Digestive and liver diseases: no joking matter

Maintaining a healthy digestive system is vital to your health and comfort.

But many people ignore the signs of digestive illness and fail to seek relief from their discomfort because they are embarrassed to discuss the symptoms or their own health histories.

Your digestive system is a series of hollow organs joined in a long, twisting tube. It includes the esophagus, stomach and large and small intestines. Your liver, gallbladder and pancreas contribute to the process of breaking down the foods you eat to build and nourish cells and provide energy.

Among the young and healthy, the digestive tract is a remarkably tolerant system, even when challenged with the most reckless diets and lifestyles. But after the age of 40, and especially as you reach age 50, time begins to take its toll and gastrointestinal problems become more common.

Effectively addressing most digestive issues require conversations about topics that many are embarrassed to discuss, including bowel habits, abdominal pain, stool and flatulence. In general, you should see your doctor if you have:

• Blood in your stool.

• Changes in bowel habits.

• Severe abdominal pain.

• Unintentional weight loss.

• Heartburn not relieved by antacids.

Another digestive disease, hepatitis C, requires discussions about potentially embarrassing aspects of a patient's personal history, including drug use and sexual activity.

Hepatitis C is a serious condition that damages the liver and can lead to potentially fatal liver diseases such as cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer. Unlike other common strains, such as hepatitis A and hepatitis B, there is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C. One of the most common reasons for liver transplants is damage caused by hepatitis C infection. More than four million Americans have been infected with hepatitis C, which is responsible for more than 8,000 deaths each year.

Most people with hepatitis C have no symptoms of the disease. This is why it may persist for years or even decades before it is discovered. In most cases, early diagnosis of hepatitis C depends on the patient's ability to candidly discuss past lifestyle choices.

You can get hepatitis C if your blood comes into contact with blood from someone who already has the virus. The most common cause of transmission is the sharing of needles and other equipment used to inject illegal drugs. The leading risk factors include:

• Past intravenous drug use.

• Tattoos and body piercing using shared needles.

• Past cocaine use.

• High-risk, unprotected sexual activity.

Before 1989 there was a risk of getting hepatitis C from blood transfusions. Now all donated blood is tested for hepatitis C so there is almost no risk of getting the disease from blood transfusions.

Hepatitis C is most often diagnosed by a blood test. However, blood tests conducted in routine physicals do not include tests for hepatitis C. This is why most people with hepatitis C don't know they have the disease, especially since there may be no symptoms.

Some people discover that they have hepatitis C when they donate blood, because all donated blood is tested for hepatitis C virus. Others learn they have hepatitis C when they undergo blood tests for other medical problems. When blood tests show abnormal liver enzymes, a sign of liver damage, additional tests are conducted to find the cause.

It is during these tests that your physician may delve into potentially embarrassing aspects of your lifestyle. It is important to remember that these conversations are completely private. Your doctor is not sitting in judgment. He or she is merely trying to gather information to more effectively care for you.

If you have hepatitis C, the goal of treatment is to get rid of the virus in your body. In fact, hepatitis C is one of the only viruses that can be cured with medication therapies. The most effective cure for hepatitis C requires patients to take antiviral medications for six months to one year.

The digestive system is the source of countless jokes and embarrassment for some. One of the hardest-working, most complex parts of the body is also the subject of misunderstandings, folklore and old wives tales.

In many cases, the first step to getting relief and treating potential digestive diseases is overcoming embarrassing aspects of the symptoms or your own personal history, ignoring those myths and engaging in frank discussions with your physician.

Jeffrey Goldman, MD, is a gastroenterologist at St.JamesHospital and HealthCenters in Olympia Fields. St. James is a member of the Southland Health Alliance.