Good news for cirrhosis patients: Survival may be much more common than it once was.

HIV and mental illness are two chronic conditions that can carry similar health and economic burdens. However, treatment and care for both are rarely integrated.

For healthy people, a drink or two can be okay. But for people with hepatitis C liver infections, a drink or two a day might be very dangerous.

Pegylated interferon-a drugs used to manage hepatitis C can cause major depression. Preventative use of the antidepressant, escitalopram or Lexapro, may be the solution for some patients.

Depressive symptoms may be present in patients with hepatitis C before they begin treatment. But research suggests that the hepatitis C drug, interferon, also contributes to depression.