My husband is about to start Hep C treatment with interferon and ribovarin..(?) He's planning on smoking marijuana do alleveate the symptoms. Will it affect anything else or would it be ok. Also, how much does that type of smoke affect the liver? Also is it possible for them to know how bad it is without doing a recent biopsy? He had one 3 yrs ago & they say he's in stage 3 & his count is 700,000. Do you know anything about that?

A joint or two will not affect the liver very much. Stage 3 refers to the amount of fibrosis or damage in the liver. Stage 3 indicates a significant amount of liver damage. Stage 4 would mean cirrhosis is present. Unlikely a new biopsy will yield new information except for perhaps more evidence of damage. His viral load is probably much higher (in the millions), as this is as high as that particular viral load assay level goes> The type of HCV matters as well. Genotype 1 responds less well to treatment compared to genotype 2 or 3.