While women with
hepatitis C usually live longer than men infected with
the virus, heavy drinking removes that survival advantage.
According to a
new study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and
Experimental Research, women with hepatitis C who
were not heavy drinkers died at an average age of 61.
Those who drank excessively died, on average, just
past 49. For men, hepatitis C in combination with heavy
drinking lowered the average age of death from 55 years to
50.
Lead study author
Chiung Chen said in a statement that evidence from
previous studies "indicates that men are less likely to
clear acute HCV infection than women, so we are a
little bit surprised that the slight advantage for
women is completely wiped out by heavy drinking."
Alex DeLuca,
former chief and medical director of the Smithers Addiction
Treatment and Research Center in New York City, said in a
release that the research supported earlier findings
that women with hepatitis C generally have a slower
progression of the disease, but that heavy drinking is
in general harder on women than men. (The Advocate)
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