How many people in the united states have hepatitis c ?

Question

I have a family member with hepatitis c and I am sure that person is not alone ,how can I help this person and were is a web site to find out info,plus support,any health tips?

Answer 1

There are lots of support groups online or in person. Our support group is hepatitis c-objectives- there is a lot of medical research as well as just helping those out, telling jokes and just life stuff in general.

Your local hospital will more than likely have a support group meeting one to 2 times a month.

HCV affects more than 4 million in the United States alone. Half of those do not know they have it because symptoms often mimic other illnesses or the symptoms are so vague and tests not clear enough that doctors dismiss them as seperate health related issues.

So, with that being said everyone should be tested, however, the issue is that many doctors just look at the standard liver panel- alt and ast levels don't always show elevations and this is one reason why so many go undiagnosed.

There are over 150 extrahepatic diseases that vary from person to person.

The main ones are:

Depression

Fibromyalgia

Brain fog

A sense something isn't right

Skin rashes

Hair loss

Often many go misdiagnosed as just having depression (or other mental diagnosis)

Good luck! And your right.....your family member is not alone!

GET TESTED- the earlier you treat (lower the viral load) the better chance of a sustained response!.

Answer 2

There are 4 million reported cases in the US but the number is much closer to 5. One of the best online support groups I found after being diagnosed was http://www,dailystrength.com They have a place where you can talk to doctors, journal online privately or public, add photos, videos, a discussion board, and much more. I made some wonderful friends there. I have advanced to liver cancer and can't travel so several of them came to Kentucky to meet me from all over the US in April. We had a wonderful time. There are some great people there and someone can answer your question because I guarantee either someone has been where your family member is or will be. Also, there are over 500 communitees there so if they do start dealing with other issues such as cirrhosis there is a support group for that too. Currently the hepatitis c group has many members. I have a couple of  videos about HCV they may want to watch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4TCo-qVo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOGrMR4bi...

God Bless.