The Voices of Hepatitis

StephenW

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/the-voices-of-hepatitis/?partner=rss&emc=rss
December 14, 2010, 1:54 pmThe Voices of HepatitisBy KAREN BARROWMichal Czerwonka for The New York Times Will Green contracted hepatitis as a child, but didn’t get a formal diagnosis until he was 30.
One in 20 people will come into contact with hepatitis virus at some point, but fortunately, only a small percentage develop a lasting case of the disease. Still, millions suffer from a chronic form of hepatitis.
The different forms of hepatitis virus are lettered hepatitis A, B, C, D and E — with different courses and outcomes for each type of infection. In today’s Patient Voices segment, we hear from six men and women who are living with either hepatitis B or hepatitis C, which cause chronic hepatitis.
Gail Brown, 57, believes she contracted hepatitis C when she was actively using intravenous drugs. It wasn’t until she became sober at age 39 that she realized the damage hepatitis had done to her liver.
“The insidious part of the disease is that you are symptom free until your liver becomes severely damaged,” she said. It took five years for Ms. Brown to receive a liver transplant. That, and years of antiviral treatment, has helped her body fight off the effects of the virus.
Arline Loh, 61, an Asian immigrant, contracted the hepatitis B virus from her mother at birth. However, she was not tested for it until she was 39, after she had already transmitted the virus to her three children. Now, Ms. Loh is as an outreach volunteer for Cornell Medical Center in New York and works to educate others about the importance of testing and vaccination against hepatitis B.
“The Asians don’t like to talk about the disease because of the stigma,” she said. “They are so afraid if they tell anyone they will lose all their friends.” The American Liver Foundation estimates that chronic hepatitis B affects one in 10 Asian-Americans, though the virus can be transmitted to anyone through blood exchange or sexual relations.
To hear more, listen to all the voices of hepatitis. And please join the discussion below.

zkl521999

Thanks for sharing the website！

StephenW

回复 zkl521999 的帖子

Will Green, the guy in the picture, actually wrote a book on Hepatitis B, a few years ago.

11号宅男

跟贴中很多人谈到了基因型(genotype)，请问这个该怎么测呢？烦请知道的战友给个连接。

StephenW

回复 11号宅男 的帖子

Hope this help.

What is an HBV Genotype?
There are different strains or types of the hepatitis B virus
(HBV for short) called genotypes. The HBV genotypes
are labeled as letters – HBV genotype A through H. In
the United States the most common genotypes are A,
B, C and D. The other genotypes E through H are also
found in the United States, but not as many people have
them. A blood test is needed to find out what genotype
you have. In China, the most common strains are type B and type C. You may request a test of your HBV strain at a hospital that has the equipment to do it. It is not a common test.
Genotype information is important to know for a couple
of reasons:
• Interferon and pegylated (long-acting) interferon
medicines work better in people who have HBV
genotypes A and B – it doesn’t seem to matter what
HBV genotype you have if you take antiviral HBV
medications in a pill form.
• HBV genotype may play a role in how quickly or slowly
the liver is damaged, but more studies are needed to
confirm this theory

11号宅男

谢谢Stephen

wonder4078

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