FACTOR

Image © Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com
Pamela Anderson Announces
She’s Cured of Hepatitis C
Amanda Chan Yahoo! Health
10 November 2015
http://yhoo.it/1X9CivQ
Pamela Anderson has revealed that she is
cured of hepatitis C, a viral disease that
affects the liver.
“I am CURED!!! - I just found out
#nomorehepc” the 48-year-old actress
wrote in a caption on her Instagram.
People reported earlier this summer
that Anderson had started a new drug
regimen approved by the Food and Drug
Administration that would eradicate
the virus. “I don’t have any liver damage
and I don’t have any side effects,“ she
told People earlier this year. “I’m living
my life the way I want to but it could
have eventually have caused me some
problems and so it was a real blessing
that I was able to get the medicine. I’m
half way there.”
Anderson was diagnosed with the viral
disease in 2001, and has previously said
that she contracted it from sharing a
tattoo needle with her former husband
Tommy Lee. “Tommy has the disease
and never disclosed it to me during our
marriage,” Anderson said in a statement,
as reported by ABC News. (However,
Lee has denied having hepatitis C.)
Back in 2003, Anderson had told Us
Weekly that “I think I’ve got a good 10
years left in me, which is sad. Maybe 15, if
I’m lucky. … It’s scary, but lately I’ve been
6
feeling great. For some reason, my liver
keeps getting healthier.” However, People
reported at the time that many doctors
were not happy with her comments
about her own life expectancy, noting
that thanks to hepatitis C treatment, the
disease was not an early death sentence
for many with the condition. At the time
of these comments, People reported
that Anderson was not taking the
hepatitis drug Interferon, but was instead
taking something made for her by her
homeopathic doctor.
There are 2.7 million people in the
U.S. living with chronic hepatitis C
infection, though most of these people
are unaware they have the disease
due to lack of symptoms, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Hepatitis C infection begins with acute
infection — meaning it’s a short-term
illness that occurs within six months of
being exposed to the virus, the CDC
reports. However, 75 to 85 percent of
people with acute hepatitis C go on to
develop long-term, chronic hepatitis C
infection — which can last a person’s
lifetime. The dangers of chronic hepatitis
C infection include chronic liver disease,
cirrhosis, and liver cancer.
Hepatitis C is spread via blood. A person
can become infected through sharing
needles or syringes or having blood from
an infected person enter you through a
cut in your skin or through your your
eyes or mouth, according to the National
Institutes of Health. Being born to a
mother with hepatitis C, or receiving an
organ transplant or blood transfusion
from a donor infected with hepatitis C,
can also raise the risk of contracting
hepatitis C. However, the disease cannot
be spread through kissing, hugging,
sharing food or water, or through breast
milk, according to the World Health
Organization.
There are no vaccines yet for hepatitis
C (though we could have one in the
near future); however, there are several
FDA-approved treatments. Sofosbuvir
and Simeprevir are two antiviral drugs
approved by the FDA in 2013. Before
2013, hepatitis C treatment typically
entailed taking pegylated interferon and
ribavirin (and sometimes also boceprevir
and telaprevir).
Hepatitis C is one of five main types of
hepatitis (in addition to hepatitis A, B, D,
and E), all of which cause inflammation
of the liver. Hepatitis A, B, and C are
most common in the United States,
and there are vaccinations to prevent
hepatitis A and B, according to Banner
Health. Hepatitis A leads to acute liver
inflammation, and often gets better on
its own; hepatitis B typically has acute
and chronic variations, is spread by blood
or other bodily fluids, and is especially
common in people who were born or
lived in Asia and Africa.