hep c and brain haemmorrhage (anita roddick)

[mikeymike3]

Breaking news here in the UK this morning is that Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop chain of stores, has died.  A sad loss.  Death is being attributed to a brain haemorrhage and the press are assuming that this is connected to the fact that Anita had hep c for about 35 years (she had reached the cirrhotic stage).  This is the first time I have heard of a connection between hep c and brain haemorrhage.  Do you think there is a genuine connection? How common is it? Or is it just the press jumping to conclusions? (You know the sort of thing: somebody with hep c falls out of a window, so it must have been the hep that caused it).

[morning_glory]

Check this article out - http://www.doiserbia.nbs.bg.ac.yu/(A(qL9XsFTbxwEkAAAAZGY2ZTIyNjItYzJkNS00MWZhLWJiNGYtNGUyY2U2OTAxZTYz1pIIWWd7YTPAEBZgJPXP_Ou9eYY1))/img/doi/0354-3447/2004/0354-34470403289C.pdf

[dointime]

PS - I don't think Anita Roddick ever treated for hepC, so her death couldn't be related to tx drugs.

[dointime]

Good post Doubledose.  There's that old line that's trotted out to scared newbies about hepC being so slow to progress and the likelihood of dying of something else before it gets us.  Well yeah - but what about the something else being hepC related.

A few years ago a friend of mine died of non-hodgkins lymphoma.  He had hepC but no cirrhosis.  He thought he had time to treat.  It's my thinking too that having this virus puts our health at risk from many other issues which are not obviously connected.    

It really is time that hepC was routinely tested for as an underlying issue by doctors when diagnosing.  Remember when they found the helicobacter pylori bacteria and discovered that eliminating it drastically cut the incidences of stomach ulcers, cancers, gastritis, acid, etc.  Unfortunately hepC ain't so easy to eliminate right now but it's time to raise it's profile and include it with the rest of the Usual Suspects.  

dointime        

[geterdone]

Its ok Ladies wouldn’t expect any of you to chime in on this one. DoubleDose I have to agree with you in that there is no research on this topic and am wondering what kind of a response I will get from the doctor. I had goggled it on; interferon, ribivrin and procrit and there is no connection to it and what Angiokeratoma has on the subject is nil to none and the one site I had found everyone is asking the same question. There are some reasons as to why it happends and the projected time frames but there nothing showing it happening in a short time frame.  

jasper

[DoubleDose]

I think this topic may be worth pursuing with the HCV medical community and researchers.  I have always thought that strokes and brain hemorrhages could be a potential outcome for many with long term HCV infections, as well as life threatening cardiovascular problems.  Are there any other members with thoughts or observations out there regarding HCV and stroke or hemorrhage?

Possibly there have been other HCV related deaths from these causes, that were assigned to some other factor than the HCV.  Most doctors are reluctant to accept that any other serious afflictions would be caused by the virus, even though they clearly see what it does to the liver, and the deaths attributed to that organ.  Do they think the virus is 'nice' to all the other organs that it might inhabit?  

Here is a scenario that I bet has had little long term study.

DoubleDose

[geterdone]

I’m interested in finding out and will speak to the doctor soon on this very subject of aneurysms and small vain bleeds. My mother had small mini strokes over the years and then a brain aneurysm, and subsequently died from it. I never had any vain ruptures but since being on TX, I have had one small testicular scrotum vain bleed with several more smaller vein’s starting to enlarge at the tips and have some concerns about them. I'm thinking it may be from heavy lifting but don't know at this point. O' yea, the freaking riba rash has started on upper chest I've not had that before, not been happy, sorry for the bleed, no pun intended. The unknow is is tx'ing bring about these changes.

jasper  

[DoubleDose]

I personally believe that HCV's impact on mortality is vastly under-appreciated.  We only really look for the liver related fatalities, when there are probably a number of heart, circulatory, and brain related issues that HCV either directly or indirectly causes, which also frequently lead to premature death.  The virus is not sufficiently understood, nor obvious enough in its role, for the medical community to have fully connected all the dots yet.  We as the infected, and formerly infected observers often see and experience much of these misunderstood maladies, without anyone ever correctly diagnosing the etiology, or addressing the real danger of our extra-hepatic manifestations.

Very little extensive research regarding HCV and the brain, heart, CNS, and other organs has been done, and the mainstream doctors treating HCV usually come at it from a very limited, tunnel vision approach.  Most are liver or gastro specialists, who look for what they know, and assign all the other stuff to 'other causes'.......like strokes, diabetes, depression, brain deficits, neurological problems, autoimmune developments, etc. etc...which are viewed by these specialists as being caused by some other 'unknown, and unexplained' variable, in the HCV infected person.  

I don't think so!!!!!!

By the way, my mother suffered a strange illness for several decades...slowly progressive, and causing depression, joint problems, skin eruptions, thyroid changes, fatigue, fluid retention, jaundice, and eventually strokes and major brain hemorrhage, causing death!  Sound familiar?

This was before they had a test  for HCV, just before 1990.  I always wonder whether she had, and died from HCV.  She was only in her 60's.  If she did, it would explain where I got the virus.  I had no real risk factors.

DoubleDose

[debnevada]

in the reports it seems they are talking about aneurysms.  I do not know if there is a connection between treatment drugs and the development of aneurysms.

It is quite possible,however, in my opinion, that there may be NO connection. I think it remains to be seen.