Smoking Can Aggravate Hepatitis C Liver Damage

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Smoking Can Aggravate Hepatitis C Liver Damage Wed Apr 10, 1:37 PM ET NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Patients infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) should avoid smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol because both habits can further damage their livers, according to Taiwanese researchers. About 4 million people in the United States and 150 million worldwide have HCV, an infection of the liver that is spread by contact with blood and other body fluids. About 20% of people infected with HCV will develop severe and potentially fatal liver damage, or cirrhosis, which in turn increases a person's risk of liver cancer. The new study, published in the April 8th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine (news - web sites), used levels of the enzyme ALT to gauge liver damage. The study's authors note that ALT is "the most suitable and useful protein enzyme" for evaluating damage to the organ. While drinking alcohol is known to boost ALT levels, lead author Dr. Chong-Shan Wang of the A-Lein Community Health Center in Kaohsiung County and colleagues note, the effects of cigarette smoking on the liver are less clear. To investigate, they checked the ALT levels of 6,095 men and women living in an area known to have high rates of HCV and hepatitis B virus (HBV), another type of liver infection. All of the participants also answered detailed questionnaires that assessed their smoking habits and alcohol consumption. While nearly 4% of people who were free of HCV and HBV infection had elevated ALT levels, 11% of people infected with HBV and 31% of people with HCV had high levels of the liver enzyme, the investigators report. Drinking alcohol more than doubled the risk of having high ALT levels in people infected with HCV, while smoking almost doubled this risk. But for those with HBV, no such association was seen. And for people with HCV who smoked a pack or more of cigarettes each day and frequently drank alcohol, the risk of elevated ALT levels was seven times higher than for those who did not drink or smoke. Patients who are infected with HCV "are strongly advised not to smoke and drink alcohol to reduce the possible risk for aggravating (their) liver dysfunction," Wang and colleagues conclude. SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine 2002;161:811-815