The affects of Alcohol and Cigarettes on HCV and the
liver
ALCOHOL
There is no question that alcohol is bad in HCV. Studies have
shown that patients that drink 3 drinks per day have a higher
incidence of cirrhosis. Our own center has shown that patients with
HCV and drink have a worse activity index on the liver biopsy.
Alcohol is thought to magnify the progression of hepatitis C and
vice versa. No one knows if there is a safe amount of alcohol to
consume if you have hepatitis C. Certainly heavy intake (more than
3 drinks a day) should be avoided. The safest course of action is
not to drink alcohol at all if you are known to have hepatitis C.
Whether one or two drinks a day increases the rate of progression
of liver disease is not currently known.
An important cofactor of disease severity appears to be alcohol
and alcohol should be avoided in those with chronic HCV infection."
- "Natural History and Clinical Aspects of HCV Infection." H.J.
Alter. Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institutes of
Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Cancer Biotechnology Weekly,
01-29-1996, pp 20.
A Japanese research team reports that heavy drinking reduces the
efficacy of interferon (IFN) therapy in habitual drinkers with
chronic hepatitis C and that this effect can be reversed by
abstinence.
Dr. Kunihiko Ohnishi and colleagues from the Saitama Medical
School in Saitama, Japan, evaluated the effect of alcohol
consumption in 95 patients who had a confirmed diagnosis of chronic
hepatitis C and were receiving treatment with IFN.
Dr. Ohnishi reports that the rate of response to interferon
therapy was 36% in infrequent drinkers, 33% in moderate drinkers,
26% in heavy drinkers who had stopped drinking and 6% in heavy
drinkers who continued to drink. Dr. Ohnishi and coinvestigators
note that these results demonstrate "...for the first time, that
the adverse effect of habitual heavy drinking on the efficacy of
IFN therapy might be reversed, at least in part, by abstinence for
more than 6 months before the start of IFN therapy." - Am J
Gastroenterol 1996;91:1374-1379.
Alcohol Alcohol Suppl 1B: 85-90 (1993) Effects of alcohol on the
replication of hepatitis C virus. M. Sawada, A. Takada, S. Takase
& N. Takada
These results suggest that alcohol misuse may enhance the
replication of HCV.
Alcoholism appears to be a predisposing condition for hepatitis
C virus infection, but not hepatitis B. ("Alcoholism is Associated
with HCV, but not HBV in an Urban Population," The American Journal
of Gastroenterology, March 1996;91(3):498-505) The study adds to
the accumulating evidence suggesting that hepatitis C virus is
related to alcohol consumption.
Rosman et al. concluded that the increased seroprevalence of
hepatitis C in actively drinking alcoholic patients without known
risk factors suggest that alcoholism, in some way, is a
predisposing factor for HCV infection.
We conclude that infection by both HCV and HBV may play a role
in the development of HCC, and that alcohol consumption may promote
carcinogenesis. Hepatogastroenterology 42: 151-154 (1995) "Relation
between markers for viral hepatitis and clinical features of
Japanese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: possible role of
alcohol in promoting carcinogenesis." Y. Matsuda, Y. Amuro, K.
Higashino, T. Hada, T. Yamamoto, M. Fujikura, K. Yamaguchi, S.
Shimomura, H. Iijima, T. Nakano & ...
Click on the links below for more information:
Study
Confirms Importance of Alcohol Abstention in Patients Infected with
Hepatitis C Virus
Alcohol
compounds liver damage in hepatitis C
Effect of
alcohol on hepatic activity & viral titre in HCV
Cigarette
smoke and the liver
Hepatitis,
Alcohol, Cigarettes, and HCC
The alcoholic
patient with hepatitis C virus infection
Alcohol
Consumption Negatively Impacts the Outcome of Hepatitis C
Infection
Additional Evidence
that Alcohol Consumption Negatively Impacts the Outcome of
Hepatitis C Infection
High
malignancy of hepatocellular carcinoma in alcoholic patients with
HCV
Synergism Exists
Between HCV and Alcoholism
Interferon therapy
for Chronic Hepatitis-C in habitual drinkers
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