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The Cardiovascular Effects of Hepatitis

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Updated January 04, 2015.

At present, the rates of diseases and ailments are on the rise. This is primarily caused by harmful bacteria and microorganisms that are usually taken in by the body. This may also be due to unhealthy eating habits and activities that lots of people are doing. One of the alarming diseases commonly suffered by the people is hepatitis. Hepatitis is primarily characterized by massive destruction of the large quantity of liver cells as well as the presence of the inflammatory cells found in the liver tissues.

Hepatitis is caused by too much drinking of alcohol and disorders in the pancreas of the gall bladder. This may also be caused by certain side effects of medication and even infections.

What Specific Type of Hepatitis Affects the Heart?

There are different types of hepatitis that your body might be exposed to. It may vary depending on what particular organ of your body is affected by this condition.  For those who frequently asked themselves if hepatitis can truly affect the cardiovascular system, especially their heart, well, the answer is definitely “yes”. The type of hepatitis that affects the function of the cardiovascular system the most is hepatitis C or HCV.

Hepatitis C immediately spreads in the body through blood and body-fluid contacts. These include semen, blood, sharing of needles or even to someone who makes use of infected needles. This is acquired via blood transfusions that cause inflammation of the liver resulting to severe liver damage and cancer. This also leads to chronic type of liver inflammation that slowly damages liver before turning into cirrhosis of your liver.

 

Hepatitis C: Risks in Your Heart

Apart from the damage that hepatitis C gives your liver, it also jeopardizes the health of your cardiovascular or circulatory system, which is responsible for transporting nutrients, hormones, cellular waste products, oxygen all throughout your body especially the heart. If your heart will be affected by hepatitis C, there will be great chances to acquire chronic cardiovascular diseases that might affect the function of some areas of your cardiovascular system.

Cardiovascular diseases are known to be the leading cause of mortality of the people who are exposed to the greater risks of heart diseases. With the unifying medications as well as lifestyle changes, many people have successfully tackled two big indicators of cardiac problems, which are blood pressure and increased fat levels in the blood. Unfortunately, these measures aren’t enough in order to protect the heart of people who are exposed to hepatitis C.

Lowering the blood pressure and enhancing the ratio of the blood fats is sufficient to those people who are aiming to protect their own heart from the dangers brought on by hepatitis C. Healthy blood pressure levels as well as lipid lifestyle are very vital for the optimal wellness of the people. These factors are responsible for the alarming incident of circulatory or cardiovascular diseases of people with hepatitis C. In fact, people who have hepatitis C are advised to take healthy steps and habits towards protecting their heart from the unhealthy and severe effects that this type of ailment or disease might put in their life.

Hepatitis C and Its Effects in the Cardiovascular and Circulatory System

Acquiring hepatitis C can greatly affect the cardiovascular and circulatory system of your body. The liver fills all types of toxins out of the body’s bloodstream. It also creates proteins that are highly needed for a healthy blood. It even helps in regulating blood clotting. If you have poor and unhealthy functioning liver, it can create problems in the blood flow of your body and will also increase the pressure in its vein that leads to your liver. This can cause portal hypertension, which will force your blood to search for alternative vein where it can freely flow. The alternative vein may burst if it’s too small, which can cause severe internal bleeding that might affect the cardiovascular and circulatory system of your body, especially your heart.

A poorly functioning liver might improperly and unhealthily extract iron in the blood. It may also store it for latter usage. This may result to different types of diseases such as anemia and many others. Blood tests can always reveal the presence of the hepatitis C antibodies disease in your bloodstream. If you already have the antibodies to the hepatitis virus, that’s an indication that you’re already exposed to the virus and you need to undergo secondary blood tests for its diagnosis.

In order to assure that your circulatory or cardiovascular system is in its healthy condition and free from the danger of Hepatitis C, you need to practice healthy lifestyle habits. Eat healthy and exercise often in order to assure that the viruses that are the mere cause of your hepatitis C-related damages can be prevented well ahead of time.  This is one way of making sure that your heart and all parts of the cardiovascular system will be functioning healthily as a hepatitis patient.

References:

Ohori H, Kanno A, Nagatsuka Y, Yamada E, Onodera S, Tateda A, Abe Y, Togoh T, Ishida N. An antigen/antibody system specific for an epidemic non-A, non-B hepatitis in patients of a cardiovascular surgical unit. J Med Virol. 1983;12(3):161-78.

Matsumori A, Shimada T, Chapman NM, Tracy SM, Mason JW. Myocarditis and heart failure associated with hepatitis C virus infection. J Card Fail. 2006 May;12(4):293-8.
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