Question:
After getting tired of my mom telling me she could cure me of HCV/FMS, I
have given into her rantings just to quiet her, and see if there's any truth
to it. However, I am concerned about my dragon being awakened, and more
damage being done then good. So, has anyone ever done a liver detox and what
were the results? Although, I am about 10 days into this my liver has
certainly been aching, shooting pains, w/referred pain to my shoulder, and
other symptoms that I haven't felt for some time. My LFT's have always been
normal, and low range virus counts when I had med insurance to test for
these types of things about 1.5 years ago.
Any feed back would be very appreciated and I'll attempt to answer questions
to any items that I have left out!
Answer:
>After getting tired of my mom telling me she could cure me of HCV/FMS, I
>have given into her rantings just to quiet her, and see if there's any truth
>to it. However, I am concerned about my dragon being awakened, and more
>damage being done then good. So, has anyone ever done a liver detox and what
>were the results?
I certainly haven't done a "detox", but I can tell you that the whole
concept is nonsensical. There are no toxins collecting in the liver that
you could flush out with enemas or fasting. That's an outdated belief
with no basis in reality.
>P.S. Has there been any studies pertaining to HCV and pre-menopausal and
>post-menopausal women? Hypothetically, it would seem that when women stop
>their menstration that a greater iron load would lead to higher viral loads,
>and greater chance of fibrosis, etc.. I am heading towards that freedom, but
>am interested in the post-meno question!
It's not the iron, it's the estrogen. From Medline:
Progression of liver fibrosis in women infected with hepatitis C:
long-term benefit of estrogen exposure.
Hepatology 2004 Dec;40(6):1426-33 (ISSN: 0270-9139)
Di Martino V; Lebray P; Myers RP; Pannier E; Paradis V; Charlotte F;
Moussalli J; Thabut D; Buffet C; Poynard T
Service d'Hepato-Gastroenterologie, GH Pitie-Salpetriere, Paris, France.
Female sex is a protective factor for the progression of fibrosis in
patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Experimental
data suggest that estrogens may have an antifibrotic effect. The
objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of past
pregnancies, oral contraceptives, menopause, and hormone replacement
therapy (HRT) on liver fibrosis progression in HCV-infected women. Four
hundred seventy-two HCV-infected women received a survey regarding prior
pregnancies, menopause, and the use of oral contraceptives and HRT. The
impact of these variables on liver fibrosis and its progression were
evaluated using multivariate analyses considering all putative
confounding factors. Two hundred one women completed the survey (43%
response rate), 157 of whom had an estimated date of HCV infection (96
postmenopausal women, 96 women with previous pregnancies, and 105 women
with past use of oral contraceptives). Through multivariate analyses,
the estimated rate of fibrosis progression was higher in postmenopausal
(P < .05) and nulliparous (P = .02) women and was associated with
greater histological activity (P < .001). Prior use of oral
contraceptives had no significant influence. Among postmenopausal women,
the estimated rate of fibrosis progression (+/-SE) was lower in women
who received HRT compared with untreated patients (0.099 +/- 0.016 vs.
0.133 +/- 0.006 METAVIR units/yr; P = .02) and was similar to that of
premenopausal women (0.093 +/- 0.012 METAVIR units/yr; P value not
significant). In conclusion, menopause appears to be associated with
accelerated liver fibrosis progression in HCV-infected women, an effect
that may be prevented by HRT. Pregnancies may have a beneficial impact
on the long-term progression of liver fibrosis.
