By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For people with the
chronic liver infection hepatitis C, heavy drinking is an
obvious no-no, but a new study links even modest alcohol
consumption with an increased risk of death - and not just from
liver disease. "What this study shows is... truly, even what
might be considered a moderate and safe amount of alcohol use in
people without hepatitis C is dangerous to your health if you
have hepatitis C," said Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, a hepatitis C
researcher at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, who was
not involved in the study. The findings support what liver
specialists typically recommend - that people with hepatitis C
should limit their alcohol use, said Dr. Zobair Younossi, the
study's lead author and chair of medicine at Inova Fairfax
Hospital in Falls Church, VA. "Patients with hepatitis C should
not really drink," he said. But the reality is that people with
hepatitis C have higher rates of alcohol use than people without
the liver disease, said Proes