Hepatitis C Ruled Out as Cause of Mental Impairment in HIV Patients

New findings from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest that the widely held belief that Hepatitus C causes mental limitations in HIV patients is false. One in three HIV patients also cope with Hepatitis C, and correlations have previously suggested that it causes mood swings, memory loss and impaired mental function. The study, published in the journal Neurology, details how 1,582 HIV patients were studied — 408 of which were reported as having Hepatitis C — with the remainder serving as a control group. Subjects were tested in seven domains of mental function to determine overall capability. Despite the Hepatitis C group being typically older, less educated, and reported as scoring lower on skills tests, no difference was found between the mental abilities of HIV patients with Hepatitis C and those without. “If a hepatitis C infection gets to the point where it damages liver function, the resulting inflammation might well contribute to mental impairment,” said one of the study’s lead authors. “Beyond that, though, it doesn’t seem to be an active collaborator in the harm HIV does to the brain.” Future research will attempt to test a hypothesis that immune responses to HIV lead to chronic brain inflammation, which may have caused the observed symptoms. To learn more about this study, click here.