Re: Shorter,more effective,easier treatments found.

[Guest guest]

Thanks Janet for all these good articles! It would be wonderful if

there was a shorter, easier and more effective treatment!! I hope

it's just around the corner.

Glad you're feeling better!

Best wishes,

Yvette

> April 17, 2003 -- The central mystery of hepatitis C now is solved.

A

> new finding promises more effective, shorter, and easier hepatitis

C

> treatments.

>

>

> What Gale Jr., PhD, and colleagues discovered is how

> hepatitis C virus establishes lifelong infection. They found that

the

> virus makes a key that lets it turn off a cell's anti-virus

> machinery. And they found that a type of drug -- already in

> development by several companies -- robs the virus of this key.

> Without it, the anti-viral machinery comes to life. It churns out a

> chemical called interferon that rids the cell of the hepatitis C

> virus.

>

>

> " The beauty of [this type of drug] is it can clear persistently

> infected cells, " Gale tells WebMD. " The cells rid themselves of

> hepatitis C virus within an average time of four to five days. "

>

>

>