Pancreas Damaged By Hepatitis?

[Grateful]

A member of my family developed diabetes about 10 years ago. He was on a trip to Egypt and caught hepatitis (not sure what kind of hepatitis -- edited to add: I now think it was hepatitis A). After he got back to the UK, the doctors told him he had developed diabetes because the hepatitis damaged his pancreas. As far as I can tell, the therapy he has is the same as for Type 2 (he is taking diabetes drugs, and trying to ward off ever being on insulin). He is in his early 50s.

I was just curious as to whether anyone here has diabetes caused by hepatitis, or has heard of such a thing?

Thanks!

 

[HICHAM_T2]

Diabetes is on the rise in the United States. According to the American Diabetes Association, the number of people with diagnosed diabetes in the United States increased by almost 400 percent from 1988 to 2014.

Healthy lifestyle habits can help prevent type 2 diabetes. But poor lifestyle choices aren’t the only cause for developing the condition.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is often associated with the development of diabetes. And some people with diabetes develop chronic hepatitis.

The most common way to get the hepatitis C virus is through exposure to infected blood. This can happen by:

injecting drugs with a syringe previously used by an infected personsharing a personal hygiene item, like a razor used by an infected persongetting a tattoo or a body piercing with a needle that has infected blood on it

There is no vaccine to prevent or treat HCV. It’s important to know the risks of contracting the


Moved to profit

 

[Grateful]

Thank you very much for that information @hichamgsm. But it pertains to hepatitis C and on reflection I think it very unlikely that my relative caught that in Egypt. It is associated with sharing needles, that sort of thing.

He was there as a tourist and does not "do drugs." In my experience from living in Egypt 30 years ago, hepatitis A is very common in that country. It is spread by bad food handling. I had a non-Egyptian friend who caught it eating meals prepared by an Egyptian cook.

So I guess I should rephrase my question: Has anyone heard of diabetes triggered by pancreas damage from hepatitis A?

Thanks.

 

[Rachox]

Very interesting. I had hepatitis (not A, B, C, D or however far through the alphabet they’ve got now!) as a complication of glandular fever when I was 21! Turned a not very flattering shade of yellow!

 

[Grateful]

Very interesting. I had hepatitis (not A, B, C, D or however far through the alphabet they’ve got now!) as a complication of glandular fever when I was 21! Turned a not very flattering shade of yellow!

So about the only thing that my relative had going, compared to many other diabetics, is that he knew exactly what caused the disease! If you think about it though, that is not much comfort. Thinking about his condition helped me come to terms with my own T2D, whose "cause" will probably never be fully known. It made me realize how unimportant the "cause" issue was, going forward!

 

[Rachox]

So about the only thing that my relative had going, compared to many other diabetics, is that he knew exactly what caused the disease! If you think about it though, that is not much comfort. Thinking about his condition helped me to come to terms with my own T2D, whose "cause" will probably never be fully known. It made me realize how unimportant the "cause" issue was, going forward!

Indeed, I have several predisposing factors, shift work, gall bladder surgeries x 3, carpal tunnel syndrome and now hepatitis to name a few! No family history at all! But no point in dwelling on it, I can’t turn the clock back so am just dealing with it in the best way I can.

 

[SimonCrox]

A good question.
If hepatitis in Egypt, probably hep A from food etc and much less likely Hep B/C from blood / sexual transmission. Other viruses cause hepatitis. Viral hepatitis does not generally lead to viral pancreatitis, although when the cause of pancreatitis is not known (gallstones, alcohol, drugs, sky high triglyceride levels), one generally invokes a viral cause. If someone has pancreatitis, they generally know about it.
So the hepatits is unlikely to have caused pancreatitis to cause the diabetes.
Also, as you imply, it is said that diabetes due to pancreatitis, (I have used the old name of secondary diabetes, but folk here use the new name of type 3c), needs insulin, and oral agens do not work.
We are presuming that the reli had hepatitis (inflammation of liver) with liver function tests showing a hepatitic picture, rather than a picture of biliary obstruction.
There are rare conditions with hepatitis and pancreatic damage such as haemachromatosis (bronzed diabetes), but they are rare as hens teeth, and they would have been found by now.
Every now and then, there is a paper showing that Type 1 has been triggered off by a viral infection and I am fairly sure that there is a hepatitis virus paper, but this is T1DM, not T2DM
Best wishes

 

[Grateful]

Thankyou @SimonCrox. I am puzzled by the case of my relative but if that's what his doctors told him, so be it. He told me he is controlling the condition with meds (no insulin) and that he does not pay much attention to diet. It is his life and he seems in good rude health to me!

 

[connie104]

My husband has hepatitis C which he got when we was working in India and was ill and had many injections which is thought to be how he got it .
There is a cure now and he is being treated it’s been a 2 year wait but he should get funding approval for an 8 week course of tablets that has a great success rate . This is a very expensive treatment and it’s a post code lottery unfortunately whether your area health provider can afford to find it . When we lived in Bournemouth it was only offered to people with active Hep C then when we moved to Somerset it was about a year wait. We are now living in Surrey and hopefully he will start treatment in the next few weeks.

 

[SimonCrox]

Thankyou @SimonCrox. I am puzzled by the case of my relative but if that's what his doctors told him, so be it. He told me he is controlling the condition with meds (no insulin) and that he does not pay much attention to diet. It is his life and he seems in good rude health to me!

Totally agree. From a pragmatic point of view, if the treatment is working without harm, good news. But it is still interesting (generally not good to be "interesting", but seems OK here!)
Best wishes

 

[Grateful]

Totally agree. From a pragmatic point of view, if the treatment is working without harm, good news. But it is still interesting (generally not good to be "interesting", but seems OK here!)
Best wishes

Yes, in the nine months since my diagnosis I have realized that Boring Is Good!!!

 

[Blip22]

It has certainly become clear that diabetes is not as simple as once thought. It can show diverse etiology and presentation with ever growing subtypes. Sites like this help reveal this and that is really good.

 

[Blip22]

A good question.
If hepatitis in Egypt, probably hep A from food etc and much less likely Hep B/C from blood / sexual transmission. Other viruses cause hepatitis. Viral hepatitis does not generally lead to viral pancreatitis, although when the cause of pancreatitis is not known (gallstones, alcohol, drugs, sky high triglyceride levels), one generally invokes a viral cause. If someone has pancreatitis, they generally know about it.
So the hepatits is unlikely to have caused pancreatitis to cause the diabetes.
Also, as you imply, it is said that diabetes due to pancreatitis, (I have used the old name of secondary diabetes, but folk here use the new name of type 3c), needs insulin, and oral agens do not work.
We are presuming that the reli had hepatitis (inflammation of liver) with liver function tests showing a hepatitic picture, rather than a picture of biliary obstruction.
There are rare conditions with hepatitis and pancreatic damage such as haemachromatosis (bronzed diabetes), but they are rare as hens teeth, and they would have been found by now.
Every now and then, there is a paper showing that Type 1 has been triggered off by a viral infection and I am fairly sure that there is a hepatitis virus paper, but this is T1DM, not T2DM
Best wishes

There has been quite a lot in science about the prevalence of adult onset type 1 diabetes and acknowledgment that many assumed type 2 have actually turned out to be type 1.

 

[SimonCrox]

There has been quite a lot in science about the prevalence of adult onset type 1 diabetes and acknowledgment that many assumed type 2 have actually turned out to be type 1.

Yes, data from Denmark and Rochester Minnesota show that incidence T1DM similar from age 30 to 80. Conversely, Dr Munshi in New England has looked at a lot of elderly folk thought to have T1DM, and on testing their C-peptide levels, has found that some look like T2DM and have come off insulin. One needs to keep an open mind. best wishes.