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Hepatitis B Diagnosis & Monitoring, Hepatitis B Treatment, Living with Hepatitis B

Got Hepatitis B? Share Your Favorite Liver Specialist with the HBV Community

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Do you have a favorite liver specialist that you’d like to share with the Hepatitis B Foundation and friends living with HBV?  Friends with HBV live all over the globe, and we are interested in liver specialists with Hepatitis B treating experience from all over.  Pediatric patients are a special sub-population with special treating needs, too.  We’d love to hear from all of you!  Here’s what we’re looking for…

The Hepatitis B Foundation maintains a database of liver specialists that have experience treating patients with HBV.  Based on your recommendations, we would love to extend an invitation to your liver specialist to participate in our directory of liver specialists.  If your liver specialist replies, we will add his/her name to the list.

We’ve had some wonderful, new HBV friends on facebook from Africa and other continents, and we would encourage all of you to send us your liver specialist’s contact information.  Our international database is a little sparse, so we really need your input!  This would also include parents of children with HBV that are living abroad.  So, if you’ve got experience with a treating specialist that you’d like to share, you can be sure others will benefit from your advice.

Here is what the Hepatitis B Foundation needs to know:

  • Residing country
  • Adult or pediatric specialist
  • Liver specialist’s name and contact information  – including name, address, telephone number and email address (if available)
  • Anything else you’d like to share!

Email this important information to directory@hepb.org .  Please keep in mind that the information you provide is offered as a courtesy to others in the HBV community.  Your name will not be associated, and the addition of your physician does not make you responsible in any way.  This is not a physician referral service, but rather an opportunity for those living with HBV to share resources.  (Please note the disclaimer.)

Thanks to all who participate.  The entire HBV community benefits from your input!

 

Hepatitis B Diagnosis & Monitoring, Living with Hepatitis B

Choosing a Liver Specialist to Treat Your HBV

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Got HepB?  Which doctor is right for you?  Do you need a hepatologist, gastroenterologist (GI doctor), or an infectious disease doctor?  Is the patient an adult or child?  If you’re new to HBV, these specialty doctors are likely foreign to your doctor line-up, and weeding through the specialty titles and training can be confusing.   However, if you have HBV, it’s essential that you find a knowledgeable liver specialist to monitor and potentially treat your hepatitis B.

A hepatologist is a doctor that specializes in diseases associated with the liver.  Hepatology is a sub-specialty of gastroenterology.  This is an obvious choice for patients with HBV, but it may be difficult to find a hepatologist in your vicinity.

A gastroenterologist, or GI doctor, specializes in the function and disorders of the GI tract, which includes the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, intestines and the liver.  This covers a very broad spectrum of functions and diseases.  The key is to find a GI doctor that has experience treating patients with liver disease – specifically, viral hepatitis, and hepatitis B.  If your GI candidate spends much of his week performing endoscopies, he is likely not a good choice for a liver specialist.

Because hepatitis B is an infectious disease, it would seem logical that an infectious disease specialist would be the best choice.  However, this is not usually the case with hepatitis B, or viral hepatitis, but rather HIV and other infectious diseases.  Your best bet will most likely be a hepatologist or a GI doctor.

If the patient is a child, it is imperative that the child see a pediatric liver specialist.  Some of the best and brightest, cutting edge doctors are both pediatric hepatologists and GI docs.  Children with HBV are monitored and treated much differently than adults.  The labs look different, and the treatment protocols also differ.  You need a pediatric specialist.

Ultimately, the key is finding a liver specialist that has experience monitoring and treating patients with hepatitis B.  You need to ask the important questions.   How many patients are they currently monitoring and treating with hep B?  How is your doctor keeping abreast of the latest and greatest advances in the management of hepatitis B?  Does she attend conferences on viral hepatitis?

HBV is a chronic disease, so you are potentially entering into a long term relationship.  Be sure to ask questions that are important to YOU.  How are test results disseminated?  Are frequent visits required?  Is your doctor open minded – perhaps willing to consult with other experts treating patients with HBV?  It would be great if this specialist is affiliated with a large hospital or university center.  This may provide additional options such as clinical trials, should they become available.  Plus they tend to have a larger patient population, hence more case specific experience.

Typically, the need to visit your liver specialist is not that frequent, unless you are undergoing treatment.  Even then, much of the monitoring and follow-up are in the blood work, and much of that can be drawn locally, with the results sent to your liver specialist.  Some treatment protocols require more monitoring and blood work than others, but even so, it is typically for a short period of time.  This fact is significant, as it expands the size of your geographic circle of potential experts.

The Hepatitis B Foundation maintains a wonderful database of liver specialists for both adults and children.  From there you can check out your potential expert with members of HBV support groups that may have personal experience with your candidate.

Good luck choosing your liver specialist!

Baruch S. Blumberg Institute