Veterans have a high rate of coinfection with Hep B

http://hepbblog.org/2015/11/11/the-veterans-administration-ignores-an-enemy-on-the-homefront-hepatitis-b/

I haven’t heard anybody say they’re on entecavir.

I bet the VA docs aren’t doing it.

Plus, I remember one of the hepatologists being asked which was thougher Hep B or Hep C and he said Hep B is a wimp, in the presence of Hep C, it usually hides.

This is not good for us.

P

Thanks. We got some help from the big advocates and getting media coverage has helped us tremendously.

Unfortunately, we will need to continue fighting. Congress gave the VA 1.5 billion to be used for treatment. The VA gets a discount from Gilead. They pay $41,000 for 12 weeks of Sof. So obviously when they say they will treat all Veterans they’re lying. One thing you can always count on with the VA is lies.

I’m attaching the official memo that says they will treat all and the “use of prioritization protocol to determine eligibility for treatment is no longer in effect” (You know, the prioritization protocol they denied having that said only treat Stage 4).

Then right below it says that even though they are not limiting treatment, facilities should make sure that the Stage 4’s get treated first….and if that is not prioritization I don’t know what is.

Last, but not least, it says the funding is for meds but they have no funding for staffing or laboratory testing.

Oh, come on, you didn’t really think they were ready to do the right thing, did you?

We still consider it great news. To all Veterans….now is the time to treat. If they deny you treatment, contact HCVets.com and let us know.

To all of you….thank you, for opening your hearts to people you didn’t even know. For including Veterans in your posts and helping us pass our message. To Dr Freeman because some of the info he posted was instrumental in the CBS story.

What’s next for us?

Apply pressure so they’ll let us use generics, of course. I’m talking to the other adviocates about generics…and just wait until I show them that the VA included Veterans in some of Gilead’s Sovaldi/Olysio studies back in May 2014 without telling them they were in studies (Sovaldi/Olysion got FDA approval Nov 2014). They were told the VA was “using sofosbuvir off label. I think the money they made from participating in studies should be used to treat the rest, don’t you think?…..(and people wonder why I walk around mad all the time….ha!)

P

Is it your big toe? Did you bump it or injure it in any way?? Is it painful? It would be very unusual for a circulatory problem to only affect one toe. I’m thinking it could be gout. I checked and Harvoni can cause high uric acid, resulting in gout. The great toe is a common area for gout.

P.

A.L….

My research partner said it best.

“Hepatitis C virus replication is glucose dependent”

http://hopefulgeranium.blogspot.com/2013/10/hepatitis-c-virus-replication-is.html

So I stand by what I said. Go ahead, prove me wrong.

P

You can lower your viral load before starting your next treatment by eliminating carbohydrates from your diet. Hep C is glucose dependent so taking its glucose source lowers viral load (Carbs turn into glucose).

This study proves it….

Microbiol Immunol. 2011 Nov;55(11):774-82. doi: 10.1111/j.1348-0421.2011.00382.x.
Inhibition of hepatitis C virus replication through adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase-dependent and -independent pathways.
Nakashima K, Takeuchi K, Chihara K, Hotta H, Sada K.
Source
Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathological Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine,
Abstract
Persistent infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is closely correlated with type 2 diabetes. In this study, replication of HCV at different glucose concentrations was investigated by using J6/JFH1-derived cell-adapted HCV in Huh-7.5 cells and the mechanism of regulation of HCV replication by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) as an energy sensor of the cell analyzed. REDUCING THE GLUCOSE CONCENTRATION IN THE CELL CULTURE MEDIUM FROM 4.5 to 1.0 g/L RESULTED IN SUPPRESSION OF HCV REPLICATION, along with activation of AMPK. Whereas treatment of cells with AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide 1-β-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR) suppressed HCV replication, compound C, a specific AMPK inhibitor, prevented AICAR’s effect, suggesting that AICAR suppresses the replication of HCV by activating AMPK in Huh-7.5 cells. In contrast, compound C induced further suppression of HCV replication when the cells were cultured in low glucose concentrations or with metformin. These results suggest that low glucose concentrations and metformin have anti-HCV effects independently of AMPK activation.

P

Here’s what a friend of mine (also a nurse) says

“It is a good choice because it is safe and doesn’t appear to interact with any hep C drugs. The tricks are to take it properly and to find the right dose, and in melatonin’s case – more is not necessarily better.”
http://forums.hepmag.com/index.php?topic=1323.0

But the link she listed didn’t work.

I took Melatonin over the counter pill and found it very difficult to wake up. I now use the liquid so that I can use only a few drops.

P