cirrhosis (5%), despite a duration of infection that

generally exceeded 15 years. These results closely parallel other

studies that have shown that HCV is generally not associated with any

significant liver pathology. There is little correlation between the

viral lode in the patients serum and the progression of the disease.

More significant factors include alcohol consumption, cocaine and

intravenous drug use, body piercing and tatoos, and in older patients,

blood transfusion. Although HCV is stated to be a blood borne disease,

researchers have identified a few alcoholics with HCV who do not have

any other risk factors. Even commonly relied upon indicators such as

elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), an enzyme released by

liver cells when they die, is not an indicator of the progression of

HCV-related disease.

 

The biggest issue when it comes HCV is the lack of a culturing system

for HCV. To date, no researcher has been able to culture HCV. In every

other infectious disease there is a cause and effect relationship

between the etiological agent and the disease, except it HCV. The

testing for HCV is based upon a proprietary test used to detect

specific HCV antibodies to a yet to be identified pathogenic agent.

While somewhat suspicious, this only becomes problematic when these

tests are used as the basis for the aggressive anti-retroviral

therapies currently being utilized, many of which have severe

side-effects. Since HCV is in most cases an asymptomatic disease,

especially in those that abstain from drug and alcohol use, there seems

to be little indication for the usage of therapies such as interferon

and ribavirin that have severe, debilitating side-effects. While these

drugs have been shown to reduce the viral markers for HCV in the

patient's blood at the end of treatment, the net result is the creation

of a host of other diseases that have a dramatic impact upon the health

of the individual. In otherwords, one can be "cured" of HCV, but end up

being much, much more ill than at the time of diagnosis. Perhaps even

more significantly, these drugs are not necessarily effective for all

the different strains of HCV that exist, and thus reinfection may occur.

 

The holistic treatment of viral hepatitis is to support liver function

through the usage of nutrient trophorestoratives, hepatics and liver

trophorestoratives and antiviral botanicals. For HCV in particular the

orientation is that HCV is less an actual disease with a specific

etiology, but is rather a kind of hepatitis that appears to be directly

related to the chronic exposure to liver toxins, derived from industry,

the environment, drugs and alcohol. The basic treatment consists of

trophorestorative nutrients and botanicals, liver trophorestoratives,

gentle cholagogues and hepatics, and lifestyle counseling and harm

reduction. Antiviral botanicals are often used as well, based on the

hypothesis that HCV is in fact caused by a virus."

 

References

Alter HJ, Conry-Cantilena C, Melpolder J, Tan D, Van Raden M, Herion D,

Lau D, Hoofnagle JH. 1997. Hepatitis C in asymptomatic blood donors.

Hepatology Sep;26(3 Suppl 1):29S-33S

Verbaan H, Andersson K, Eriksson S. 1993. Intravenous drug abuse--the

major route of hepatitis C virus transmission among alcohol-dependent

individuals? Scand J Gastroenterol. Aug;28(8):714-8

Ghany MG, Chan TM, Sanchez-Pescador R, Urdea M, Lok AS. 1996.

Correlation between serum HCV RNA and aminotransferase levels in

patients with chronic HCV infection. Dig Dis Sci. Nov;41(11):2213-8"

Caldecott

phyto

http://www.wrc.net/phyto