Hepatitis C mainly causes damage to the liver, although it can affect
almost every other organ of the body. There are many ways that people
can protect the health of the liver, and ‘Stop drinking alcohol’ is
probably the first piece of advice issued to people with HCV.
Alcohol is processed by the liver and in large quantities can cause
damage to an HCV infected individual. But people with hepatitis C face
many challenges in dealing with this life-threatening disease and the
stigma associated with it. They are told to make major lifestyle changes
– to stop drinking, smoking, drug-taking, the list goes on and on.
But alcohol is a very addictive substance and not everyone is ready or willing to stop. This is where harm reduction can help.