Mrs. S.K.K. (Patient Ref. No.: L6333), 53 year old lady consulted us for the treatment of Hepatitis C. She had been diagnosed with this condition since 1½ years. The complaints had presumably started after she had received blood transfusion in 1981 after 2 episodes of haematemesis (vomiting of blood). She had also undergone 2 caesarean sections. She mainly complained of weakness and easy tiredness. She would also have mild epistaxis (bleeding from the nose) daily. Easy bruisability was another complaint that she had; she would get spontaneous bruise marks anywhere on the skin, even without any injury at times. She had received Interferon + Ribavirin therapy for 6 months in the past.

She was a known diabetic and hypertensive since 5 years and was on treatment fro the same. Her blood sugar levels were constantly very high inspite of being on Insulin for the same.

>She also had eczematous patches on both her ankles since 8 years and these were gradually increasing in size. She had received local steroids for the eczema but this had not helped her much and instead her patches continued to increase.

She was an obese female with normal appetite. She was a vegetarian and was very fond of sweets and peppermint.

She had no problems with her bowel and bladder functions. She would be more comfortable in colder climate in general. She was menopausal since 2 years. She had 3 children out of which the first one was a normal full-term delivery and the other 2 were delivered by caesarean section. During the first caesarean that she had undergone, she had received blood transfusion due to excessive bleeding towards the end of the last trimester.

She was a housewife and she stayed with her husband and youngest son; her two elder daughters were married and settled with their respective families. She described herself as having an irritable nature since a few years. She would easily get upset over trifles and would not be able to express her irritability generally. She would easily get offended by what others would say. She had an aversion to loud noises. Her husband said that she was very dissatisfied in general and would try to find mistakes in everything. She would be worse from any kind of contradiction and she would suppress her anger till it would be possible but later she would shout and vent it out when it got beyond her tolerance. She had become very sad due to her illness as she had never suffered from any kind of health problems in the past. She would often sit and brood about her problems. She would feel neglected and would feel that some of her distant relatives are trying to avoid her due to her health problems. She would have a tendency to weep easily and would feel much better after consolation. She liked to be in the company of others though she would feel hesitant to initiate talks with others herself.

Her past medical history included treatment for dental caries and pyorrhoea recently. She had undergone obliteration of fundic varices in November 2003. She had also got dilatation and curettage done twice about 5 years ago. In her family, the following medical history was present:
Father: Ischemic heart disease and a myocardial infarct once
Mother: Diabetes and Bronchial asthma
Grandmother (maternal): Diabetes
2 maternal uncles: Diabetes
Grandfather (paternal): Tuberculosis
Younger brother: Tuberculosis

On examination, her weight was 77 kg and blood pressure was 130/80 mm hg. Her feet were oedematous and she had multiple ecchymotic patches on her thighs.

26-08-2004 : CBC:
Haemoglobin : 12.7 grams%
WBC : 3200/ cumm
Platelets : 73000/ cumm

26-08-2004 : Liver profile:
SGOT : 123 U/L
SGPT : 102 U/L
Bilirubin (Total) : 1.2 mg/dl
Bilirubin (Direct) : 0.4 mg/dl
Proteins (Total) : 7.9 gm/dl
Proteins (Albumin) : 3.5 gm/dl
Proteins (Globulin) : 4.4 gm/dl

9-10-2004 : OGD scopy: Small oesophageal varices, small fundic varix, and mild antral gastritis

25-11-2004 :
Blood sugar (Fasting) : 216
Blood sugar (Post lunch) : 278
31-10-2003 : HCV genotyping : Type 3 and 6 detected

Her HCV viral load before starting Homoeopathic treatment has been tabulated below:

She was prescribed medicines for Hepatitis C based on her detailed history. Within about 2 months of starting homoeopathic treatment, her weakness and fatigability began to improve gradually. The spontaneous bruising came down although she would still get ecchymotic patches whenever she took Insulin injections for her diabetes. Her blood sugar level also came under control, something which had not happened for a long time inspite of being on anti-diabetic medication and insulin both. The oedema of the feet also improved and in general she started feeling better. The treatment was continued and about 7 months later her HCV viral load was rechecked. As compared to the last reading of 2,33,000 IU/ml, her count this time had come down to 1,29,815 IU/ml.

Her medication was continued further and she was informed that inspite of good recovery, she would require long term medication for her complaints.

This case illustrates for us the fact that Homoeopathy has good scope in the treatment of diseases like Hepatitis C. In this case, the patient had received Interferon + Ribavirin in the past but after some time, her HCV viral load had increased again. This time she opted for Homoeopathic medication which gave her excellent results within 7 months and without any side-effects whatsoever.