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  • Is Fasting Safe for People Living with Hepatitis B?

    Courtesy of Pixabay.                   Updated: 3-13-2023   If you have hepatitis B and you’re considering fasting to lose weight, celebrate Ramadan or “detox” your liver, talk to your doctor first.  Fasting can lower blood sugar, reduce your energy, stress your immune system and be life-threatening for people suffering liver damage from viral hepatitis.  “Fasting for limited periods of time during the day may be safe if you have no signs of liver damage—indicated by normal liver enzymes (ALT/SGPT) or an ultrasound exam of the liver,” said Hepatitis B Foundation Medical Director Dr. Robert Gish. However, if you have cirrhosis (with ALT/SGPT levels exceeding 35 in men and 25 in women) and are taking medications to treat hepatitis B, research shows fasting may be overwhelming to your liver and may worsen liver damage.  Dr. Gish added “Diabetes and fatty liver is quite common with hepatitis B. Fasting can cause disruption in sugar balance in your body and can cause hypoglycemia and this can worsen the fatty liver condition. If you take diabetes medication, this may unbalance your blood glucose and cause dizziness and low blood pressure.”.   Is limited fasting safe? Fasting is practiced to bring people closer to their spirituality and increase empathy for those living in poverty. For Muslims, fasting is practiced during the month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims are instructed to abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. This may account for up to 16-18 hours of continuous fasting (depending on where a person lives), for a period of 29 or 30 days (depending on the Lunar Calendar).              Islamic teachings allow pregnant persons and people with serious medical conditions to break with the tradition and eat and drink during daylight hours if their health is at risk. Rawalpindi Medical College Principal and Professor of Medicine Dr. Muhammad Umar of

    http://www.hepb.org/blog/fasting-safe-people-living-hepatitis-b/
  • Celebrate Fathers Day By Protecting Your Health and Your Families’ — Get Tested for Hepatitis B

    Courtesy of the US CDC By Christine Kukka After our daughter was diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B 20 years ago, my doctor immediately had me tested for hepatitis B before I could leave her office. She explained that every household member, including my husband, had to be tested for the liver infection that’s transmitted by direct contact with blood and body fluids. ASAP. The good news was my daughter, who was adopted, appeared healthy and showed no signs of liver damage. The bad news was my husband and I were shaken to the core by her diagnosis. Weighed down by worry and ignorance, I feared we might all be infected and were facing a death sentence. I drove out to my husband’s work and we went for a walk. I explained what the doctor had said and explained he had to get tested. It was one of those moments when fear and denial play out over the course of a conversation. Like everyone, he was afraid to get tested. He felt fine, at first he didn’t want to know whether he was infected. For a few moments, he thought ignorance might be less painful than finding out he had hepatitis B.And, as in most families, this disclosure wasn’t easy. He had children from his first marriage who were with us every weekend and they had to be tested too. He would have to share this information with his former wife. This disclosure was going to upend two households. After a few minutes of waffling and processing, he did what courageous fathers do. He got tested and made sure his children were tested too. The news was all good. His children had been immunized and were fine, he was not infected and was immediately immunized. Today, we are all doing fine, including our daughter. Every father’s day, I think about that moment, when my husband refused to  retreat into denial, when he put his family’s health ahead of his initial impulse to hide from a frightening and messy situation. It is what being a good father is all about, and it takes courage. A growing number of

    http://www.hepb.org/blog/celebrate-fathers-day-protecting-health-families-get-tested-hepatitis-b/
  • What can I do if I live in the U.S. and the insurance co-pay for my hepatitis B drugs costs too much for me to buy them?

    While health insurance plans can’t openly reject people with hepatitis B, some have created a way to keep people from buying their policies. They have done this by dramatically increasing out-of-pocket costs for consumers. This deliberately makes their health plans unaffordable for people with hepatitis B, who may have to pay as much as 50% of the cost of their medication despite having insurance. Read our HepB Blog for more information about this issue.   The Hepatitis B Foundation (HBF) has also created a comprehensive report to help consumers identify factors to consider when choosing a health insurance plan and trends that may increase a person’s out-of-pocket treatment costs. Read the report here. You may also want to consult our webpage that discusses possible actions to take if someone is facing discriminatory practices by health insurance companies. Learn more about how to research drug prices on the healthcare marketplace (www.healthcare.gov). Download a free template to file a complaint with your state’s Bureau of Insurance and the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Civil Rights Office about health plan over-pricing of the hepatitis B antivirals [Vemlidy (tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)), Viread (tenofovir disoproxil (TDF)) and generic entecavir]. Read our instructions here. You can also check our page on “Medication Assistance Programs in the U.S.” that lists several sources of medication assistance through online pharmacies and patient support programs by some pharmaceutical companies. Most programs have eligibility criteria to benefit from them, so please check those criteria to see if you are eligible to enroll.  Some may find that prices available with online pharmacies are cheaper than using insurance.

    https://www.hepb.org/what-is-hepatitis-b/faqs/what-can-i-do-if-i-live-in-the-u-s-and-the-insurance-co-pay-for-my-hepatitis-b-drugs-costs-too-much-for-me-to-buy-them/
  • Nina Le Bert, PhD

    Senior Research Fellow in Professor Antonio Bertoletti’s laboratory at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore Nina Le Bert investigates human immunology with a specific interest in the role of antigen-specific T and B cells in control and pathogenesis of viral infections. She is a Senior Research Fellow in Professor Antonio Bertoletti’s laboratory at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, specialized in the field of viral hepatitis and T cells. Here, she studies the role of antigen-specific T and B cells in control of chronic HBV infection. First, she established that HBV-specific T cells associate with viral control upon therapy discontinuation in chronic HBV patients. This study demonstrated that the measurement of HBV-specific T cells has the potential to serve as an immunological biomarker for the stratification of chronically infected patients and could guide treatment decisions. Then, together with a PhD student under her supervision, she demonstrated that HBsAg-specific B cells are dysfunctional in chronic HBV infection but are amenable to a partial rescue by B cell–maturing cytokines and PD-1 blockade. Subsequently, she showed that rather the duration than the quantity of HBsAg associates with deletion and exhaustion of HBsAg-specific T cells in chronic HBV patients. HBsAg-specific T cells are only present in the early stages of chronic HBV infection and nearly undetectable in patients above 35 years old, suggesting that novel therapies aimed at inhibiting HBsAg production might show more efficacy in younger patients. More recently, she is leading the immune profiling of HBV-HCC patients pre- and post-immunotherapy with TCR-redirected T cells in the laboratory, to establish early immunological correlates with therapy efficacy.   Read the journal picks of the month from our Emerging Scholars Scientific and Medical Advisory Board here.  

    https://www.hepb.org/news-and-events/reports/emerging-scholars-scientific-and-medical-advisors/nina-le-bert-phd/
  • Tung-Hung Su, MD, PHD

    Clinical Associate ProfessorNational Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan Dr. Tung-Hung Su received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the National Taiwan University College of Medicine. He is an attending physician and his research focuses on translational research on the treatment of liver fibrosis, and management of viral hepatitis B, C, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Read the journal picks of the month from our Emerging Scholars Scientific and Medical Advisory Board here.  

    https://www.hepb.org/news-and-events/reports/emerging-scholars-scientific-and-medical-advisors/tung-hung-su-md-phd/
  • Career Opportunities

    Join our amazing team of world-changers!  The Hepatitis B Foundation (HBF) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure and improving the quality of life for those affected with chronic hepatitis B worldwide. We are committed to raising public awareness, promoting prevention, providing information and support to those affected, and funding hepatitis B research. HBF fosters a culture of collaboration, professional and personal growth. This is a chance to be part of a highly impactful, creative, supportive, and welcoming team. The office is a flexible, hybrid work environment. Salary is commensurate with experience, and HBF offers an excellent benefits package. Current Opportunities:  No current openings.

    https://www.hepb.org/about-us/career-opportunities/
  • HBV Journal Review – November 2014

    HBF is pleased to connect our blog readers to Christine Kukka’s monthly HBV Journal Review that she writes for the HBV Advocate. The journal presents the
 latest in hepatitis B research, treatment, and prevention from recent academic and medical journals. This month, the following topics are explored: Experts Say Breastfeeding While Taking Antivirals Is Safe Doctors Fail to Adequately Treat HBV-Infected Women After Childbirth Doctors Continue to Fail to Screen Asian-Americans for Hepatitis B Statins Protect Hepatitis B Patients Against Heart Disease and Liver Cancer New Study Finds Antivirals Lower Liver Cancer Risk Studies Find Tenofovir Lowers Viral Load Faster Than Entecavir Liver Transplants Safe in Older Hepatitis B Patients Scientists Develop Micro Weapon to Disable HBV's Cancer-Causing X Protein Foreign-Born U.S. Residents Less Likely to Be Immunized Antivirals Can Safely Replace HBIG Following Liver Transplantation All Hepatitis B Patients Appear at Risk from Chemotherapy November 1, 2014 Volume 11, Issue 11 by Christine M. Kukka Experts Say Breastfeeding While Taking Antivirals Is Safe Women infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) face a medical conundrum. If they have high viral loads they are encouraged to take antivirals during pregnancy to reduce their HBV DNA levels to avoid infecting their newborns–but then they're told not to take antivirals if they want to breastfeed. A fetus is exposed to far higher levels of an antiviral in utero if the mother takes a daily antiviral pill than through breast milk. And to date, no medical studies have found any harm to babies from exposure to the miniscule amounts of antivirals found in breast milk, according to a provocative study published in the October issue of the journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases. In fact, the World Health Organization recommends that HIV-infected women continue antiviral treatment (which includes some of the same drugs used to suppress viral load in HBV-infected women)

    http://www.hepb.org/blog/hbv-journal-review-november-2014/
  • Antiviral Therapy May Prevent Liver Cancer in Hepatitis B patients

    Useful confirmation of what we already thought was true. Good news... (HealthNewsDigest.com) - DETROIT, June 9, 2014  -- Researchers have found that antiviral therapy may be successful in preventing hepatitis B virus from developing into the most common form of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). That was the finding of a study published in the May issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Investigators from Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., and Kaiser Permanente in Honolulu, Hawaii and Portland, Ore. participated in the study, along with investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. According to the first-of-its-kind analysis of more than 2,600 adult participants with hepatitis B, those treated with antiviral therapy had a significantly lower occurrence of HCC during a five-year follow up period. Overall, 3 percent of patients developed HCC during the study's timeframe. But patients who received antiviral therapy were 60 percent less likely to develop HCC than untreated patients. "The results of this study allow us to reassure our patients that we are not just treating their viral levels, but that antiviral therapy may actually lessen their chance of developing liver cancer," said the study's lead investigator, Henry Ford Health System's Stuart C. Gordon, M.D., who worked closely with Henry Ford Senior Scientist Mei Lu in Detroit. Continue reading here.  

    http://www.hepb.org/blog/antiviral-therapy-may-prevent-liver-cancer-in-hepatitis-b-patients/
  • Operation Storm Philadelphia City Council : The Aftermath

    Hepatitis B Foundation Intern and Guest Blogger Limi Lo shares her personal reflection of last week's advocacy event when hepatitis B partners and advocates stormed Philadelphia City Council  A few months ago, I was sitting in my public policy class learning about advocacy. In simple English, it means, "to fight for a cause that you believe in." As much as I understood what it meant, I never thought I would take part in a real advocacy event until I attended the City Council resolution presentation on May 8th, 2014. The event was held at the Philadelphia City Council during a city council session, and included supporters from Hep B United Philadelphia (lead by the Hepatitis B Foundation), HepCAP, and Philadelphia County Medical Society. Together, supporters came out and advocated for better viral hepatitis care in the greater Philadelphia area. City Councilman David Oh had introduced a resolution declaring May as Hepatitis Awareness Month and calls for all high-risk Philadelphians to receive appropriate testing and proper care for viral hepatitis. The event not only provided me with a valuable learning experience, but more importantly, it was a life changing experience. I was able to witness community partners, students, professors, and other advocates coming together to help raise awareness and fight for a substantial cause (to improve hepatitis care). There were dozens of posters held high and being displayed: “Be proactive, get tested today”, “know more hepatitis”, and “Give hope to your family”. These messages were inspirational in addressing the need for city leaders to pay greater attention for the silent epidemic of viral hepatitis. Throughout the event, the atmosphere was filled with positive energy and a sense of hope was tangibly present—a hope that, in Philadelphia, all high-risk individuals can access screening tests, vaccines, and care for viral hepatitis. Since beginning my practicum with the Hepatitis B Foundation, I've gained a variety

    http://www.hepb.org/blog/operation-storm-philadelphia-city-council-the-aftermath/
  • Jason's Story

    After moving back home to seek treatment for hepatitis B, struggling to find any hepatitis B specialists, and a going through a disastrous experience with one provider, Jason finally located a caring and knowledgeable doctor who gave him hope.  

    https://www.hepb.org/research-and-programs/patient-story-telling-project/jasons-story/