World Hepatitis Day 2016 - Harm reduction is possible!

World Hepatitis Day 2016 is just around the corner (on July 28), aiming to boost global awareness on hepatitis, this year’s campaign is “Elimination” which can be achieved through universal vaccination, enhanced blood and injection safety, as well as harm reduction and treatment [1].

Controlling or eliminating the hepatitis virus has always been regarded as the only way to treat hepatitis. When patients are diagnosed with hepatitis, antiviral treatment is the only option. However, drugs are not able to repair damaged liver cells or normalize liver function. This results in a lack of focus on harm reduction and recovery during the process. In fact, how to effectively reduce injury is essential to preventing the situation from worsening, as only stopping inflammation can reduce the chance of developing other serious liver diseases.

Therefore, among the promotional contents of WHD 2016, “harm reduction” should be the primary concern. So what can patients do to reduce injury in everyday life?

To reduce injury, patients should first tackle the problem with utmost urgency, which is to stop inflammation in the liver and maintain normal ALT. When inflammation stops, it implies that the liver cells are no longer injured, and damage to the liver can be greatly reduced. [2][3] Therefore, patients should focus on how to stop inflammation early in order to reduce injury.

One treatment option that matches this concept is ‘ALT Focused Therapy’. This approach focuses on reducing patients’ injury, overcoming the limitations and shortcomings of the current treatment. ‘ALT Focused Therapy’ can help patients significantly reduce the time with liver injury through rapid recovery of liver cells and opposing inflammation.

Find out more about ‘ALT Focused Therapy’