Even moderate drinking may be risky with hepatitis C

NEW YORK: 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.