The drugs of choice for Hepatitis C, sofosbuvir and ledipasvir, are expensive and often produce side effects, but taken together and for a short period of time, seem to be a match for the dangerous transmittable disease which is prevalent in Africa and Asia.
According to a new study published at The International Liver Congress in Barcelona, Spain, a 6-week treatment program involving 20 patients using the two-drug combination resulted in an astonishing rate of success treating Hepatitis C (HCV).
After a 12-week follow-up, 95% of the patients that participated in the trial had zero traces of HCV in their systems.
In its acute stage, Hepatitis C rarely reveals early symptoms. As a result, the disease has been spread to as many as 200 million people worldwide. It can be transferred from sexual contact or shared needles, and lack of treatment can consequently lead to serious live disease and damage.
Frank Tacke, a Governing Board member of European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), stated:
“These exciting findings open up short and cost-effective treatment options that could prevent the spread of HCV in high risk populations. We look forward to seeing this pilot study extended so the findings can be validated and then hopefully used as a tool to change clinical practice for the better.”
Because the combined trial was successful, researchers intend to continue the study with larger numbers of subjects in order to gauge the possibility of a future vaccine that will able to treat the condition.
Of course, both drugs are quite costly and still may produce side effects. For this reason, it may be intelligent for patients to seek out holistic medicine practices and complementary therapies. For example, high doses of vitamin C have been shown to effectively treat the virus.
Heiner Wdemeyer, a professor at Hannover Medical School, relayed in the report:
“Our research demonstrates that not only is the combination of sofosbuvir and ledipasvir safe, well tolerated and effective in patients with acute HCV genotype 1 who have severe liver disease with very high liver enzymes, but a shorter treatment duration does not appear to hinder efficacy.”
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