Re: Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for HCV

[Guest guest]

I am so sorry that Lawford has HCV. But finally someone who knows what he is talking about when he talks about the disease. Pam is not a good spokesperson for the HCV Maybe because he is a Kennedy, he can get some attention for our community. Love Janetelizabethnv1 <elizabethnv1@...> wrote: Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for

HCVBy ALEX CUKANUPI Health CorrespondentALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Actor and author Kennedy Lawford wants people to know -- especially his fellow baby boomers -- that they may be at risk for hepatitis C virus, or HCV, even if they've only had a few snorts of cocaine."If you fall in any of the major risk factors -- illegal drug use, blood transfusion(s) before 1992, 10 or more sexual partners, dialysis or have had a tattoo -- you should get tested for hepatitis C because you are not going to know by the way you feel," Lawford told UPI's Caregiving."There are a lot of people who didn't think they did anything particularly risky who are at risk for hepatitis C -- you share a dollar bill to snort a line of cocaine or get a tattoo -- but there are some 4 million people estimated with hepatitis C and 70 percent don't know it."Lawford, perhaps best-known as having played

the character Charlie Brent on the ABC-TV soap opera "All My Children" in the early 1990s and as the nephew of President F. Kennedy, was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2001. He details the long list of illegal drugs he took from age 13 to 30 in his book "Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption," now out in paperback. He was treated and is healthy today. He calls himself one of the lucky ones.It is estimated that most chronic HCV infections are contracted through transfusion of unscreened blood or via injected drug use, according to the CDC."You hear about hepatitis C and you think Pamela and it's one of those rock 'n' roll diseases and that it can't happen to you," Lawford said.But HCV is the most common chronic infectious disease in Europe and North America, affecting an estimated 170 million people worldwide. It is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact, according to

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.However, studies have shown that the use of needles and syringes is not the only drug-related risk factor for HCV.A study in New York City, published in 2001 in the journal Substance Use & Misuse, found a higher-than-expected prevalence of hepatitis C infection among non-injecting drug users.In one study, 17 percent of the subjects who denied a history of injection drug use were found to be infected with HCV compared to a 2-percent infection rate in the general population. Among women from one of the study sites in East Harlem who reported use of non-injection heroin, the rate of infection was as high as 26 percent."If hepatitis C can be transmitted through the sharing of non-injecting drug paraphernalia such as straws or pipes, we need to include this information in public health messages targeted to this population," said Dr. Alan

I. Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.In another study in 2001, published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found low-income women between the ages of 18 and 29 in San Francisco were infected with HCV at a level almost 2.5 times higher than the HCV infection rate for the general population in the United States."San Francisco had the highest HCV infection level, 4.3 percent -- nationally the level is 1.8 percent. Injection drug use is the strongest risk factor, but we were surprised to find that co-infection with herpes simplex virus type-2, or HSV-2, was also significantly associated with hepatitis C infection," said lead author A. Page-Shafer. "This suggests that infection with HSV-2 may be a co-factor for sexual transmission of hepatitis C."One of the problems of treating hepatitis C is that the infection

can be dormant for decades and people may not realize that something they did in their 20s can make them sick when they are in their 50s."Hepatitis C can stay dormant in your blood and liver before you develop any symptoms. I was tested for hepatitis C in 2001, but that might have been 15 or 20 years after I had contracted the illness," Lawford said."It's my intention to make people aware that a simple $40 blood test is a lot better than a having to get a liver transplant. This is a life-threatening disease, but there is a cure."But you must be tested -- people have to be proactive and ask for the test. I would be dead if I had not been tested."Take the ordinary things of life, and make them your own. Do the impossible with a smile

[Guest guest]

WOW,, I wonder if there is any way WE might be able to get ahold of him and get him here on our forum.. perhaps together we might be able to help make a bigger impact! What do you think? I'll google him and see what I can find! jaxJanet <doc_jade@...> wrote: I am so sorry that Lawford has HCV. But finally someone who knows what he is talking about when he talks about the disease. Pam is not a good spokesperson for the HCV Maybe because he is a Kennedy, he can get some attention for our community. Love Janetelizabethnv1 <elizabethnv1earthlink (DOT) net> wrote: Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for HCVBy ALEX CUKANUPI Health CorrespondentALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Actor and author Kennedy Lawford wants people to know -- especially his fellow baby boomers -- that they may be at risk for hepatitis C virus, or HCV, even if they've only had a few snorts of cocaine."If you fall in any of the major risk factors -- illegal drug use, blood transfusion(s) before 1992, 10 or more sexual partners, dialysis or have had a tattoo -- you should get tested for hepatitis

C because you are not going to know by the way you feel," Lawford told UPI's Caregiving."There are a lot of people who didn't think they did anything particularly risky who are at risk for hepatitis C -- you share a dollar bill to snort a line of cocaine or get a tattoo -- but there are some 4 million people estimated with hepatitis C and 70 percent don't know it."Lawford, perhaps best-known as having played the character Charlie Brent on the ABC-TV soap opera "All My Children" in the early 1990s and as the nephew of President F. Kennedy, was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2001. He details the long list of illegal drugs he took from age 13 to 30 in his book "Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption," now out in paperback. He was treated and is healthy today. He calls himself one of the lucky ones.It is estimated that most chronic HCV infections are contracted through

transfusion of unscreened blood or via injected drug use, according to the CDC."You hear about hepatitis C and you think Pamela and it's one of those rock 'n' roll diseases and that it can't happen to you," Lawford said.But HCV is the most common chronic infectious disease in Europe and North America, affecting an estimated 170 million people worldwide. It is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.However, studies have shown that the use of needles and syringes is not the only drug-related risk factor for HCV.A study in New York City, published in 2001 in the journal Substance Use & Misuse, found a higher-than-expected prevalence of hepatitis C infection among non-injecting drug users.In one study, 17 percent of the subjects who denied a history of injection drug use were found to be infected with HCV

compared to a 2-percent infection rate in the general population. Among women from one of the study sites in East Harlem who reported use of non-injection heroin, the rate of infection was as high as 26 percent."If hepatitis C can be transmitted through the sharing of non-injecting drug paraphernalia such as straws or pipes, we need to include this information in public health messages targeted to this population," said Dr. Alan I. Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.In another study in 2001, published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found low-income women between the ages of 18 and 29 in San Francisco were infected with HCV at a level almost 2.5 times higher than the HCV infection rate for the general population in the United States."San Francisco had the highest HCV infection level, 4.3 percent -- nationally

the level is 1.8 percent. Injection drug use is the strongest risk factor, but we were surprised to find that co-infection with herpes simplex virus type-2, or HSV-2, was also significantly associated with hepatitis C infection," said lead author A. Page-Shafer. "This suggests that infection with HSV-2 may be a co-factor for sexual transmission of hepatitis C."One of the problems of treating hepatitis C is that the infection can be dormant for decades and people may not realize that something they did in their 20s can make them sick when they are in their 50s."Hepatitis C can stay dormant in your blood and liver before you develop any symptoms. I was tested for hepatitis C in 2001, but that might have been 15 or 20 years after I had contracted the illness," Lawford said."It's my intention to make people aware that a simple $40 blood test is a lot better than a having to get a liver transplant.

This is a life-threatening disease, but there is a cure."But you must be tested -- people have to be proactive and ask for the test. I would be dead if I had not been tested."Take the ordinary things of life, and make them your own. Do the impossible with a smile Jackie

[Guest guest]

hcv,hiv or any such illness,is very bad.hcv will get its dues,be patient.theres now more investors for hcv in the market then any other.it will trickle down at 1st. but i think right now is the start of heavy private funding.2007 will have several,great things happin with hcv.have faith.but there still as equal or even worse out there then hcv.thank god as far as i know thats all i have.but hcv will but the front runner with private in priv.investmentJanet <doc_jade@...> wrote: I am so sorry that

Lawford has HCV. But finally someone who knows what he is talking about when he talks about the disease. Pam is not a good spokesperson for the HCV Maybe because he is a Kennedy, he can get some attention for our community. Love Janetelizabethnv1 <elizabethnv1earthlink (DOT) net> wrote: Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for HCVBy ALEX CUKANUPI Health CorrespondentALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Actor and author Kennedy Lawford wants people to know -- especially his fellow baby boomers -- that they may be at risk for hepatitis C virus, or HCV, even if they've only had a few snorts of cocaine."If you fall in any

of the major risk factors -- illegal drug use, blood transfusion(s) before 1992, 10 or more sexual partners, dialysis or have had a tattoo -- you should get tested for hepatitis C because you are not going to know by the way you feel," Lawford told UPI's Caregiving."There are a lot of people who didn't think they did anything particularly risky who are at risk for hepatitis C -- you share a dollar bill to snort a line of cocaine or get a tattoo -- but there are some 4 million people estimated with hepatitis C and 70 percent don't know it."Lawford, perhaps best-known as having played the character Charlie Brent on the ABC-TV soap opera "All My Children" in the early 1990s and as the nephew of President F. Kennedy, was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2001. He details the long list of illegal drugs he took from age 13 to 30 in his book "Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption,"

now out in paperback. He was treated and is healthy today. He calls himself one of the lucky ones.It is estimated that most chronic HCV infections are contracted through transfusion of unscreened blood or via injected drug use, according to the CDC."You hear about hepatitis C and you think Pamela and it's one of those rock 'n' roll diseases and that it can't happen to you," Lawford said.But HCV is the most common chronic infectious disease in Europe and North America, affecting an estimated 170 million people worldwide. It is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.However, studies have shown that the use of needles and syringes is not the only drug-related risk factor for HCV.A study in New York City, published in 2001 in the journal Substance Use & Misuse, found a higher-than-expected prevalence of

hepatitis C infection among non-injecting drug users.In one study, 17 percent of the subjects who denied a history of injection drug use were found to be infected with HCV compared to a 2-percent infection rate in the general population. Among women from one of the study sites in East Harlem who reported use of non-injection heroin, the rate of infection was as high as 26 percent."If hepatitis C can be transmitted through the sharing of non-injecting drug paraphernalia such as straws or pipes, we need to include this information in public health messages targeted to this population," said Dr. Alan I. Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.In another study in 2001, published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found low-income women between the ages of 18 and 29 in San Francisco were infected with HCV at a level almost

2.5 times higher than the HCV infection rate for the general population in the United States."San Francisco had the highest HCV infection level, 4.3 percent -- nationally the level is 1.8 percent. Injection drug use is the strongest risk factor, but we were surprised to find that co-infection with herpes simplex virus type-2, or HSV-2, was also significantly associated with hepatitis C infection," said lead author A. Page-Shafer. "This suggests that infection with HSV-2 may be a co-factor for sexual transmission of hepatitis C."One of the problems of treating hepatitis C is that the infection can be dormant for decades and people may not realize that something they did in their 20s can make them sick when they are in their 50s."Hepatitis C can stay dormant in your blood and liver before you develop any symptoms. I was tested for hepatitis C in 2001, but that might have been 15 or 20 years after I

had contracted the illness," Lawford said."It's my intention to make people aware that a simple $40 blood test is a lot better than a having to get a liver transplant. This is a life-threatening disease, but there is a cure."But you must be tested -- people have to be proactive and ask for the test. I would be dead if I had not been tested."Take the ordinary things of life, and make them your own. Do the impossible with a smile Tim Parsons knoxville,tn 37931

865-588-2465 x107 work www.knoxville1.com __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

hcv,hiv or any such illness,is very bad.hcv will get its dues,be patient.theres now more investors for hcv in the market then any other.it will trickle down at 1st. but i think right now is the start of heavy private funding.2007 will have several,great things happin with hcv.have faith.but there still as equal or even worse out there then hcv.thank god as far as i know thats all i have.but hcv will but the front runner with private in priv.investmentJanet <doc_jade@...> wrote: I am so sorry that

Lawford has HCV. But finally someone who knows what he is talking about when he talks about the disease. Pam is not a good spokesperson for the HCV Maybe because he is a Kennedy, he can get some attention for our community. Love Janetelizabethnv1 <elizabethnv1earthlink (DOT) net> wrote: Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for HCVBy ALEX CUKANUPI Health CorrespondentALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Actor and author Kennedy Lawford wants people to know -- especially his fellow baby boomers -- that they may be at risk for hepatitis C virus, or HCV, even if they've only had a few snorts of cocaine."If you fall in any

of the major risk factors -- illegal drug use, blood transfusion(s) before 1992, 10 or more sexual partners, dialysis or have had a tattoo -- you should get tested for hepatitis C because you are not going to know by the way you feel," Lawford told UPI's Caregiving."There are a lot of people who didn't think they did anything particularly risky who are at risk for hepatitis C -- you share a dollar bill to snort a line of cocaine or get a tattoo -- but there are some 4 million people estimated with hepatitis C and 70 percent don't know it."Lawford, perhaps best-known as having played the character Charlie Brent on the ABC-TV soap opera "All My Children" in the early 1990s and as the nephew of President F. Kennedy, was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2001. He details the long list of illegal drugs he took from age 13 to 30 in his book "Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption,"

now out in paperback. He was treated and is healthy today. He calls himself one of the lucky ones.It is estimated that most chronic HCV infections are contracted through transfusion of unscreened blood or via injected drug use, according to the CDC."You hear about hepatitis C and you think Pamela and it's one of those rock 'n' roll diseases and that it can't happen to you," Lawford said.But HCV is the most common chronic infectious disease in Europe and North America, affecting an estimated 170 million people worldwide. It is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.However, studies have shown that the use of needles and syringes is not the only drug-related risk factor for HCV.A study in New York City, published in 2001 in the journal Substance Use & Misuse, found a higher-than-expected prevalence of

hepatitis C infection among non-injecting drug users.In one study, 17 percent of the subjects who denied a history of injection drug use were found to be infected with HCV compared to a 2-percent infection rate in the general population. Among women from one of the study sites in East Harlem who reported use of non-injection heroin, the rate of infection was as high as 26 percent."If hepatitis C can be transmitted through the sharing of non-injecting drug paraphernalia such as straws or pipes, we need to include this information in public health messages targeted to this population," said Dr. Alan I. Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.In another study in 2001, published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found low-income women between the ages of 18 and 29 in San Francisco were infected with HCV at a level almost

2.5 times higher than the HCV infection rate for the general population in the United States."San Francisco had the highest HCV infection level, 4.3 percent -- nationally the level is 1.8 percent. Injection drug use is the strongest risk factor, but we were surprised to find that co-infection with herpes simplex virus type-2, or HSV-2, was also significantly associated with hepatitis C infection," said lead author A. Page-Shafer. "This suggests that infection with HSV-2 may be a co-factor for sexual transmission of hepatitis C."One of the problems of treating hepatitis C is that the infection can be dormant for decades and people may not realize that something they did in their 20s can make them sick when they are in their 50s."Hepatitis C can stay dormant in your blood and liver before you develop any symptoms. I was tested for hepatitis C in 2001, but that might have been 15 or 20 years after I

had contracted the illness," Lawford said."It's my intention to make people aware that a simple $40 blood test is a lot better than a having to get a liver transplant. This is a life-threatening disease, but there is a cure."But you must be tested -- people have to be proactive and ask for the test. I would be dead if I had not been tested."Take the ordinary things of life, and make them your own. Do the impossible with a smile Tim Parsons knoxville,tn 37931

865-588-2465 x107 work www.knoxville1.com __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Amen to that ! I whole heartedly agree with you Janet .P.S. Happy New Year

Re: Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for HCV

I am so sorry that Lawford has HCV. But finally someone who knows what he is talking about when he talks about the disease. Pam is not a good spokesperson for the HCV

Maybe because he is a Kennedy, he can get some attention for our community.

Love

Janetelizabethnv1 <elizabethnv1earthlink (DOT) net> wrote:

Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for HCVBy ALEX CUKANUPI Health CorrespondentALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Actor and author Kennedy Lawford wants people to know -- especially his fellow baby boomers -- that they may be at risk for hepatitis C virus, or HCV, even if they've only had a few snorts of cocaine."If you fall in any of the major risk factors -- illegal drug use, blood transfusion(s) before 1992, 10 or more sexual partners, dialysis or have had a tattoo -- you should get tested for hepatitis C because you are not going to know by the way you feel," Lawford told UPI's Caregiving."There are a lot of people who didn't think they did anything particularly risky who are at risk for hepatitis C -- you share a dollar bill to snort a line of cocaine or get a tattoo -- but there are some 4 million people estimated with hepatitis C and 70 percent don't know it."Lawford, perhaps best-known as having played the character Charlie Brent on the ABC-TV soap opera "All My Children" in the early 1990s and as the nephew of President F. Kennedy, was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2001. He details the long list of illegal drugs he took from age 13 to 30 in his book "Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption," now out in paperback. He was treated and is healthy today. He calls himself one of the lucky ones.It is estimated that most chronic HCV infections are contracted through transfusion of unscreened blood or via injected drug use, according to the CDC."You hear about hepatitis C and you think Pamela and it's one of those rock 'n' roll diseases and that it can't happen to you," Lawford said.But HCV is the most common chronic infectious disease in Europe and North America, affecting an estimated 170 million people worldwide. It is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.However, studies have shown that the use of needles and syringes is not the only drug-related risk factor for HCV.A study in New York City, published in 2001 in the journal Substance Use & Misuse, found a higher-than-expected prevalence of hepatitis C infection among non-injecting drug users.In one study, 17 percent of the subjects who denied a history of injection drug use were found to be infected with HCV compared to a 2-percent infection rate in the general population. Among women from one of the study sites in East Harlem who reported use of non-injection heroin, the rate of infection was as high as 26 percent."If hepatitis C can be transmitted through the sharing of non-injecting drug paraphernalia such as straws or pipes, we need to include this information in public health messages targeted to this population," said Dr. Alan I. Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.In another study in 2001, published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found low-income women between the ages of 18 and 29 in San Francisco were infected with HCV at a level almost 2.5 times higher than the HCV infection rate for the general population in the United States."San Francisco had the highest HCV infection level, 4.3 percent -- nationally the level is 1.8 percent. Injection drug use is the strongest risk factor, but we were surprised to find that co-infection with herpes simplex virus type-2, or HSV-2, was also significantly associated with hepatitis C infection," said lead author A. Page-Shafer. "This suggests that infection with HSV-2 may be a co-factor for sexual transmission of hepatitis C."One of the problems of treating hepatitis C is that the infection can be dormant for decades and people may not realize that something they did in their 20s can make them sick when they are in their 50s."Hepatitis C can stay dormant in your blood and liver before you develop any symptoms. I was tested for hepatitis C in 2001, but that might have been 15 or 20 years after I had contracted the illness," Lawford said."It's my intention to make people aware that a simple $40 blood test is a lot better than a having to get a liver transplant. This is a life-threatening disease, but there is a cure."But you must be tested -- people have to be proactive and ask for the test. I would be dead if I had not been tested."Take the ordinary things of life, and make them your own. Do the impossible with a smile

[Guest guest]

Excellent ideal

Re: Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for HCV

WOW,, I wonder if there is any way WE might be able to get ahold of him and get him here on our forum.. perhaps together we might be able to help make a bigger impact! What do you think? I'll google him and see what I can find!

jaxJanet <doc_jade > wrote:

I am so sorry that Lawford has HCV. But finally someone who knows what he is talking about when he talks about the disease. Pam is not a good spokesperson for the HCV

Maybe because he is a Kennedy, he can get some attention for our community.

Love

Janetelizabethnv1 <elizabethnv1earthlink (DOT) net> wrote:

Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for HCVBy ALEX CUKANUPI Health CorrespondentALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Actor and author Kennedy Lawford wants people to know -- especially his fellow baby boomers -- that they may be at risk for hepatitis C virus, or HCV, even if they've only had a few snorts of cocaine."If you fall in any of the major risk factors -- illegal drug use, blood transfusion(s) before 1992, 10 or more sexual partners, dialysis or have had a tattoo -- you should get tested for hepatitis C because you are not going to know by the way you feel," Lawford told UPI's Caregiving."There are a lot of people who didn't think they did anything particularly risky who are at risk for hepatitis C -- you share a dollar bill to snort a line of cocaine or get a tattoo -- but there are some 4 million people estimated with hepatitis C and 70 percent don't know it."Lawford, perhaps best-known as having played the character Charlie Brent on the ABC-TV soap opera "All My Children" in the early 1990s and as the nephew of President F. Kennedy, was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2001. He details the long list of illegal drugs he took from age 13 to 30 in his book "Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption," now out in paperback. He was treated and is healthy today. He calls himself one of the lucky ones.It is estimated that most chronic HCV infections are contracted through transfusion of unscreened blood or via injected drug use, according to the CDC."You hear about hepatitis C and you think Pamela and it's one of those rock 'n' roll diseases and that it can't happen to you," Lawford said.But HCV is the most common chronic infectious disease in Europe and North America, affecting an estimated 170 million people worldwide. It is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.However, studies have shown that the use of needles and syringes is not the only drug-related risk factor for HCV.A study in New York City, published in 2001 in the journal Substance Use & Misuse, found a higher-than-expected prevalence of hepatitis C infection among non-injecting drug users.In one study, 17 percent of the subjects who denied a history of injection drug use were found to be infected with HCV compared to a 2-percent infection rate in the general population. Among women from one of the study sites in East Harlem who reported use of non-injection heroin, the rate of infection was as high as 26 percent."If hepatitis C can be transmitted through the sharing of non-injecting drug paraphernalia such as straws or pipes, we need to include this information in public health messages targeted to this population," said Dr. Alan I. Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.In another study in 2001, published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found low-income women between the ages of 18 and 29 in San Francisco were infected with HCV at a level almost 2.5 times higher than the HCV infection rate for the general population in the United States."San Francisco had the highest HCV infection level, 4.3 percent -- nationally the level is 1.8 percent. Injection drug use is the strongest risk factor, but we were surprised to find that co-infection with herpes simplex virus type-2, or HSV-2, was also significantly associated with hepatitis C infection," said lead author A. Page-Shafer. "This suggests that infection with HSV-2 may be a co-factor for sexual transmission of hepatitis C."One of the problems of treating hepatitis C is that the infection can be dormant for decades and people may not realize that something they did in their 20s can make them sick when they are in their 50s."Hepatitis C can stay dormant in your blood and liver before you develop any symptoms. I was tested for hepatitis C in 2001, but that might have been 15 or 20 years after I had contracted the illness," Lawford said."It's my intention to make people aware that a simple $40 blood test is a lot better than a having to get a liver transplant. This is a life-threatening disease, but there is a cure."But you must be tested -- people have to be proactive and ask for the test. I would be dead if I had not been tested."Take the ordinary things of life, and make them your own. Do the impossible with a smile Jackie

[Guest guest]

Heck see if you can get his email address, I would love to have him on our forum. Love JanetJackie on <redjaxjm@...> wrote: WOW,, I wonder if there is any way WE might be able to get ahold of him and get him here on our forum.. perhaps together we might be able to help make a bigger impact! What do you think? I'll google him and see what I

can find! jaxJanet <doc_jade > wrote: I am so sorry that Lawford has HCV. But finally someone who knows what he is talking about when he talks about the disease. Pam is not a good spokesperson for the HCV Maybe because he is a Kennedy, he can get some attention for our community. Love Janetelizabethnv1 <elizabethnv1earthlink (DOT) net> wrote: Lawford says Illegal Drug Using Baby Boomers Should get tested for HCVBy ALEX CUKANUPI Health CorrespondentALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 28 (UPI)

-- Actor and author Kennedy Lawford wants people to know -- especially his fellow baby boomers -- that they may be at risk for hepatitis C virus, or HCV, even if they've only had a few snorts of cocaine."If you fall in any of the major risk factors -- illegal drug use, blood transfusion(s) before 1992, 10 or more sexual partners, dialysis or have had a tattoo -- you should get tested for hepatitis C because you are not going to know by the way you feel," Lawford told UPI's Caregiving."There are a lot of people who didn't think they did anything particularly risky who are at risk for hepatitis C -- you share a dollar bill to snort a line of cocaine or get a tattoo -- but there are some 4 million people estimated with hepatitis C and 70 percent don't know it."Lawford, perhaps best-known as having played the character Charlie Brent on the ABC-TV soap opera "All My Children" in the early

1990s and as the nephew of President F. Kennedy, was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2001. He details the long list of illegal drugs he took from age 13 to 30 in his book "Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption," now out in paperback. He was treated and is healthy today. He calls himself one of the lucky ones.It is estimated that most chronic HCV infections are contracted through transfusion of unscreened blood or via injected drug use, according to the CDC."You hear about hepatitis C and you think Pamela and it's one of those rock 'n' roll diseases and that it can't happen to you," Lawford said.But HCV is the most common chronic infectious disease in Europe and North America, affecting an estimated 170 million people worldwide. It is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.However, studies

have shown that the use of needles and syringes is not the only drug-related risk factor for HCV.A study in New York City, published in 2001 in the journal Substance Use & Misuse, found a higher-than-expected prevalence of hepatitis C infection among non-injecting drug users.In one study, 17 percent of the subjects who denied a history of injection drug use were found to be infected with HCV compared to a 2-percent infection rate in the general population. Among women from one of the study sites in East Harlem who reported use of non-injection heroin, the rate of infection was as high as 26 percent."If hepatitis C can be transmitted through the sharing of non-injecting drug paraphernalia such as straws or pipes, we need to include this information in public health messages targeted to this population," said Dr. Alan I. Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.In another

study in 2001, published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found low-income women between the ages of 18 and 29 in San Francisco were infected with HCV at a level almost 2.5 times higher than the HCV infection rate for the general population in the United States."San Francisco had the highest HCV infection level, 4.3 percent -- nationally the level is 1.8 percent. Injection drug use is the strongest risk factor, but we were surprised to find that co-infection with herpes simplex virus type-2, or HSV-2, was also significantly associated with hepatitis C infection," said lead author A. Page-Shafer. "This suggests that infection with HSV-2 may be a co-factor for sexual transmission of hepatitis C."One of the problems of treating hepatitis C is that the infection can be dormant for decades and people may not realize that something they

did in their 20s can make them sick when they are in their 50s."Hepatitis C can stay dormant in your blood and liver before you develop any symptoms. I was tested for hepatitis C in 2001, but that might have been 15 or 20 years after I had contracted the illness," Lawford said."It's my intention to make people aware that a simple $40 blood test is a lot better than a having to get a liver transplant. This is a life-threatening disease, but there is a cure."But you must be tested -- people have to be proactive and ask for the test. I would be dead if I had not been tested."Take the ordinary things of life, and make them your own. Do the impossible with a smile Jackie Take the ordinary things of life, and make them your own. Do the impossible with a smile