Famous People with Hepatitis

Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver that can either be caused by a toxin or virus. There are different strains of hepatitis classified under C, B and A. Many people including famous people suffer from hepatitis.

Naomi Judd

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease which is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

It affects the liver and is transmitted through blood. This can be blood to blood contact or exposure to the blood of an infected person.

List of Famous People with Hepatitis

The infection in most cases does not have symptoms but chronic infection causes inflammation of the liver which is also known as chronic hepatitis. This condition can advance to fibrosis which is scarring of the liver or cirrhosis which is advanced scarring. In some cases, individuals who have cirrhosis later develop liver cancer or failure.

Hepatitis A (HAV) is a communicable disease of the liver, but unlike HCV, it is communicated in a different method. HAV is spread from human to human in the fecal-oral route generally from food or water. It is estimated that tens of millions of people will contract HAV this year, mostly children from developing nations.

Hepatitis B (HBV) is another disease of the liver causing inflammation. It is estimated that up to 1/3 of the world population has already been infected at some point in their lives (See Wikipedia Hepatitis B). There are now approximately 350 million people who are chronic carriers. Not many stars, celebrities or other notables have gone on record as to having Hepatitis B.

Jim Nabors

A significant number of celebrities who have been diagnosed with Hepatitis C have gone public with an aim of raising awareness about the disease. They encourage more people to get tested. The celebrities range from actors, musicians, politicians to businessmen.

Pamela Anderson was born in 1967. She became famous after starring as C. J. Parker on the television series Baywatch. She claimed that she contracted the virus after sharing a tattoo needle with Tommy Lee who is her ex-husband. However, Tommy Lee denied he has the virus.

Jim Nabors (pictured above) was born in 1932. He is famous for acting as Gomer Pyle in the Andy Griffith Show, which is a sitcom that aired in the 1960s. He received a liver transplant after he got hepatitis C.

Steven Tyler is a musician, songwriter and active member of the famous rock band Aerosmith. He was also a judge on the American Idol show. In September 2006, he made the public aware of the fact that he had been diagnosed with hepatitis C three years earlier. He had just completed eleven months of treatment with interferon.

Superstar Billy Graham

Superstar Billy Graham (pictured above) is an American pro-wrestler. He claimed that he contracted the disease from free exchanges of blood with opponents in the ring.

These are just some of the famous people who have contracted hepatitis. It affects everyone. You may want to get tested and take the necessary steps to deal with or prevent it.
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