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Hepatitis
The hepatitis viruses live in blood and other cells and can damage the
human liver. Hepatitis is a medical term that means ‘inflamed liver.’
All the hepatitis viruses can cause damage and swelling of the liver. Many members of the hepatitis
family have been identified and named with letters of the alphabet.
The two main types
transmitted by sharing injecting equipment and paraphernalia are hepatitis
B and C. In
some areas, 8 out of 10 injecting drug users have hepatitis C! This is
because even tiny amounts of blood can cause infection. Both can be carried
(and passed on) for years without people being aware that they have the
virus.
The symptoms of liver
disease caused by hepatitis include:
- depression;
- exhaustion; and
- jaundice.
Jaundice is a ‘turning
yellow’ of the skin and whites of the eyes. In white people, when
jaundice starts the skin usually begins to change colour as if the person
were getting a tan, but the colour is slightly more yellow than brown.
In people of all skin colours, the yellow colouring is most easily seen
in the whites of the eyes and under the tongue. If you have hepatitis,
alcohol and paracetamol can accelerate liver damage.
There is a vaccination
that can stop you catching hepatitis B. It is a course of three or four
injections. Your GP or drug service should arrange vaccination for you:
if they haven’t done it yet - ask. Even if you are immune to the
hepatitis B virus, you still have to protect yourself from hepatitis C
and HIV.
If you are hepatitis
C positive and are going to be prescribed methadone, you should make sure
the prescribing doctor knows about your diagnosis. Your
doctor should be able to tell you about the monitoring and treatment options
that might be available to you.
For further information
on how serious liver damage can affect methadone treatment click
here.
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