HCPLive
Rachel Lutz
Original Article: bit.ly/1Kp5xty
The best way to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is to acknowledge morbidity and mortality associated with the infection and to move forward from there, according to an editorial published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Marc G. Ghany, MD, MHSc of the Liver Diseases Branch at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health wrote the editorial in response to an article published in JAMA Internal Medicine. This suggested that after HCV infection, patients may experience a more rapid progression of liver fibrosis and accelerated time to develop cirrhosis than previously thought.
The study examined 1,840 persons who were HCV positive and an equal number of non HCV controls, and discovered, on average, HCV positive patients were generally younger, had a lower mean body mass index, a higher prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse and dependence diagnoses, and higher serum aminotransferase levels, but also had a lower prevalence of diabetes and hypertension.
Full text of article available at link below: bit.ly/1Kp5xty
