'Don't live in ignorance of liver condition' say campaigners

PATIENTS with a debilitating liver condition can face years of delays in getting diagnosed due to lack of awareness, campaigners have warned.

Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) causes scarring of the liver which can eventually leave many patients requiring a transplant.

But a worldwide support charity, based in Scotland, said patients were not always referred for treatment quickly enough.

The PBC Foundation has now launched the first ever compendium of information about the disease. At an event held in Glasgow yesterday, they called for more patients to take part in studies on the condition.

PBC is thought to be more common in Scotland, north east England and Scandinavia, with up to one in 1,000 women aged 30 to 80 having the condition. Symptoms include fatigue, itching and weak joints.

Chief executive of the charity Collette Thain, who was herself diagnosed with the condition in 1994 aged 37, said there was a "great deal of ignorance and confusion" about PBC.