Hepatitis C virus affects organs

Patients with chronic hepatitis C may develop liver fibrosis and may be at risk for developing conditions affecting other organs, Bulgarian doctors say.

The study, published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, find these conditions include fatigue, kidney impairment, type 2 diabetes, joint pain, numbness or tingling of the skin and purpura -- discoloration caused by bleeding under the skin.
Effective treatment of hepatitis C virus may prevent cryoglobulinemia -- the presence of abnormal proteins in blood serum, the researchers say.
The study involving 136 hepatitis C patients at Alexandrovska Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria, find the risks of developing B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma higher in cryoglobulin-positive patients --17.6 percent -- and lower -- 3.5 percent -- in cryoglobulin-negative patients.
The study finds positive links between the presence of extra-hepatic manifestations and age, female gender, duration of the infection, infection by transfusion of blood and blood products and extensive liver fibrosis. Therefore, elderly women with chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver fibrosis, who were infected by transfusion during childbirth, are at the highest risk of developing extra-hepatic manifestations of hepatitis C infection.