Hepatitis C Treatment

Hepatitis C treatment usually includes the drugs peginterferon and ribavirin. Peginterferon is given by injection once a week, and ribavirin is a pill taken twice daily. When these drugs are taken together, this is known as combination therapy. Treatment for hepatitis C is successful in about 50 percent of people with genotype 1 and in about 75 to 80 percent of people with genotype 2.

Hepatitis C Treatments

An Overview of Hepatitis C Treatment

Chronic hepatitis C is a condition that can lead to more and more liver damage over time. However, everyone's situation is a little different. So, before hepatitis C treatment is recommended, your healthcare provider will review the results of your blood work and other tests to determine several things, including:

The amount of virus in your body (see Hepatitis C Viral Load)
Its genotype (see Hepatitis C Genotypes)
How much liver damage has already occurred
Any other medical conditions you may have.

Then together, you and your healthcare provider can decide what hepatitis C treatment, if any, is best for you.

Current Treatments for Hepatitis C

Current hepatitis C treatment usually includes a couple of drugs called peginterferon and ribavirin.

Peginterferon, which is sold under the brand names of PEGASYS^® or Peg-Intron^®, can be used by itself or with ribavirin (COPEGUS^®, Rebetol^®). Using these drugs together is called combination therapy. Peginterferon is given by injection once a week, and ribavirin is a pill taken twice daily.

The goal of these hepatitis C treatment medications is to get rid of the hepatitis C virus completely. This is also called "clearing the virus." By clearing the virus, you may be able to bring down the swelling of the liver, stop the scarring and fibrosis, and possibly reverse some of the liver damage. It may also bring down the long-term risk of liver cancer.

(Hepatitis C Treatment Continued: Page 2)