Is weight gain a side effect of the new hepatitis C treatment?
Hepatitis C has long been a disease for which mankind had no effective cure. The well-known standard treatment with interferon was only successful in around 50% of cases. In 2013, a new drug under the trade name Sovaldi was introduced to the US market. With a success rate of over 95%, the new drug was a game changer, transforming hepatitis C into an easily treatable liver disease.
Additionally, Gilead added 90 mg of ledipasvir, an NS5A inhibitor, to the existing 400 mg formulation of sofosbuvir in Sovaldi. The newly created drug is called Harvoni and is currently the most successful treatment available for hepatitis C.
Harvoni Side Effects
No drug is without side effects and even Harvoni is no exception. The most frequent are headaches (20%) and fatigue (18%), followed by diarrhea and nausea. All of these side effects were discovered during clinical trials, and patients should expect some of them during the standard 12-week course of treatment.
However, more and more patients with hepatitis C experience weight gain as a side effect of treatment. In some cases, patients have gained as much as 30 pounds in as little as 12 weeks. Does the new treatment stimulate weight gain?
Why do hepatitis C patients gain weight?
Most likely, the treatment is not a direct cause of the weight gain. However, there are two factors that can influence the increase in body mass during the 12-week regimen:
- Headaches and fatigue decrease physical activity
- The immune system is burning muscle tissue to fight disease
Normal physical activity is very important when trying to maintain weight. Even simple tasks like cleaning or walking around the mall burn calories, and little by little these calories add up. However, when receiving treatment for hepatitis C, headaches and fatigue often prevent patients from performing these tasks. On the other hand, people who take Harvoni often find less time and motivation to prepare healthy meals. When you’re suffering from a headache, pulling snacks out of the fridge is much easier than making a healthy home-cooked meal. This adds to the calories consumed and contributes to weight gain.
However, consuming food is vital to combat the disease. While on treatment, the immune system is hyper-drive and needs extra energy to build antibodies against the hepatitis C virus. Antibodies are made from proteins. That is why it is very important to consume a sufficient amount of protein during treatment. Otherwise, the body that needs protein will begin to burn valuable muscle mass in order to obtain the necessary building block for the immune system.
Both effects add up and influence weight gain. The important thing is to know what patients undergoing treatment should eat to keep their immune systems healthy. True, this, in turn, will increase your body weight. The main focus of treatment remains to cure hepatitis C.
Get energy from fatty tissue
The most brilliant way to get the energy to fuel your immune system is by burning excess fat. Most of us have fat on our stomachs and thighs. This fat can be used to support our immune system. The added benefit is that you will not gain weight with Harvoni treatment. Not only this, many people report that they lose weight when they follow a correct fat burning program.