Although
hepatitis C is a viral disease of the liver, it can also cause diseases in
other organs. These diseases and/or symptoms outside the liver are called
'extrahepatic manifestations'. According to a French study, three-quarters of
people with hepatitis C have at least one extrahepatic disorder.1,2,3,4 The following complications
occur relatively frequently:
- Joint and muscle pains
- Kidney damage
- Depression and anxiety
- Changes to the skin and
mucous membranes
- Lack of energy and tiredness
- Cardiovascular disease and
type 2 diabetes.
Possible,
but somewhat rarer, symptoms are anaemia (reduced level of red blood cells), skin
and thyroid diseases.
A small
proportion of people with HCV, particularly women, develop autoimmune disorders
of varying severity. These include:
Glossary
- anaemia
A shortage or change in the size or function of red blood cells.
These cells carry oxygen to organs of the body. Symptoms can include shortness
of breath, fatigue and lack of concentration.
- extrahepatic
Something that has an
effect outside the liver, for example when viral hepatitis affects the kidneys
or causes depression.
- haemoglobin
Red-coloured,
oxygen-carrying chemical in red blood cells.
- Vasculitis: a painful blood
circulation disorder.
- Autoimmune thyroid disease.
- Autoimmune hepatitis: this
is a more serious form of liver disease than viral infection.
- Glomerulonephritis: a
serious form of kidney disease in which the blood filtering function
becomes impaired.
- Polyarthritis: multiple
joint pains and swelling.
- Cryoglobulinaemia: a
condition in which abnormal proteins called cryoglobulins form in the
blood.
- Porphyria cutanea tarda: a
condition in which by-products of haemoglobin production build up in the
body.
- Scleroderma: hardening of
the skin.
- Sicca syndrome: a chronic
condition characterised by dry eyes and dry mouth.
HCV
infects the lymphatic system as well as the liver and the blood. Nearly all
people with hepatitis C have virus in their lymphatic vessels and organs. Hepatitis
C has also been linked to low blood cell counts and to diabetes and other
metabolic disorders.