Baby boomers, take note: Three-quarters of all hepatitis C cases in the U.S. are in Americans born between 1945 and 1964. What’s more, 75 percent of the boomers who have Hep C don’t even know it because it typically has no symptoms and is often missed in standard blood tests.
Yet Hep C is the leading cause of liver cancer and the primary reason patients eventually require a liver transplant. What all these facts add up to is the need for every baby boomer in the U.S. to be tested for the virus and treated, if necessary, says Ilan S. Weisberg, M.D., director of hepatology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
In an interview on Newsmax TV’s “Meet The Doctors” program, Dr. Weisberg said health experts are stepping up efforts to spread the word on the need for Hep C testing.
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“Hepatitis C is a virus that specifically targets the liver … and it’s a virus that is actually the leading cause of all chronic liver disease in the United States,” notes Dr. Weisberg.
“In addition it’s the No. 1 reason in this country why people are referred for liver transplantation and it’s the No. 1 risk factor for developing liver cancer … [So] we have a big important mission right now to try to identify all the patients with hepatitis C so we can prevent [cancer] and cure them.”
Dr. Weisberg explains that about 20-30 percent of all people with Hep C will actually develop cirrhosis of the liver, which can take 20 years to 30 years to occur.
“But during that 20 to 30 year period the infection is completely asymptomatic, so patients rarely have any clue that they have the infection,” he adds. But once cirrhosis develops it increases the odds that a patient will develop liver cancer.
“It’s actually incredible but most people who I see with hepatitis C who are newly diagnosed, they come to me scratching their heads saying ‘I’ve gone to the doctor for the last 15 years and it’s never shown up in my blood, how is this possible?’ “ he notes.
“But it’s because the virus can evade detection, and it has no symptoms at all.”
That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all baby boomers be screened for Hep C, which can be spread through blood transfusions, I.V. drug needs, tattoos, and sexual activity.
A simple blood test can detect antibodies that indicate someone has been exposed to the virus.
“If you have been exposed … then you are referred to a liver specialist to confirm infection,” Dr. Weisberg says.
The latest treatment takes about 12 weeks and has a cure rate of up to 95 percent, he notes.
But the key is to get tested.
“Two years ago, CDC said all baby boomers should be screened for Hep C regardless of risk factors,” he adds.
“We are strongly recommending that all patients advocate for themselves and ask [their doctors] for a one-time Hep C antibody test … By offering one-time Hep C testing in the doctor’s office we can hopefully identify all of these cases.”
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