Hepatitis C – Cure

Transcript

Once you are considered cured from hepatitis C infection, there are a few things to keep in mind. One is that having had Hep C infection does not protect you against future infection. What that means is that you can get the infection again, if you were to get exposed to it. Another thing to know is that if you already have significant liver damage at the point of treatment. Being cured of hepatitis C infection, unfortunately does not reverse the damage that has been done. What that means is that you will need to undergo ultrasound study of your liver every six months to screen for liver cancer. This is one of the reasons why the medical community is making a big push to get people tested and treated. Whenever you are accumulating damage to an organ over time, you typically run a high risk of cancer developing in that organ. And the same principle applies to liver that has been infected by hepatitis C, aside from screening for liver cancer twice a year with ultrasound, you may also need to undergo upper endoscopy once in a while to make sure that you have not developed any viruses in your esophagus, which can cause very serious, gastrointestinal bleeding.