Body shop's Anita Roddick suffering from Hepatitis C

[Guest guest]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=4361\

03 & in_page_id=1770

 

Here is the full text of a statement written by Anita Roddick and posted on her

website today, titled Hepatitis C and Me.

 

" I have hepatitis C, it's a bit of a bummer but you groan and move on. I had no

idea that I had this virus.

 

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.. Body Shop's Anita Roddick suffering from Hepatitis C

 

 

 

 

 

" I was having routine blood tests when it showed up. It turned out that I'd

contracted it through infected blood, given to me as a transfusion during the

birth of my youngest daughter, Sam, in 1971. (Thank God for those doctors that

keep and protect medical records!)

 

" So by the time I was diagnosed, I'd had hep C for over thirty years. The virus

actually works very slowly, over decades.

 

" The word hepatitis means inflammation of the liver, and that's what happens -

the liver gets inflamed and scarred and you can get cirrhosis and liver cancer.

 

" In fact I do have cirrhosis. I could still have a good few years - even decades

- of life left but it's hard to say.

 

" I could be facing liver cancer tomorrow. What I can say is that having hep C

means that I live with a sharp sense of my own mortality, which in many ways

makes life more vivid and immediate.

 

" It makes me even more determined to just get on with things.

 

" But when I was first diagnosed, I didn't take it too seriously. I am only just

starting to experience symptoms now, and they're quite mild.

 

" I knew that I had it and I felt fine, and I also knew the impact of the virus

could be very gradual.

 

" I think I was also affected by the general air of indifference that hangs over

Hepatitis C.

 

" Most people just don't know that this virus exists, or what its impact is. It's

not taken seriously.

 

" Hep C has been called a 'silent killer' because you can go for years with no

symptoms.

 

" It is also a silent killer because it's just not being diagnosed and dealt with

in an effective way.

 

" Nine out of ten of us who have hep C simply don't know they've got it. The

Government in this country doesn't seem to have had a very vigorous response to

hep C.

 

" If you look at somewhere like France, half the people with the virus have

already been diagnosed. But in this country we're way behind; only one in 10

people with hepatitis C have been diagnosed.

 

" Well I've always been a bit of a 'whistle blower' and I'm not going to stop

now.

 

" I want to blow the whistle on the fact that hep C must be taken seriously as a

public health challenge and must get the attention and resources that it needs.

 

" I am astounded that the Government has spent £40 million on telling the public

about the switchover to Digital TV - but only £3 million on raising awareness of

hepatitis C, a serious condition which can have a massive impact on people's

quality of life and which can ultimately kill them.

 

" I'm not sure what that says about governmental priorities, but I do know it

means that people aren't getting tested, diagnosed and treated for this virus.

 

" We don't even have a proper study of the level of infection here in the UK, but

The Hepatitis C Trust estimates it's up to half a million people.

 

" And everyone with hep C deserves proper care and treatment if they want it.

 

" It's especially important that people like me, who are over fifty and who had

blood a transfusion before 1991, come forward for testing.

 

" The other priority - and the other reason to start speaking out about hep C -

is to prevent its transmission.

 

" We need a hell of lot more resources in awareness raising, and in challenging

the stupid stigma that surrounds hep C - this is just the same as the way that

stigma prevented people with HIV from getting a fair deal.

 

" The fact is, hepatitis C can affect anyone. It's passed on through

blood-to-blood contact - your blood or broken skin needs to come into contact

with someone else's blood.

 

" It doesn't seem to be passed on through sex very easily, (though this can

happen) but it can be transmitted through unsterilised equipment like syringes

and needles.

 

" Or as in my case, through blood transfusion before 1991 (when the NHS started

to test donated blood for the hep C virus).

 

" The other reason to start making a bigger noise about hep C is that there are

some promising treatments - conventional and alternative medicines seem to work

for different people and up to 50 per cent of people who get interferon

treatment get rid of the virus.

 

" We need to be focusing on effective treatments and making sure people get

access to them.

 

" One of the most positive things for me since being diagnosed is seeing the way

in which many people with hep C are taking control of their health and their

treatment.

 

" A group of people with hep C started The Hepatitis C Trust in 2001, and I've

just become a patron of the Trust.

 

" Their website was the first place I went when I was diagnosed. They are doing

brilliant work in trying to break the silence surrounding hep C, to make sure

that people with hep C get the services and treatment they need, and to link

people up to local support groups.

 

" Through them, I've been meeting other people with hep C, and having a bond and

common experience with other people in the same boat is really helpful to me.

 

" I'll be adding my voice to the work of The Hepatitis C Trust - and to the

voices of other people affected by hep C - in the period ahead.

 

" In a way, campaigning with The Hepatitis C Trust is business as usual for me.

 

" I've always felt that 'activism is my rent for living on this planet' and I've

always wanted to celebrate and protect the human body.

 

" In a way, speaking out about my hep C is just carrying on what I helped to

start at The Body Shop. Life has just taken a more interesting turn ... "

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

A Homeopath can help you recover from this disease. ng

 

Original Message -----

vergil

alternative_Medicine_Forum

Saturday, February 17, 2007 7:11 AM

Body shop's Anita Roddick suffering from

Hepatitis C

 

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=4361\

03 & in_page_id=1770