Living with a chronic disease like Hepatitis C can lead to periodic bouts of depression. The strain it puts on your daily regimen is not only physical but psychological. Drug treatments last close to a year, and the physical side effects are considerable. In fact, a large percentage of patients on a treatment program never finish due to its arduous nature.

Some research suggests that twenty to forty percent of patients under treatment for Hep C suffer chemically-induced depression (from the antivirals used to eliminate the disease). Add to that number those who become clinically depressed as a result of living with the disease, and you can see what a danger depression can be to Hep C sufferers.

If you have Hep C and are about to embark on drug treatment (typically the antivirals peginterferon-alfa and ribavirin), it’s important to discuss with your healthcare professional the possibility of clinical depression. He or she may suggest counseling or anti-depressants (or both) in the early stages as a preventative measure. If you already suffer from depression, it’s unwise to pursue drug treatment until your depression is controlled.

We are conducting ongoing Hep C studies in our Florida facilities on new drug treatments that we hope pose a smaller risk for depression, If you would like to learn more, please call us or type “Hep C studies Orlando” into your search engine.