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:
- 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.