In an article found on Physorg.com, there was an interesting result of the preliminary treatment performed on chimpanzees with chronic hep c. Unlike current pegylated interferon therapies, the viral levels did not rebound after the 12 week treatment. This is probably because an RNAi treatment does not allow a virus to mutate and develop resistance because the microRNA snippet is switching off the replication instructions. The other bonus is that it appears to help non-responders.

I look forward to following the progress of this therapy. Unfortunately, it still may be another 5 to 7 years out. There is always the possibility that it may never make it past Phase II trials. Of course, if successful this therapy would make my book obsolete, but I’m fine with that. My hope is that within a few years no one will have to deal with or worry about hepatitis C or other dangerous viruses like it ever again. Keep you hope alive!

Original Post from: Heal Hepatitis C

RNA Interference Treatment For Hep C One Step Closer

Thank you for your question, not only for trusting me to help, but inspiring me to get back into the swing of things.

Let’s Start Here!

First things first…let me assure you that your father does not have to suffer through treatment and does not have to as long as he is willing to put in a little extra effort.

It is so easy to find stories of person after person having a terrible time dealing with the medication. I can tell you from personal experience that not everyone has a bad experience for the drugs. There are things you can do to counteract, even eliminate the debilitating side effects talked about on almost every website.

In Chapters 7-11, I cover a full list of things your father can use to keep from feeling fatigued, nauseated, irritated, sore joints, headaches, itchy, anxious, and/or depressed. There is too much to list in one post, but I will cover the top 5 simple no-cost things he can do before and during treatment.

Don’t Be Fat

In my opinion, the best thing he can do before treatment is make sure he is close to a healthy weight at least three months prior to starting treatment. If I was him and was overweight, I would not attempt treatment…obesity raises the chances of Hep C treatment failure exponentially.

Get the Blood Pumping

The second suggestion I have, is that he needs to begin exercising his body somehow. Easy exercise like the habit of walking or jogging a few miles a day will give you a great natural boost of depression fighting chemicals and hormones. Lift a few weights every day and he will feel even better. Exercise helps pump massive amounts of blood (blood carrying the Hep C killing interferon) into ALL parts of the body where the virus can hide. Unfortunately, being overweight can many times cause certain parts of the body to react with inflammation. When body parts are inflamed, the blood supply is cut off and the Hep C drugs will not penetrate properly. The virus can also become trapped in the inflamed tissue and re-infect you once the treatment is finished.

Take Up Drinking As A Daily Pastime

The third thing I would do is start getting used to drinking a lot of water. That means drinking 12-16 ounces of water every hour for at least 10 hours a day. The treatment can be tough on the kidneys and the brain…constant hydration at this level will eliminate just about all side effects. Your body will be doing a lot of filtering and if you don’t add extra clean water to the system, the body will automatically steal it from your tissues like muscles, joints, organs, and brain. The side effects like severe aches, itching and headaches are all caused because there isn’t enough clean water in the system to process the drugs and filter out the infection. It also helps reduce inflammation.

Knock Yourself Out

The fourth thing he can do is get his sleep. If your father is accustomed to going to bed at 11 and waking up at 6, then going to bed at least one to two hours earlier is going to make a huge difference. Every 15 minutes earlier you go to sleep the more effective the body is at fighting infection…it all has to do with hormones. Sleep keeps the mind in tip top shape.

When In Rome, Eat As The Romans Do

Finally, make a diet change for at least 2-3 months. Switch to a Mediterranean diet or partial vegetarian diet just before starting treatment. Iron intake is tough on the liver. Beef, lamb, and pork supply a lot of hemoglobin based iron into your body which is very easy to absorb. You don’t want this. You want to make it easy for your liver to function as possible. The biggest benefit you’ll find when you’re on this new diet is that you will feel like you have so much more energy. You will discover that fatigue is not much of a problem.

As stated earlier, I go into more detail in my book which also covers several nutritional supplements and herbal supplements you can use to keep you body in balance. This is the real key and your goal when doing treatment – Balance. You have to realize that these drugs do help you fight the infection, but they are such high dosages that your body “freaks out” trying desperately to regain its balance.

Clean Your Filters

Think of your body like a car, but one that can automatically diagnose and fix itself. Before you start treatment, you need to make sure all the pumps work properly (heart and glands), all your filtering systems are clean (liver, kidneys, pancreas, lungs and lymph nodes), and that you are putting enough of the right kind of lubricants (water and nutrients) and fuel (proteins and sugars) into the engine.

Successful treatment is directly related to keeping a healthy and balanced lifestyle even if you only do it for a year to year and a few months. So to finally answer the original question from our recent commenter, yes, your father will be fine and have a successful and bearable treatment if he is willing to make some easy temporary life changes. If you have more questions…I will make an effort to be here so keep em’ coming.

Original Post from: Heal Hepatitis C

Top 5 Free Things You Can Do To Help Make Hep C Treatment Successful

It is also the most amazing, since it processes almost every chemical that is absorbed by the body. Heart disease is a confusing concept because it is actually the liver that causes it. Contrary to what we learn from various television commercials for the countless pharmaceutical cholesterol drugs on the market, the balance of HDL and LDL cholesterol is controlled by your liver.

Your liver produces cholesterol on its own even if you watch what you eat this is only one of its major functions. If it didn’t your nervous system would break down. So it’s not really that cholesterol is bad, but that an excess of cholesterol is bad for you. Genetics plays a major role in how your body manages cholesterol. There is a gene that produces a recently discovered enzyme called PCSK9. Normally your body’s cells bind to LDL cholesterol and remove it from the body. Unfortunately, PCSK9 binds to the same parts of a cell that LDL cholesterol does. The more PCSK9 enzyme, the less cholesterol is removed from the body.

Enter a company called Alnylam, they have been around since 2005 and have been working on the Rosetta Stone of human drugs…RNAi therapy. The reason I mention this company is because this therapy will make a Hepatitis C infection a thing of the past. Their RNAi drugs are designed to go in and alter specific parts of your genes or viruses and turn them off. This will affect all viruses, HCV, HIV, HPV, HSV, and RSV. Turn off the virus’ replication switch and you end their ability to sustain an infection. This is very exciting stuff!

Besides working on a drug for Hepatitis C, Alnylam is working on a way to reduce LDL cholesterol by switching off the gene that produces PCSK9 in your body. So far the test results have been amazing, the only caveat is you will need to take it by injection…but that’s nothing new to people who suffer from Hep C.

So keep your eyes on them and be sure to send them an email to express your interest in them pushing their Hepatitis C drug to the front of their drug development pipeline. You can read more about their discoveries here.

Also keep in mind that liver disease can increase your chances of heart disease, so if you have not been treated for Hepatitis C or treatment failed your chances of a heart attack or stroke increase. Control your LDL with diet and exercise.

Original Post from: Heal Hepatitis C

Do You Blame Your Liver Or Genes For Heart Disease?

Hey, there’s a great idea for a new song she could sing!

Un-de-tectable, that’s what you are…

Un-de-tectable though near or far…

That’s why baby, it’s incredible…

That you are so un-de-tectable…

Hope everyone else is undetectable too…

Everybody now, sing! LOL!

Other celebrities that have or had Hepatitis C:

• Pamela Anderson
• Steven Tyler
• Naomi Judd
• Marianne Faithfull

I guess becoming a singer/celebrity can be bad for your liver!

Original Post from: Heal Hepatitis C

Natalie Cole’s Hepatitis C Treatment Going Well