Re: Am I selfish??????

June 15, 2006

Hi Tamara...sorry about your sister...

Hep C is not in body fluids...blood to blood contact is necessary

for its spread, (it uses your blood for transport to the liver, but uses

the DNA in the liver cells to replicate, so thats where it likes to hang out)

and if you think about it...thats pretty unlikely in

a normal setting. If you have open cuts on your hands or something

you may want to pay closer attention to open sores that she may

have..

My brother is HIV positive and has Hep C, and I have been helping

to care for him for quite a long time, although he is not disabled because

of either of those things...he had a stroke 5 years ago, and needs help

with stuff now because of that.

He has been HIV pos since 1985 and is 41 now.

We have lived together over the years off and on, and nothing

has ever come of it.

We were patients in the same hospital as children, and both had emergency

surgery there, and thats where we got the Hep C.

(Personally ....im not convinced its a virus at all...but thats another

story.)

How old is your sister? and how long has she been fighting this?

If you don't my asking.

June 15, 2006

Info is everywhere, I suggest simply Googling and go

from there. As for being selfish, you know when you

are - so dont be. Treat your sis the best you can,

youll be glad you did. md

--- Hepatitis C

<tamara9269@...> wrote:

> My sister has hep b and c and has just moved in with

us, because she is unable to care for herself now. She

is terminal, and it is only a matter or time, the Dr.s

have quit giving her taps and she is in her last

stages. However, I am scared to death that I may

contract this through body fluids. Whats the risk and

where can I get info? Am I being selfish? Tamara Brown

>

> __________________________________________________

>

June 15, 2006

, Id love to hear your thoughts about is it a

virus or whatever. Some things dont make sense to me

or dont square up with my experience. Talk to me, md

--- Hepatitis C

<Aprilcupcake@...> wrote:

> Hi Tamara...sorry about your sister...

>

> Hep C is not in body fluids...blood to blood contact

is necessary

> for its spread, (it uses your blood for transport to

the liver, but uses

> the DNA in the liver cells to replicate, so thats

where it likes to hang out)

> and if you think about it...thats pretty unlikely

in

> a normal setting. If you have open cuts on your

hands or something

> you may want to pay closer attention to open sores

that she may

> have..

>

> My brother is HIV positive and has Hep C, and I have

been helping

> to care for him for quite a long time, although he

is not disabled because

> of either of those things...he had a stroke 5 years

ago, and needs help

> with stuff now because of that.

> He has been HIV pos since 1985 and is 41 now.

> We have lived together over the years off and on,

and nothing

> has ever come of it.

> We were patients in the same hospital as children,

and both had emergency

> surgery there, and thats where we got the Hep C.

> (Personally ....im not convinced its a virus at

all...but thats another

> story.)

>

> How old is your sister? and how long has she been

fighting this?

> If you don't my asking.

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

removed]

>

__________________________________________________

June 16, 2006

Hello again...

There are many things in my experience that are suspicious...that would

be

a very long story..

Mainly after diagnosis I was sent to the THE UNIVERSTITY...hepatology clinic.

They made it sound very ominous and very elite...

It was a brand new wing in a major teaching hospital in the city near where I

live.

An amazingly beautiful building...($$$$$$$)

The clinic personnel were very cold for the most part...and distant. No one

ever looked

me in the eye...thats weird in a place that is supposed to exude compassion..

I was never touched by anyone in " gloves " even when blood was drawn, no

gloves.

(if Im so toxic, you would think that they would be more careful)???

After all of the additional testing they talked me into..ultrasound, biopsy

etc...

all very expensive of course...and I paid out of pocket (no insurance, but I

did

not tell them that up front)

They said they would give me copies of results when I asked for them..but to

this day...two years later..they still have not gotten them to me.

I wanted to see the lab report on the viral load and genotype stuff...and

pictures

of the ultrasound, and written report on the biopsy.

Theres always a delay.. The doctor who did the biopsy, just talked about her

findings while she was doing it...there was a microscope in the room with us.

I asked her if I could look, and she basically told me that I would not know

what I was looking at, so It would be of no consequence.

Treatment was an assumption of theirs and they scheduled a consultation

with the director of that...When I let them know that I did not have insurance

I was given the card of another man...in a different section of the hospital.

(the free clinic) I called to set up an appointment with him...and the nurse

asked if I was having symptoms..I said not really aside from some fatigue.

She mailed me some pamphlets, and a website directory.

That was the end of it...treatment isnt really an option for those who

cannot pay for it, and it doesnt work anyway...everyone relapses.

(treatment then was 33 thousand dollars a year)

To me it seemed like one big racket...identify people with certain antibody

markers...and shuffle them into a money making program...and by the

way...to this day no one has been able to culture this virus in a lab

for study.???? ( it has to have a living host is why they say)

The testing relies on the counting of fragmented RNA tails...every cell in our

body contains RNA who's to say that the fragments are foreign.

Interestingly enough we share the same basic DNA structure as bacteria

and fungi.

Who knows whats really true, I'm certainly not qualified to make difinitive

judgments...but I do know that we all need to start asking hard questions,

and demand answers. Answers that make sense to us...and the proof

to back it up. As a society we are groomed, and expected to trust and

respect authority...to not question...and that gets us into trouble!

You can learn anything a specialist can learn...if you can read.

Take care..

June 16, 2006

Tamara, So many people in the hospitals are taking care of patient. If they

would start think that they may be infected then no body would be there to look

after any body. Every body has to go one day. be stood with your sister. Take

care her maximum. You will get reward from GOD. You should not leave your near

and dear. Think, it could be you, who knows at what time and from where one gets

infected. I wish for your sister peace. saleem

Tamara Brown <tamara9269@...> wrote: My sister has hep b and c

and has just moved in with us, because she is unable to care for herself now.

She is terminal, and it is only a matter or time, the Dr.s have quit giving her

taps and she is in her last stages. However, I am scared to death that I may

contract this through body fluids. Whats the risk and where can I get info? Am I

being selfish? Tamara Brown

__________________________________________________

June 17, 2006

Or...maybe that specialist knew too much.

There have been a couple of those who have published

controversial material online etc...in effort to avoid mainstream

media (which is highly regulated for content by the government)

That have just evaporated.

I believe I saved one on my computer that I will try to post

here...very interesting.

June 17, 2006

I also had a very, very hard time getting my results

after my first biopsy in 1998. This was from a

specialist in New Orleans. When I finally got my

results (after several months) I was told I was going

to be put on a trial list for treatment and that I

would be contacted. Months passed, I was never

called...I called back to ask them about it, was told

the same thing. Months passed again. And was never

called. When I saw my general practitioner, he asked

me about the trials. I told him about the situation

and asked him to refer me to another specialist. He

insisted that I see the guy in New Orleans since he

was supposed to be so great. I relented, the doctor

called the specialist, told him I was going to get on

yet another waiting list. And, surprise! No call.

I'm seeing an entirely different specialist now who is

great. He's at Oschner in New Orleans.

I don't know what happened to the amazing disappearing

specialist. He wrote a marginally famous diet book

around that time, so I suppose he was busy with that.

__________________________________________________

June 19, 2006

Hi your experience isn't surprising. The big teaching hospital treat you like

you are just a walking liver or whatever else is wrong. If you question their

judgement you are labeled a difficult patient. I went thru all the testing

never found out my genone type even after it was requested on all my testing.

Had a history of depression, the three specialist I saw 2 of them said no way,

with the peg-infron.

The one that was going to be in charge of my care was all for doing .

I know of one famous Cancer hospital that does all types of work on you and if

your not responding, they discharge you so you not under their care when you do

die. My friend said they used her father like a lab rat and then sent him home

to die. I got my Hepc from a transfusion. I have had ten in my life time. It

was alway ob/gyn stuff and usually need the blood because my pressure dropped.

Neither of my children have it so I know I got it during a hystercomy. I firmly

believe that blood is like any other organ that is transplanted, you suffer from

infections while your body is rejecting a foreign body in it. I not only got

HepC, but asthma as well and allergies. The blood industry is criminal between

HIV and HepC and they still let people come in and sell their blood, people who

are in need on money to live on. They buy blood from the poorest countries and

sell it to make a profit. And profit is what they want.

Aprilcupcake@... wrote: Hello again...

There are many things in my experience that are suspicious...that would

be

a very long story..

Mainly after diagnosis I was sent to the THE UNIVERSTITY...hepatology clinic.

They made it sound very ominous and very elite...

It was a brand new wing in a major teaching hospital in the city near where I

live.

An amazingly beautiful building...($$$$$$$)

The clinic personnel were very cold for the most part...and distant. No one

ever looked

me in the eye...thats weird in a place that is supposed to exude compassion..

I was never touched by anyone in " gloves " even when blood was drawn, no

gloves.

(if Im so toxic, you would think that they would be more careful)???

After all of the additional testing they talked me into..ultrasound, biopsy

etc...

all very expensive of course...and I paid out of pocket (no insurance, but I

did

not tell them that up front)

They said they would give me copies of results when I asked for them..but to

this day...two years later..they still have not gotten them to me.

I wanted to see the lab report on the viral load and genotype stuff...and

pictures

of the ultrasound, and written report on the biopsy.

Theres always a delay.. The doctor who did the biopsy, just talked about her

findings while she was doing it...there was a microscope in the room with us.

I asked her if I could look, and she basically told me that I would not know

what I was looking at, so It would be of no consequence.

Treatment was an assumption of theirs and they scheduled a consultation

with the director of that...When I let them know that I did not have insurance

I was given the card of another man...in a different section of the hospital.

(the free clinic) I called to set up an appointment with him...and the nurse

asked if I was having symptoms..I said not really aside from some fatigue.

She mailed me some pamphlets, and a website directory.

That was the end of it...treatment isnt really an option for those who

cannot pay for it, and it doesnt work anyway...everyone relapses.

(treatment then was 33 thousand dollars a year)

To me it seemed like one big racket...identify people with certain antibody

markers...and shuffle them into a money making program...and by the

way...to this day no one has been able to culture this virus in a lab

for study.???? ( it has to have a living host is why they say)

The testing relies on the counting of fragmented RNA tails...every cell in our

body contains RNA who's to say that the fragments are foreign.

Interestingly enough we share the same basic DNA structure as bacteria

and fungi.

Who knows whats really true, I'm certainly not qualified to make difinitive

judgments...but I do know that we all need to start asking hard questions,

and demand answers. Answers that make sense to us...and the proof

to back it up. As a society we are groomed, and expected to trust and

respect authority...to not question...and that gets us into trouble!

You can learn anything a specialist can learn...if you can read.

Take care..

June 19, 2006

Absolutely true..and it is NO mistake that blood, and blood products are

highly

regulated by the FDA...

We are very complicated organisms...and our immune systems are set up to

destroy any foreign protein those immune cells come into contact with..

Part of our innate immune response, to be able to distinguish between self,

and non self..

I think that merely exposing ourself to a different, non self protein sets us

up for

the same thing any " virus " might.

During emergency surgery, for example...there is no time to adequately cross

match

blood..that takes 45 minutes minimum.

There is only time for the 3 minute typing procedure.

Just because you share the same " type " does not mean you are identical, and

a safe match...no two people produce the same proteins!

this has to have disastrous results in the long run...because while the

protein is

" non-self " it could be close enough that we start attacking our own tissues

because

they are just similar enough to the invader that the immune response never

turns off.

So after exposure to someone elses " proteins " ..any highly perfused organ or

gland

will be affected by it. Your liver is a gland...your brain is a gland...your

spleen, your

pancreas, your thyroid.

Ask anyone with a Hep C diagnosis if they have other glandular complications

such

as insulin problems, or metabolic (thyroid) problems etc...and I would bank

they

have several.

Does it have to be a virus???? or could it just be that we are all

incompatible,

no matter how close you think you are as far as type goes..and we cannot mix

our proteins with out creating problems.

And drug users mix proteins...(sharing needles) as do those who get tattoos

and piercings.

Sharing toothbrushes and razors etc..just a bunch of mixing of proteins...

Even sexual practices that we were not meant to engage in...(sorry for the

graphics)

as in anal sex...exposes us to foreign proteins that were not meant to

be in certain places. There are no built in protections there...its an " exit

only " .

Aside from helpful bacteria that live around the opening (which we scrub away

everyday)

Its not protected like other openings are...and those proteins can pass

directly

through the lining of the digestive tract, and into the blood...

Unlike the ones we eat that first have to get past enzymes in our saliva, and

our

stomach acid...( good luck!)

The acid environment of the female vagina protects us as well...female and

male

alike. (we cant give you what we dont have)

But, once that environment is breached with the delivery of a baby for

example,

that is not followed by adequate healing...( but how soon do we start having

sex after that???? too soon)

leads to letting these proteins in again through the tears in the walls of

the

the vagina.

We also were not designed to copulate as much as we do...we use sex for

recreation now as a society, and we are setting ourselves up for trouble.

We are the only species on the planet that have sex for non reproductive

purposes...and consider how much disease we have in relation to other animals.

Theres a reason that other animals mate in " season " ...and are basically

separate the rest of the time.

A good deal of what happens to us, is a result of our lack of education with

respect to how our bodies work in general...and then some of it comes from

those who would take adavantage of that for profit...

I truly believe that there would be a much higher " cure " rate if the income

potential

of the " treatment " were not so great.

If everyone were cured...or well to begin with, who would be making any money?

June 19, 2006

Hi Kathleen,

What you said reminded me of this article I read a few

years ago.

New York Times

January 29, 1999

Suit Says Canada Imported Tainted Blood From U.S.

Inmates

By ANTHONY DEPALMA

A group of Canadians who claim they were infected by

tainted blood products collected from prisoners in the

United States filed a $660 million lawsuit today

against the Canadian Government and several private

companies for failing to adequately safeguard the

blood supply.

The class-action suit charges Ottawa with neglect for

failing to keep out blood plasma collected in Arkansas

prisons in the early 1980's after health officials in

the United States had already determined that using

such products was ''imprudent'' because there was a

high risk of infection. At the time there was no test

to indicate the presence of hepatitis C.

The Canadian Red Cross had stopped collecting plasma

from inmates in Canadian prisons in the early 1970's

because of hepatitis.

Also charged in the suit, filed in the Ontario Court

of Justice in Toronto today, is a commercial blood

broker in Montreal that imported the prison plasma,

its American associates and the Toronto laboratory

that used the plasma to manufacture a medication

called clotting factor, which hemophiliacs need to

control bleeding.

''When I read about it in the papers, I was just

appalled,'' said McCarthy, 39, a hemophiliac

from Sebringville, Ontario, who used clotting factor

in the early 1980's that contained tainted plasma from

Arkansas. Mr. McCarthy is lead plaintiff in the suit,

which seeks compensation for about 1,000 hemophiliacs

who contracted hepatitis C from 1980 to 1985. ''There

has to be some questions asked about the role of some

people who allowed this activity to continue,'' he

said.

Today's lawsuit is the latest development in a long

and painful episode involving the deaths or infections

of thousands of Canadians who received tainted blood

from a number of sources in the 1980's.

The Government established a panel to investigate the

scandal. In its report in December 1997, the panel

laid out a long list of mistakes, oversights and

careless procedures that allowed the infections to

spread though the population.

As a result, the Canadian Red Cross has been forced to

declare bankruptcy and has been removed from the

direct collection of blood. Thousands of Canadians who

contracted AIDS from tainted blood between 1986 and

1990 and their families have already been compensated

by the Government. Thousands more who have hepatitis C

or who were infected before 1986 are demanding

Government assistance.

The prisons were not the only suspected source of

tainted blood, but the disclosure that suspect blood

from American inmates had infiltrated Canada has

stirred outrage here since it was first revealed

during hearings by the panel in 1995.

According to the panel's final report, blood plasma

that never should have been collected from certain

inmates at the Cummins prison at Grady, Ark., was

shipped to Canada in 1983 even though all American

blood processors by then refused to accept prison

blood products.

Byus, administrator of medical services for the

Arkansas prison for 21 years, said there is no

question the plasma should never have been collected

from inmates who had tested positive for hepatitis B.

But he says he does not think Arkansas is responsible

for what happened in Canada. ''No I don't think that

we have any involvement,'' he said. ''But do I feel

like we did anything wrong? Yes, there were errors.''

Arkansas had one of the largest plasma collection

programs of any prison system in the United States,

producing 300 to 500 units of plasma every weekend, he

said.

Collecting plasma is more complicated than collecting

whole blood. A unit of blood drawn from a donor is put

into a centrifuge. The plasma then is spun off,

leaving the rest to be returned to the donor. The

plasma is used to manufacture various products,

including the clotting factor that hemophiliacs need

because of a deficiency caused by their disease.

Mr. Byus said the Arkansas plasma collection program,

which continued until 1994, was a way for inmates to

earn from $7 to $10 for each donation. But Food and

Drug Administration inspectors regularly recorded

problems with the way the program was handled. And

despite controls, inmates who should have been

prevented from taking part were accepted, probably

because they bribed or offered favors to other inmates

who administered the program, Mr. Byus said.

In the early 1980's, before a definitive test to

detect the AIDS virus was available, the presence of

Hepatitis B was considered a strong indicator of AIDS.

The prison regularly sold plasma to Continental Pharma

Cryosan Inc., a blood broker in Montreal that sold

blood products around the world. At least 72 units of

questionable plasma collected from five Arkansas

inmates in 1982 and 1983 were sold to the Montreal

company.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405EFDF1F39F93AA15752C0A96F95826\

0 & sec=health & pagewanted=print

__________________________________________________

June 19, 2006

Thanks for that information, I understand that people in England, are making

headway on getting help with their HepC. I had a dear friend, who died of Aids

I read this book called The River, a lot to techincal stuff but interesting and

horrific at the same time. I learned a lot about the blood industry and pharm.

industry. And all very interesting.

Janelle <warugi23@...> wrote: Hi Kathleen,

What you said reminded me of this article I read a few

years ago.

New York Times

January 29, 1999

Suit Says Canada Imported Tainted Blood From U.S.

Inmates

By ANTHONY DEPALMA

A group of Canadians who claim they were infected by

tainted blood products collected from prisoners in the

United States filed a $660 million lawsuit today

against the Canadian Government and several private

companies for failing to adequately safeguard the

blood supply.

The class-action suit charges Ottawa with neglect for

failing to keep out blood plasma collected in Arkansas

prisons in the early 1980's after health officials in

the United States had already determined that using

such products was ''imprudent'' because there was a

high risk of infection. At the time there was no test

to indicate the presence of hepatitis C.

The Canadian Red Cross had stopped collecting plasma

from inmates in Canadian prisons in the early 1970's

because of hepatitis.

Also charged in the suit, filed in the Ontario Court

of Justice in Toronto today, is a commercial blood

broker in Montreal that imported the prison plasma,

its American associates and the Toronto laboratory

that used the plasma to manufacture a medication

called clotting factor, which hemophiliacs need to

control bleeding.

''When I read about it in the papers, I was just

appalled,'' said McCarthy, 39, a hemophiliac

from Sebringville, Ontario, who used clotting factor

in the early 1980's that contained tainted plasma from

Arkansas. Mr. McCarthy is lead plaintiff in the suit,

which seeks compensation for about 1,000 hemophiliacs

who contracted hepatitis C from 1980 to 1985. ''There

has to be some questions asked about the role of some

people who allowed this activity to continue,'' he

said.

Today's lawsuit is the latest development in a long

and painful episode involving the deaths or infections

of thousands of Canadians who received tainted blood

from a number of sources in the 1980's.

The Government established a panel to investigate the

scandal. In its report in December 1997, the panel

laid out a long list of mistakes, oversights and

careless procedures that allowed the infections to

spread though the population.

As a result, the Canadian Red Cross has been forced to

declare bankruptcy and has been removed from the

direct collection of blood. Thousands of Canadians who

contracted AIDS from tainted blood between 1986 and

1990 and their families have already been compensated

by the Government. Thousands more who have hepatitis C

or who were infected before 1986 are demanding

Government assistance.

The prisons were not the only suspected source of

tainted blood, but the disclosure that suspect blood

from American inmates had infiltrated Canada has

stirred outrage here since it was first revealed

during hearings by the panel in 1995.

According to the panel's final report, blood plasma

that never should have been collected from certain

inmates at the Cummins prison at Grady, Ark., was

shipped to Canada in 1983 even though all American

blood processors by then refused to accept prison

blood products.

Byus, administrator of medical services for the

Arkansas prison for 21 years, said there is no

question the plasma should never have been collected

from inmates who had tested positive for hepatitis B.

But he says he does not think Arkansas is responsible

for what happened in Canada. ''No I don't think that

we have any involvement,'' he said. ''But do I feel

like we did anything wrong? Yes, there were errors.''

Arkansas had one of the largest plasma collection

programs of any prison system in the United States,

producing 300 to 500 units of plasma every weekend, he

said.

Collecting plasma is more complicated than collecting

whole blood. A unit of blood drawn from a donor is put

into a centrifuge. The plasma then is spun off,

leaving the rest to be returned to the donor. The

plasma is used to manufacture various products,

including the clotting factor that hemophiliacs need

because of a deficiency caused by their disease.

Mr. Byus said the Arkansas plasma collection program,

which continued until 1994, was a way for inmates to

earn from $7 to $10 for each donation. But Food and

Drug Administration inspectors regularly recorded

problems with the way the program was handled. And

despite controls, inmates who should have been

prevented from taking part were accepted, probably

because they bribed or offered favors to other inmates

who administered the program, Mr. Byus said.

In the early 1980's, before a definitive test to

detect the AIDS virus was available, the presence of

Hepatitis B was considered a strong indicator of AIDS.

The prison regularly sold plasma to Continental Pharma

Cryosan Inc., a blood broker in Montreal that sold

blood products around the world. At least 72 units of

questionable plasma collected from five Arkansas

inmates in 1982 and 1983 were sold to the Montreal

company.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405EFDF1F39F93AA15752C0A96F95826\

0 & sec=health & pagewanted=print

__________________________________________________

June 20, 2006

What a coincidence. I just saw The Origins of AIDS documentary a few

weeks ago. It features Hooper, author of The River, and his

ideas. I thought it was interesting that one of the leading

scientists in Kisangani, Osterrieth, was also researching

hepatitis.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n09/letters.html

>

> Thanks for that information, I understand that people in England,

are making headway on getting help with their HepC. I had a dear

friend, who died of Aids

> I read this book called The River, a lot to techincal stuff but

interesting and horrific at the same time. I learned a lot about the

blood industry and pharm. industry. And all very interesting.

>

June 21, 2006

Interesting link...thanks.

I was recently reading some information about Tetanus vaccination, and

was horrified to know that it used to be prepared with Horse serum..

prior to 1978..that was abandonned after serious immune function

problems were identified..

Who knows what else we have potentially been exposed to....scary.

June 22, 2006

Our liver is incredibly resiliant...it can even regenerate if it has been

surgically

altered!

So, yes the progression of this disease can be very, very slow...which is

about

the only GOOD thing that comes with it.

The progession depends on YOU and how well you care for yourself once

you have been made aware that you have it.

Your liver performs over 500 different functions for you! And if it is

constantly

working overtime removing junk that it should not have to...then doing all of

the other important things it needs to will not be a priority.

Best thing you can do is keep its environment as clean as possible.

When deciding what is junk and what is not simply ask yourself where

it came from. Is it found in nature? If you were a human in your natural

" habitat " would you have access to it? Would you be attracted to it?

And how DEAD is it? (shelf life?) The more dead it is, the less it can

do for you.

Especially those things of a chemical nature. I know there are some

chemicals that cause harm to us that we have little control over, but

there are plenty that we can say no to.

" Just because you CAN do or have something...doesnt mean that you SHOULD " .

It all depends on how well you want to live, and feel under this little black

cloud

of Hepatitis.

Detox concoctions don't really make any sense to me...your liver is your

" detox "

organ...how do you detox the detox???? just a way to make $$$$ as far as I

can tell.

Iodine and some other plant phenols are natural anti-microbials and I believe

that they can help more than some herbs can.

Iodine is a necessary component for thyroid hormone production, and

interestingly

a lot of us with hep c have metabolic issues as well.

I would imagine that our bodies find a way to use the iodine in our diet for

its

antimicrobial properties in the presence of a pathogen...leaving less

available

for hormone production.

Carvacrol...found in oregano is quite a powerful antimicrobial as well.

Along with a substance found in garlic.

I have also been trying some thyroid hormone replacement to help with

the fatigue...and I have been able to get along without my usual afternoon

nap, after two weeks.

June 22, 2006

I just started acupuncture, and will also see a Chinese Medicine herbalist.

Thought this might interest some of you...

From www.docmisha.com (there's plenty of info about this online, google the

terms)

Chinese Traditional Medicine for HCV

Many people with HCV are turning to Chinese traditional medicine, which has a

rich history in the treatment of chronic hepatitis. Hepatitis B - and

increasingly, Hepatitis C - is prevalent throughout China, accounting for

increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in the mainland Chinese population.

The Chinese medical system has been dedicated to solving the problem for many

years, working to eliminate sources of hepatitis as well as developing

treatments for hepatitis using both Chinese traditional medicine and Western

medicine.

At the International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis and AIDS held in Beijing in

April 1991, more than 100 papers on viral hepatitis were presented, several of

which documented positive results of studies of Chinese herbal medicine. Studies

of herbal antivirals and Xue-cooling and Xue-circulating herbs for repairing

liver damage supported the hundreds of years of practical experience with

Chinese herbs for the symptoms of hepatitis.

A literature review by Dr. Ergil in 1995 revealed at least 55 herbal

formulas that may be used to treat hepatitis clinically. Recent herbal studies

in China and Australia showed positive results in hepatitis C using similar

formulas to those used widely in clinics in the US.

In the US, Chinese traditional medicine is a popular complementary or

alternative therapy among patients with chronic liver disease. In a late 1990¡s

anecdotal report from one of the largest clinical hepatology practices in San

Francisco found that at least 20 to 30 percent of patients report use of Chinese

herbal interventions for hepatitis. The level of use is probably underestimated

because patients often choose not to divulge the use of complementary and

alternative medicine therapies to their Western primary care physician.

Chinese medicine uses nutrition, acupuncture, heat therapies such as

moxibustion, exercise, massage, meditation, and herbal medicine for the

treatment of people with HCV. Protocols have been developed that have

successfully helped HCV infected people to decrease symptoms, normalize or lower

liver enzyme levels, and slow down the progression of liver disease.

A pilot study conducted among people co-infected with HIV and hepatitis at the

Quan Yin Healing Arts Center in 1995 indicates that acupuncture alone may have

an effect in lowering and normalizing liver enzyme levels.

Bill