People with hepatitis C have been advised to exercise caution when engaging in "questionable practices" such as the use of herbal preparations.
Speaking at the international conference on hepatitis C in Trinity College, Dublin yesterday, Dr Paul O'Donoghue, head of the psychology department at the Central Remedial Clinical in Dublin, advised caution when accessing information about the condition on the Internet. He also warned people against accepting advice concerning their prognosis from unqualified practitioners. Dr O'Donoghue advised participants at the patients and carers forum of helpful strategies for dealing with the stress of chronic hepatitis.
"Facilitating your personal resilience is the key. Stress can be extremely debilitating and while it may be precipitated by a diagnosis of chronic illness, if it is not recognised and dealt with in an appropriate manner, it may also make the illness worse."
Dr Donal Ó Mathúna, professor of bioethics and chemistry at Mount Carmel College of Nursing, Columbus, Ohio, spoke about alternative medicine in chronic disease. "While there is no specific research in hepatitis C patients, a study of the use of complementary therapies in out-patient liver disease clinics in the United States found that 40 per cent of people made use of complementary medicine," he said.
Dr Ó Mathúna identified dissatisfaction with conventional medicine, a desire for an active role in healthcare and a societal shift away from trusting science and experts as some of the reasons for the increasing interest in complementary therapies.
In a parallel scientific session, Prof Kingston Mills, professor of experimental immunology at Trinity College, Dublin, said the hepatitis C virus seemed to have evolved an immune system subversion strategy to enable it to persist for long periods in the body. He suggested that the virus's ability to inhibit the effectiveness of T-helper cells, which are needed to eliminate hepatitis C in the body, is a likely mechanism for the high level of chronicity associated with the illness.
Prof Cliona O'Farrelly of St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, described the role of specialised white blood cells in protecting against viral infection. She outlined research suggesting that these "natural killer" cells were reduced in number and less effective in patients with liver disease as a result of hepatitis C infection.