Undergoing a treatment for hepatitis C isn’t a choice but a true need!
But, there’s definitely one thing that remains under your choice domain. You can choose the right doctor for your treatment and other medical helps. Most of the time while considering the treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV), people tend to feel a general dilemma and they keep wondering on what kind of a medical practitioner will best suit them.
Currently, the highest chosen medical supervisor for treating hep c are gastroenterologists or hepatologists; however, the ones co-infected with HIV as well often continue being in touch with their infectious disease physician or a HIV specialist for undergoing the treatment.
For all those wondering on who a hepatologist and a gastroenterologist is, here’s some information on the same!
Who is a gastroenterologist or hepatologist?
- A gastroenterologist is basically a specialist of the digestive system. This often includes the organs such as- the intestines, pancreas, liver and gall bladder.
- However, hepatology is the stream considered as a sub-specialty of gastroenterology that focuses mainly on the liver, as well as the gallbladder, pancreas and the biliary tree and pancreas.
- It seems quite preferable to look for a physician honing their expertise more in liver but, there no clear fundamental reasons as to why hepatologists are likely to treat hep C over the gastroenterologists.
Reasons to ponder
- A well-trained gastroenterologist already has a lot exposure of the hepatology stream, so in case of a severe liver disease, one should mostly prefer seeing a gastro with good experience in hep C treatment.
- Physicians of both the specialties- gastro and hepto however, conduct the required tests to determine the level of liver damage and the effected viral genotype that constitutes the best course for the treatment.
- Both of them has enough knowledge to prescribe the right treatment and help the patients follow the right process and be prepared to cope of with any of the upcoming side effects of taking any medicine. Even though, most of the prescribed medicines such as Ledipasvir and Sofosbuvir Tablets, Natdac, etc. have a few side effects but, these prescription drugs work wonders on the disease.
For the people who are co-infected with both hep C and HIV, they can receive their treatment directly from the infectious disease (ID) or HIV specialist they have been consulting for long as they have a rich experience and relative training in treatment of both the factors - However, if the liver is more damaged, it is always better to consult a clinician with expertise and better know-how in managing that problem with enough tandems.
- However, federations and government agencies are working hard on educating all fields of medical stream such that will automatically raise the treatment success rates. If this happens, the use of new medications will result in even non-specialists being able to handle the hep C case load in the future.
Thus, the choice of a doctor will solely depend on the patients’ disease level and their willingness to see a non-liver or ID specialist for the treatment of hepatitis C.
, hep C treatment, HEPATITIS C, Ledipasvir and Sofosbuvir Tablets