Has anyone ever heard of the 6 stages of hepatitis C?!


Question: Has anyone ever heard of the 6 stages of hepatitis C.?
A Doctor told my friend that there are 6 stages to the disease and he is in stage 3.Health Question & Answer


Answers:
The doctor who answered above said it correctly but probably not in terms that everyone else understood LOL
There ARE 4 or 6 stages of Hepatitis C depending upon the scale that is used when the biopsy is read by the pathologist. Then there are 4 grades within each stage. Transplant centers usually use 6 stages. Gastros and local hospitals use 4 stages (Knodell scale). You can access info on both at:
http://www.hepatitis-central.com/hcv/bio...
and http://www.hepatitis-central.com/hcv/liv...

Example: A stage 4, grade 1 would be early cirrhosis but a stage 4, grade 4 would be end stage cirrhosis on the Knodell scale.

In the *old days* with just the Knodell scale there were only 4 stages and 4 grades within each stage.

Has your friend considered doing treatment.? Has he talked with his doctor about all his options.? Is he going to make some healthy life style changes as this is a SLOW progressing disease.? If he is stage 3 out of 6 and has had this for a significant number of years (best guess) than he would be progressing very slowly. Stage 3 out of 4 is a bit more concerning and he should talk to his doctor about what to do next. This is not a one size fits all kind of disease and we all progress at different rates. I was an early stage 4 (cirrhosis) back in 1997 and I am still here. Hope your friend seeks good medical help and advice and takes care of himself.Health Question & Answer

Ummm, maybe he meant that he had stage 3 liver disease. Hepatitis in general has two phases, acute when the infection is new and you may have symptoms like jaundice, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, decreased appetite and itching. However, many people experience NO symptoms in the acute phase of Hep C.
The chronic phase is basically the virus setting up shop in your liver and causing progressive liver damage. Untreated Hep C can result in no problems, but, about 30% of those infected will go on to develop some form of chronic liver failure over a 20-30 year period. Of that 30%, about 10% will progress to terminal liver failure (due to cirrhosis) or develop a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma.
I am not sure what the doctor meant to convey to your friend, if that is what he indeed reported, and if your friend interpreted it correctly.
Health Question & Answer

there are not any distinct stages to hepatitis C infection.

what your doctor meant, was referring to a scoring system for your liver biopsy.Did you have a biopsy.? there are many different scoring systems for the interpretation of that biopsy

the goal of these scoring system is to give you a number that determines whether you need hepatitis C treatment or not. Depending on which scoring system they are using, a score of 3 might be good or bad.

you need to have your doctor discuss your liver biopsy results more thoroughly with you -- and he needs to tell you if , in his interpretation, you need treatment for your infection.Health Question & Answer

Here is a good link for you:
http://www.heppoworld.com/hepcoverview.h...
I do not believe they have actually separated the disease into stages, per se. However, there is an end stage which pretty much identifies itself.
Hope this is helpful.Health Question & Answer

I have Hep C. On my last visit to my GI doctor (June 2008), I asked him my life expectancy. He told me there are 4 stages of Hep C, each one lasts five years, I am in stage 2, therefore, I have ten years before end stage (which would be cirrhosis or cancer). Health Question & Answer



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