Often people learn about the diagnosis of " Doctors have nicknamed the virus a “gentle killer”: in most cases, the disease goes unnoticed by the patient until the destruction of the liver becomes critical.. Then cirrhosis begins, and then liver cancer.

Many have heard about the latter, therefore, when making a diagnosis, patients' hands turn cold: it is believed that the disease is incurable, and this is a sentence. Now, a revolution has taken place in the fight against viral hepatitis C: at the International Congress on Liver Diseases in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bdoctors announced that the disease has been completely defeated - a method for its complete cure has been found, writes kp. en.

The program of the virus: change and survive “The main difficulty is that the virus is very volatile - the treatment is aimed at one of its varieties, and soon another one arises that is not subject to this therapy. And the modified virus, remaining undefeated, continues to destroy the liver,” explains Vasily Isakov, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Federal Research Center for Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety, Vice President of the Scientific Society of Gastroenterologists.

According to him, the therapy that has been used so far is based on treatment with interferons - they are designed to stimulate immunity.. That is, the task is to strengthen the body's own defenses so that they defeat the virus..

However, our immunity is such a complex and at the same time subtle, easily disturbed and not fully understood system that interferons often do not live up to expectations, scientists say.. Their effectiveness in treatment, as a rule, is not higher than 50%, and side effects are similar to chemotherapy for cancer: patients complain of endless nausea, muscle and joint pain, neutropenia (dangerous? by-products? effect when nei cells die? trophils responsible for the recognition and destruction of dangerous microbes) and other complications.

“The real revolution began when researchers developed a group of substances that can directly affect the hepatitis C virus and at the same time prevent resistance, that is, the emergence of resistance of the virus to drugs,” says Vasily Isakov.

At the Congress in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bscientists and doctors from around the world presented data on the experience of using a new therapy in clinical practice. In 97 - 99% of cases, this method allows patients to completely get rid of the hepatitis C virus.. After the death of the virus, liver cells are restored again, medical experts emphasize.

Shooting at multiple targets “New generation drugs act directly on the proteins of the virus responsible for replication, that is, reproduction. If replication is not possible, the virus dies and is eventually completely eliminated, that is, it disappears from the body.. ”, explains Professor of the Goethe University Hospital in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), Dr. med. Christoph Sarrazin.

In this case, the therapy uses a combination of several antiviral drugs.. Today, there are three classes of direct-acting drugs that block various types of viral enzymes.. If you use all these classes in therapy, almost any attempt by the virus to change and survive is stopped..

“That is, the drugs hit several targets at once - the most important proteins of the virus at different stages of its life cycle,” says Dr. Sarrazin.. “This avoids the emergence of resistant (drug-resistant) forms of the virus.”.

At the same time, due to the targeted “shooting” at specific target proteins, side effects are minimized..

As experts at the Congress said, the revolutionary antiviral therapy appeared about a year ago and is already being used in many European countries and a number of other countries..

However, in any case, it is important for patients and their relatives to know that chronic viral hepatitis C, which was considered invincible, is completely curable today, professor Isakov emphasizes.. Therefore, one should not lose hope and contact the regional health authorities, resort to the help of charitable and other organizations.. “Just don’t buy antiviral drugs yourself via the Internet,” doctors warn. Alas, now this practice is gaining momentum and is fraught with high risks for patients..

“This method can be used to distribute falsified drugs or drugs manufactured in violation of technology,” warns Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Chief Freelance Gastroenterologist of the Moscow Health Department Igor Bakulin. We do not yet know the long-term consequences of such treatment for patients.. It is possible that the therapy will not be effective (including due to the development of virus mutations) or any dangerous side effects will occur..

aspect. net.

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