Guest guest Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/the-voices-of-hepatitis/?partner=rss & em\ c=rss December 14, 2010, 1:54 pm The Voices of Hepatitis By KAREN BARROW Hey you all, check this out! Our Will Green is featured in articles on the New York Times, an audio interview and a written blurb. There are others also featured. We first met when Will was newly diagnosed and came to our very first B Informed Patient Conference looking for information and support, as were the rest of us. There is also info and audio presentations from people with Hepatitis C too. Ahhh, I'll be darn! And, as I listened to this, here is an audio from our list creator and Dad, Steve Bingham too! Patient Voices on the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/12/15/health/healthguide/TE_HEPATITIS.ht\ ml One in 20 people will come into contact with hepatitis virus at some point, but fortunately, only a small percentage develop a lasting case of the disease. Still, millions suffer from a chronic form of hepatitis. The different forms of hepatitis virus are lettered hepatitis A, B, C, D and E — with different courses and outcomes for each type of infection. In today’s Patient Voices segment, we hear from six men and women who are living with either hepatitis B or hepatitis C, which cause chronic hepatitis. Gail Brown, 57, believes she contracted hepatitis C when she was actively using intravenous drugs. It wasn’t until she became sober at age 39 that she realized the damage hepatitis had done to her liver. “The insidious part of the disease is that you are symptom free until your liver becomes severely damaged,” she said. It took five years for Ms. Brown to receive a liver transplant. That, and years of antiviral treatment, has helped her body fight off the effects of the virus. Arline Loh, 61, an Asian immigrant, contracted the hepatitis B virus from her mother at birth. However, she was not tested for it until she was 39, after she had already transmitted the virus to her three children. Now, Ms. Loh is as an outreach volunteer for Cornell Medical Center in New York and works to educate others about the importance of testing and vaccination against hepatitis B. “The Asians don’t like to talk about the disease because of the stigma,” she said. “They are so afraid if they tell anyone they will lose all their friends.” The American Liver Foundation estimates that chronic hepatitis B affects one in 10 Asian-Americans, though the virus can be transmitted to anyone through blood exchange or sexual relations. To hear more, listen to all the voices of hepatitis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.