Hepatitis C treatment considerations

When the decision about whether to begin treatment for hepatitis C needs to be made, many things are considered, such as:¹

• Age.
• Gender.
• Evidence of liver damage.
• How much hepatitis C virus is in the blood.
• Hepatitis C virus genotype.
• Other health conditions, such as mental illness or kidney disease.
• Alcohol use.
• Illegal drug use.

Your doctor is more likely to recommend treatment for chronic hepatitis C if:

• You have very high levels of hepatitis C virus in your blood.
• You have high levels of liver enzymes (such as alanine aminotransferase) in your blood.
• A biopsy shows liver damage has occurred.
• You are infected with a hepatitis C virus of genotype 2 or 3. Treatment is more likely to be successful with these genotypes.
• You do not have other factors that would make treatment more risky, such as:
  • Mental illness. Your illness could be made worse by treatment.
  • Continued alcohol or illegal drug use.
  • A weakened immune system.
  • Pregnancy. Treatment for hepatitis C is not recommended for pregnant women. The medicines could harm the fetus.

Citations

1. Berenguer M, Wright TL (2006). Hepatitis C. In M Feldman et al., eds., Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 8th ed., vol. 2, pp. 1681–1712. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.