Thursday, December 2, 2010

Todays News Dec 2 : Hepatitis



Medivir Announces Positive 24-week Interim Data of TMC435 From the ASPIRE Study (C206) in Treatment-Experienced Prior Non-responders
"The null responder group also demonstrated significant response rates with 38%, 64% and 78% of patients taking TMC435 and Peg-IFN and ribavirin achieving undetectable HCV RNA levels at week 4, week 12 and week 24, respectively" HUDDINGE, Sweden, November 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --- Once Daily Novel Therapy in Treatment-Experienced Hepatitis C Patients Highlights of the Study TMC435 Added to Standard of Care: - Increased the response rates and antiviral efficacy, which progressed through to week 24 - Increased the number of patients with undetectable Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) levels through week 4, 12 and 24 - Safe and well tolerated


80% of those infected have no signs or symptoms, expert says.
By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief
Published: 00:00 December 3, 2010
Al Ain: Thinking she is completely healthy and vaccinated against the deadly disease Hepatitis C, an Arab expatriate woman was shocked when she tested positive in a preliminary test.
For Hepatitis C, a silent killer, no vaccination is available and the infected person cannot even notice any significant symptoms for many years. "A wrong assumption for a traceless enemy could be dangerous," said Ahmad Al Za'abi, head of a medical campaign against Hepatitis C.

Hepatitis – cirrhosis – liver between the three is valid and about l0% of viral hepatitis deeds grow into chronic hepatitis and chronic hepatitis in deeds can grow into 50% of cirrhosis. Among them, hepatitis B, followed by the hepatitis C, hepatitis due to rapid recovery, the prognosis is good, do not change lead to cirrhosis.
information overstepped the bounds in recent years, emphasized that hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection of primary liver cancer of at least 80% of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with hepatitis B virus infection. Data confirmed that carriers of chronic hepatitis B antigen profiles of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with negative population risk of 40 times.


Anemona Hartocollis (The New York Times, December 1, 2010)"Some 911 calls in Manhattan will now bring out two ambulances, one hurrying to the scene and one lagging slightly behind. The first one will try to save the patient’s life. The second one will try to save the patient’s kidneys, in case the first ambulance fails. After months of grappling with the ethical and legal implications, New York City medical officials are beginning to test a system that they hope will one day greatly increase the number of organs collected for transplant."


Kounteya Sinha (The Times of India, November 27, 2010)"Indians aren't all that generous when it comes to donating their organs…India's count stands at 0.08 donors per million population. It is estimated that every three minutes, a patient requires an organ transplant. Some experts say more than two lakh Indians require transplantation annually. But, unfortunately, not even 10% get it…Plans are afoot to include a clause on the willingness for organ donation in driving license."


Hepatitis B is an epidemic that is devastating the Asian community. A big problem is that most people don’t know this.
On Sept. 30, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its list of priorities. Dubbing them “winnable battles,” Dr. Thomas Friedman, director of the CDC, stated that smoking, AIDS, obesity/nutrition, teen pregnancy, auto injuries, and health care infections are the areas that the CDC are concentrating on most.
Since then, the CDC has gotten a lot of grief for elevating a handful of problems over the dozens that also desperately need attention.
A glaring omission that affects Asian and Pacific Islander (API) populations is hepatitis B and C, both of which many experts say have long been under-recognized by the CDC.


SRC-1 Controls Liver's 'Sweet Spot' For Glucose Production
Posted on: Wednesday, 1 December 2010, 21:15 CST
SRC-1 (steroid receptor coactivator) orchestrates glucose production in the liver, regulating the activity of a cascade of enzymes that turns sugar production on and off in the liver, said Baylor College of Medicine and Duke University Medical Center researchers in a report that appears in the current issue of Cell Metabolism.
"As we achieve a better understanding of gluconeogenesis (production of glucose) in the liver, we can look for new ways to treat metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes," said Dr. Jean-Francois Louet, instructor in molecular and cellular biology at BCM and a first author of the report. Dr. Atul R. Chopra, a resident physician at BCM, is the other first author.
SRC-1 is a member of a family of steroid receptor coactivators that control important processes in the body. Dr. Bert O'Malley, chair of molecular and cellular biology at BCM and a senior author of the report, discovered SRC-1 and has been a pioneer in uncovering the role of these molecules as cellular master regulators.Missing control protein


I was taking two blood pressure medicines, had high cholesterol, was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and had elevated liver enzymes due to a fatty liver. I was seeing my physician every three months and seemed always to be having some sort of test. I had no energy and really just enjoyed sitting around, watching TV and, of course, snacking!
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In case you missed it......
Liver Disease in the News
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Fruit and Vegetables Do Not Reduce Overall Cancer Risk, Review Concludes

Alok Jha (The Guardian, London, December 1, 2010)"Vegetables and fruit are important for a healthy diet but the review says that eating increased amounts does not seem to offer much protection against cancer. 'There's strong scientific evidence to show that, after smoking, being overweight and alcohol are two of the biggest cancer risks,' said Tim Key, an epidemiologist from Oxford University, who wrote the review. In an article published today in the British Journal of Cancer, Key summarised the epidemiological evidence from more than a million people taking part in several dozen long-term research projects looking at the amount of fruit and vegetables people eat and their overall cancer risk."

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Bill Calls for Routine HIV Testing HIV: Medical Groups Back More Testing - December 02, 2010 (The New York Times News Service) -- Texans having blood drawn as part of any routine medical testing would be screened for the infection that causes AIDS under proposed new state legislation."I'm trying to take the stigma out of HIV-AIDS testing," said Ellis, D-Houston, who timed the filing to coincide with World AIDS Day. "If we can make HIV testing as commonplace as getting a physical or a flu shot, I think we can reduce the toll of this disease in Texas."

Read full article


Abuse of Drugs Complicates South Africa's Fight Against AIDS - December 02, 2010
Cape Town (Deutsche Presse-Agentur - dpa) -- The days when South Africa's president played down the danger of AIDS and the health minister recommended "garlic, beetroot and vitamins" as medicine to fight it are over.


Umesh Isalkar (The Times of India, December 1, 2010)"As India makes steady progress in its battle against HIV, it comes as a setback of sorts that a sizeable chunk of AIDS patients in Maharashtra have given up on treatment after the initial few doses of medication…Labelled as 'lost to follow-up' (LFU) cases, these patients carry a mortality risk that is five times higher than patients who have been taking regular anti-retroviral therapy (ART). Side-effects of the medicines, lack of family support and social stigma are the main reasons why these patients have abandoned the treatment."


Sarah Boseley(The Guardian, London, online, November 30, 2010)"Just half of pregnant women with HIV in developing countries get the drugs necessary to prevent their babies becoming infected at birth, according to a report from Unicef…Low social status, poverty, poor education and living in rural areas are among factors that reduce the chances of millions receiving HIV treatment and prevention. The UN's goal is zero mother-to-child transmissions, but more than 1,000 babies are born with HIV every day. Half of them die before they reach the age of two."


After discovering a potential glitch in the sterilization of surgical instruments and shutting down non-essential procedures, the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center is slowly building back up its volume of surgeries as it adds new equipment and ensures protocols are followed, officials said.While some surgeries were farmed out into the community, VA officials insist no one was actually put at risk and no one was harmed. Still, it is the second problem with sterilization of reusable medical equipment at the Augusta facility in the last two years. But officials insist the two are not at all related and involve different areas of the reprocessing and sterilization department
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Hepatitis A warning at Jerry's Deli in Westwood
By Alison Hewitt December 02, 2010 Category: Campus News
If you ate at Jerry's Deli in Westwood in November, hopefully you had the soup.
The Los Angeles Department of Public Health (DPH) is warning that people who ate sandwiches at the Jerry's Deli near UCLA on certain days in November may have been exposed to hepatitis A and should get vaccinated.
"Public Health recommends that patrons who ate sandwiches at the restaurant or who ate catered sandwiches from this location on Nov. 18, 21, 23 or 24 should receive an immune globulin (IG) shot or a hepatitis A vaccination no later than 14 days after their exposure to prevent or reduce illness," a DPH notice said. That means today, Dec. 2, is the deadline for anyone who ate their sandwiches on Nov. 18.
Read full article

Stem cells

Published online 1 December 2010
Nature 468, 620-623 (2010) doi:10.1038/468620a
News Feature
Stem cells: The impatient advocate
Bob Klein founded the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the biggest state-run research project in US history. What legacy will he leave behind?

James Harrison had just stepped out to grab a sandwich when his mobile phone rang. Bob Klein, chairman of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), was on the line telling Harrison, the agency's legal counsel, to skip lunch and come back to the office right away. It was 23 August, and a district court judge in Washington DC had just issued an injunction barring the use of federal grant money for human embryonic stem-cell research. At that instant, CIRM became the world's largest funder of such research, and needed to issue a public statement.


Public Release: 2-Dec-2010 Cell Stem Cell
Scripps Research Institute scientists have made a significant leap forward in the drive to find a way to safely reprogram mature human cells and turn them into stem cells, which can then change into other cell types, such as nerve, heart, and liver cells. The ability to transform fully mature adult cells such as skin cells into stem cells has potentially profound implications for treating many diseases.


Recall

12/2/2010
WASHINGTON -- Johnson & Johnson-Merck Pharmaceuticals is recalling 12 Mylanta products and 12-oz AlternaGEL because the product label does not list the alcohol content of flavoring agents.

Hall Of Shame
Comedian not laughing at doc’s wrong diagnosis
by ROB SMYTH
A COMEDIAN who was told he had three months to live by doctors started living out his dreams — before being told doctors had got his diagnosis wrong.
Dave Ismay, 64, of Ashby, was told alcohol had left him with liver cirrhosis and that he had just months to live.
But faced with the diagnosis, the former TV comic — who performed for 20 years with Bob Monkhouse — decided there was still much he had left to do.
He immediately started a ‘bucket list’ — a list of things to do before he died — only to find that 10 weeks later doctors had got his diagnosis very wrong.
Dave did not have cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcohol, but in fact was suffering from a treatable hereditary condition called haemochromatosis; an overload of iron in his blood.

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