Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole has been diagnosed with Hepatitis C and probably contracted the liver disease from drug use more than 30 years ago, according to her publicist.

"The virus, found during a routine examination, is likely the result of her drug use many decades ago," her publicist Lellie Capwell said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Cole, 58, the daughter of legendary singer Nat King Cole, is responding well to treatment but is suffering what doctors called "significant side effects" including fatigue, muscle aches and dehydration.

The singer, whose father died of lung cancer when she was 15, documented her addiction to cocaine, heroin and alcohol in her 2000 autobiography "Angel On My Shoulder." She overcame her addiction after a lengthy stay in rehab in the early 1980s.

[reuters]