Natalie Cole Deals With Hepatitis C
Natalie Cole is well known for her holiday songs and a memorable duet recorded with the voice of her father, Nat King Cole. However, in more recent years she’s become more open about her past drug use, stint at drug rehab, and long-term health problems. Hear about her recent hepatitis diagnosis and how her drug addiction put her at risk.Natalie Cole Had Early Drug Addiction History
Natalie Cole is the oldest daughter of famed jazz and big band singer Nat King Cole. She began her own singing career in the mid 1970’s with several albums and even a Grammy award in 1976. By the early 1980’s she had developed a serious drug problem, including LSD, crack cocaine, and heroin. She eventually entered drug rehab in 1983 for her addictions.
For many years, her health seemed to be in good shape. However, she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in July of 2008. She began anti-viral treatment, to which her body responded much like chemotherapy. Apparently, the virus sat inactive in her body for over twenty five years. This kind of long-term inactivity is fairly common for hepatitis.
Natalie Cole Did Drug Rehab Got Hepatitis C Years Later
Thankfully, Natalie had long ago gone into recovery for her drug addiction. She did not continue to damage her health with more years of drug use. It’s not clear what triggered Natalie’s symptoms to arise. The delicate balance between the virus and the immune system eventually trips off the symptoms, causing abnormal liver blood tests and sometimes liver damage.
Natalie has also been undergoing kidney dialysis, which is apparently unrelated to the hepatitis. She is reportedly still doing dialysis and has taken it on the road to resume her performing schedule. Overall, her response to the hepatitis medication was good. There is no cure, but she has a good chance of a full recovery from this flare-up.
Know Your Risk For Hepatitis C Get Tested
Hepatitis can be contracted in several different ways including being born to a mother with Hepatitis C, accidentally getting pricked with a needle contaminated by infected blood (the Hep C virus), blood transfusions before 1992 that had undetected Hepatitis viruses, and getting a tattoo with infected equiptment. Natalie says she most likely got the Hepatitis C virus from sharing infected needles when she used heroin regularly.
Heroin, cocaine, and meth are a few of the addictive drugs that commonly get injected with needles. Drug addicts sharing needles absolutely have a risk for passing and contracting the Hepatitis C virus. Of course, it’s most important to get to drug rehab and stop your active drug use immediately. If you have been to drug rehab in the past, you have probably done the single most healthy thing possible for yourself.
Be aware of this silent enemy that could be lurking in your body. If you have used a needle to inject drugs even once, even if it was a long time ago, you need to get tested. And if you’ve injected drugs several times, you may have exposed yourself to the virus many times over. Routine tests do not screen for Hepatitis C – you must specifically ask for a Hepatitis C blood test.
Hoping For The Best With Natalie Coles Hepatitis Treatment
Hopefully, Natalie’s Hepatitis C treatment continues to keep her well. She is well-loved and seems to be moving forward in her life. It’s great that she has allowed interviews and remained open about this subject. As embarassing as it could be, her voice has improved awareness of Hepatitis C and its risk factors.