I have been diagnosed with hepatitis c with a viral load of 20,000,000. Is that a high viral load?

Answer 1

yes. i would treat with antiviral chemotherapy if you qualify.
hcv causes many diseases that are treated as individual symptoms and some medications can actually harm the liver further.

for the person stating about alt and ast levels re: her brother....alt and ast levels naturally wax and wane with having hcv. yes, there might be some improvement on the alt and ast levels, but this certainly does not mean the virus is unable to do more harm, infact, the longer your brother waits, the more harm is being done to his liver because the virus is still making quasispecies and is still attacking other organs as well.

a person is not cured and wont be cured unless they respond to antiviral chemotherapy. anything else and anyone else claiming a cure are misleading those who are simply letting fear get in the way of a possible cure with antiviral chemotherapy.

do you know your genotype? that will be indicative of how well you might respond to treatment.

not to worry...i know 1a' and 1b's that have been cured (sustained viral response) as well as other genotypes.

Answer 2

yes, it is. I'm not sure, but I think that high a viral count will likely lead to liver disease or cancer. you should be on medication right away. and you should have a liver function test, ultrasound and/or biopsy. A liver specialist should be able to run some tests and let you know if you'll need to get a liver transplant. Your doctor didn't tell you whether or not that was a high viral count and what your risks were when they diagnosed you?

Answer 3

200,000 to 1,000,000 low

1,000,000 to 5,000,000 medium

5,000,000 to 25,000,000 high

above 25,000,000 very high

Your viral load is the amount of specific viruses that you have, in a given volume of your blood (usually 1 milliliter = 1 cubic centimeter). More precisely, it means that the amount of Hep C genetic material found in your blood corresponds to as many Hep C viruses as the given number says. Therefore the given number denotes "viral equivalents."

There appears to be no significant correlation between HCV RNA levels and ALT values or histological activity in patients untreated by anti-viral therapies (Interferon). Viral load varies between infected individuals but is not a useful prognostic indicator nor does it measure the severity of virus-induced liver disease.

Answer 4

This lady by the name of Pat shared this report from her brother-in-law with Hepatitis C: These are the blood results
2 years ago AST (SGOT) 275 ALT (SGPT) 590
Last year AST (SGOT) 190 ALT (SGPT 380 (36% improvement)
This year AST (SGOT) 127 ALT (SGPT) 236 (38% improvement)
Overall improvements after 2 years is 60% that's after 1 year of Shaklee DTX three times a day and 3 months of Nutriferon which helps my body make interferon. I would talk to your doctor about trying this. These supplements are all 100% guaranteed or moneyrefunded.

Answer 5

IF YOU HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH HEP C IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER ABOUT VIRAL LOAD. THIS UNFORTUNATELY IS A FATAL DISEASE THAT WILL ATTACK YOUR LIVER AND OTHER ORGANS. DEPENDING HOW LONG YOU HAVE HAD IT IT USUALLY COMES IN FULL FORCE AFTER 20 TO 30 YEARS. LOOK ON LINE ABOUT LIVER DISEASE AND HEP C THERE IS A TON OF INFO OUT THERE.

Answer 6

This is a question to ask your doctor who is trained, licensed, and qualified to give medical advice. People on this site are not!! PLEASE ask your doctor!!

Chow!!