What Is Compliance to Therapy?
Healthcare providers sometimes use the words "compliance" or "adherence" to mean that a person is taking his or her medication exactly how the nurse, doctor, or pharmacist explained it.
People with good compliance stick to their
hepatitis C treatment plan by taking their ribavirin pills twice a day and their peginterferon injection every week.
The two medications in combination therapy work together to help the immune system destroy the
hepatitis C virus (HCV). Because of this, it is important for patients to have good adherence by taking their medications correctly. This ensures that enough of each drug in the person's body at all times.
If doses of the ribavirin pills are skipped, the peginterferon has to fight the HCV on its own. When the peginterferon is used alone, it is not as powerful. This gives the
hepatitis C virus a chance to keep multiplying. In the same way, if a person misses an injection of the peginterferon or takes it a couple days late, then the ribavirin is not as strong and the treatment may be less effective. Therefore, it is important that both drugs are taken on time and exactly as prescribed.
It is also important not to take too much of the medications. Just because a certain dose of medicine is effective does not mean that taking more will be better. In fact, taking too much medication can make a person very sick, and can be harmful to important parts of the body, such as the heart, blood, and even the liver.
The best way to help the immune system destroy the HCV is to take the medications at the right time and in the right amount -- not too early and not too late, not too little and not too much. When taken as directed, the drugs can work both day and night to help the immune system destroy the hepatitis C virus.
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