In The News
Maryland
Originally published June 09, 2011
Roger Ptak moved to Frederick in 1999 to pursue a career researching potential treatments for infectious diseases at the Southern Research Institute.
Roger Ptak moved to Frederick in 1999 to pursue a career researching potential treatments for infectious diseases at the Southern Research Institute.
Ptak, 40, oversees preclinical drug development and in vitro research for larger pharmaceutical and biotech companies and for the government on a contractual basis, looking to treat conditions such as HIV infection and hepatitis C, he said.
"Over time, our work up here ends up helping someone down the road," he said.
In the past few weeks, federal authorities have approved two new treatments that could double the cure rate for hepatitis C to about 60 percent when used with existing drugs.
Lankan patients swap livers at Global Hospitals
Lankan patients swap livers at Global Hospitals
CHENNAI: Two Sri Lankan patients requiring urgent liver transplants underwent a rare swap liver transplant in Chennai. Reportedly the first of its kind to be performed in Chennai, the transplant took place at Global Hospitals last month.
When 50-year-old Mohamad Nazeem from Kandy, Sri Lanka came to Chennai for a liver transplant a few months ago, little would he have thought that he would receive a part of the organ needed for the transplant from another Sri Lankan. Though his wife was willing to donate a part of her liver, their blood groups did not match and she was not a viable donor.
Meanwhile, 48-year-old Nazir also from Kandy was in a similar position. Having arrived in Chennai to undergo a liver transplant at Global Hospitals -- the same as Nazeem -- his blood group did not match that of his son’s who had been willing to donate a part of the organ.
However, the two patients shared doctors who suggested that Nazeem’s wife and Nazir’s son be tested to see if they could donate to the other’s ailing kin. And that permutation worked.
Prof Mohamed Rela, director of� Hepatopancreatobiliary and Liver Transplantation of Global Hospitals Group, executed the ‘swap deal’ in a 16-hour procedure involving the four surgeries (two surgeries to take the livers from the donors and two, transplanting them to the affected) last month. Given the high burden of liver disease in the country, it is important to think of innovative ways to optimise the scarce resource of living donors, he said.
Killing Us Softly: What Americans Don’t Know & Why It Will Kill Them
For too long, viral hepatitis, an epidemic that doesn’t necessarily make headlines, has steadily and silently affected the lives of millions of Americans. In fact, as many as 5.3 million Americans have hepatitis B or hepatitis C, contributing to a global burden that now engulfs more than half a billion people. These infections fuel a cascade of suffering, including cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure.
In fact, viral hepatitis is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the U.S. In short, vulnerable communities are being devastated across our nation and, indeed, around the world.
Last month, our government made a commitment to advance and integrate national efforts to break the silence.
Why is taking action so necessary?
First, because those with the disease can be symptom-free for decades, and few actually know their status or understand how highly infectious viral hepatitis is. For example, hepatitis C is 10 times more infectious and hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than HIV/AIDS. And nearly two-thirds of those living with hepatitis don’t even know they’re infected. This tragic lack of awareness leaves infected persons more vulnerable to complications and also more likely to unwittingly spread the infection to others.
Second, without action, hepatitis B and C will burden our country with at least $20 billion in health care expenses over the next 10 years.
Finally, we know that too many opportunities for prevention, testing and treatment — including vaccination against hepatitis B — have remained untapped or underutilized.
Fortunately, the federal government has initiated new efforts to tackle this treatable and highly preventable public health challenge. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released Combating the Silent Epidemic of Viral Hepatitis: Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis, a comprehensive strategy to combat the disease. This action plan contains a series of interventions that are both cost-effective and feasible. The plan includes some important building blocks already in place, including vaccination against hepatitis B. Most notably, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) improves patient access to viral hepatitis services through education, testing, vaccination and referral.
Moreover, the ACA encourages state-based Medicaid programs to cover clinical preventive services such as immunization. Other strategies aim to raise public awareness about viral hepatitis and to create more opportunities to train health professionals to diagnose, treat and ultimately prevent more people from getting this disease.
We hope that these and other commitments will catalyze action for further progress. On the global front, the World Health Organization has designated July 28 as the first annual World Hepatitis Day. Such attention is long overdue for a condition that affects one in 12 persons worldwide. These new beginnings can shine a bright light on a disease that has lingered for too long in the shadows.
As a nation and as part of a global society, it is time to break the silence. Too many are suffering and the consequences affect us all. Together, we must finally sound the alarm that can serve as a call to action to end this silent epidemic.
Rep Mike Honda is Chair Emeritus of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
Follow Rep Honda on Facebook and Twitter.
Dr. Howard K. Koh is the Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Follow Rep. Mike Honda on Twitter: www.twitter.com/repmikehonda
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-mike-honda/world-hepatitis-day_b_872471.html
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Killing Us Softly: What Americans Don’t Know & Why It Will Kill Them
For too long, viral hepatitis, an epidemic that doesn’t necessarily make headlines, has steadily and silently affected the lives of millions of Americans. In fact, as many as 5.3 million Americans have hepatitis B or hepatitis C, contributing to a global burden that now engulfs more than half a billion people. These infections fuel a cascade of suffering, including cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure.
In fact, viral hepatitis is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the U.S. In short, vulnerable communities are being devastated across our nation and, indeed, around the world.
Last month, our government made a commitment to advance and integrate national efforts to break the silence.
Why is taking action so necessary?
First, because those with the disease can be symptom-free for decades, and few actually know their status or understand how highly infectious viral hepatitis is. For example, hepatitis C is 10 times more infectious and hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than HIV/AIDS. And nearly two-thirds of those living with hepatitis don’t even know they’re infected. This tragic lack of awareness leaves infected persons more vulnerable to complications and also more likely to unwittingly spread the infection to others.
Second, without action, hepatitis B and C will burden our country with at least $20 billion in health care expenses over the next 10 years.
Finally, we know that too many opportunities for prevention, testing and treatment — including vaccination against hepatitis B — have remained untapped or underutilized.
Fortunately, the federal government has initiated new efforts to tackle this treatable and highly preventable public health challenge. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released Combating the Silent Epidemic of Viral Hepatitis: Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis, a comprehensive strategy to combat the disease. This action plan contains a series of interventions that are both cost-effective and feasible. The plan includes some important building blocks already in place, including vaccination against hepatitis B. Most notably, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) improves patient access to viral hepatitis services through education, testing, vaccination and referral.
Moreover, the ACA encourages state-based Medicaid programs to cover clinical preventive services such as immunization. Other strategies aim to raise public awareness about viral hepatitis and to create more opportunities to train health professionals to diagnose, treat and ultimately prevent more people from getting this disease.
We hope that these and other commitments will catalyze action for further progress. On the global front, the World Health Organization has designated July 28 as the first annual World Hepatitis Day. Such attention is long overdue for a condition that affects one in 12 persons worldwide. These new beginnings can shine a bright light on a disease that has lingered for too long in the shadows.
As a nation and as part of a global society, it is time to break the silence. Too many are suffering and the consequences affect us all. Together, we must finally sound the alarm that can serve as a call to action to end this silent epidemic.
Rep Mike Honda is Chair Emeritus of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
Follow Rep Honda on Facebook and Twitter.
Dr. Howard K. Koh is the Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Follow Rep. Mike Honda on Twitter: www.twitter.com/repmikehonda
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-mike-honda/world-hepatitis-day_b_872471.html
.
HCV Around The World
Viet Nam
HCM CITY — The HCM City Liver and Gall Association has sounded a Hepatitis C alarm, saying that more than 5 per cent of the country's population, or 4.5 million people, are infected. The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) commonly spreads through contact with contaminated blood.
Pham Hoang Phiet, Association chairman, explained that 85 per cent of infections transformed into chronic Hepatitis C after 10 to 20 years, while 30 per cent caused serious liver problems like cirrhosis and cancer.
Dr Pham Thi Thu Thuy, head of the Liver Department at the private HCM City based Medic Medical Centre, said that, although the HCV was not as common as hepatitis B, its consequences were considerably worse.
"Hepatitis C patients made up 30 per cent of total department patients during 2010," Thuy said, adding that the total number of HCV patients coming to the department for treatment during 2011 thus far came to around 10,000.
According to Thuy, although most Hepatitis B patients could have their viruses eliminated if infected as adults (elinating the virus in children is more difficult) around 10 per cent of patients would become chronic carriers despite their age.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), unlike with HBV, there are currently no vaccines against Hepatitis C.
On its website, the WHO states that, "Although most people had few, if any symptoms, after initial infection, the virus persists in the liver in around 85 per cent of those infected," which explains why the disease is often called "the silent killer."
Many Vietnamese HCV patients cannot be fully treated due to high costs which could range from VND4 million to VND20 million (US$186-930) per month, Thuy explained, adding that, "Most patients face financial difficulties. Only the rich are able to afford treatment."
She confirmed that the time needed for treatment varied from between 24 and 72 weeks, saying that treatment was "complicated and difficult", causing a lot of side effects and recurrence.
"One of our patients sold her house in order to afford treatment – she now sleeps in her market stall," Thuy said.
Nguyen Van Khiem, a 31-year-old HCV infected worker from south-eastern Dong Nai Province, said that he could not afford the VND5 million ($240) treatment with his VND1.8 million ($86.5) salary.
Dr Vo Minh Quang, from the HCM City Tropical Hospital, said that during April the hospital had diagnosed more than 1,600 HCV infected people, most unable to afford treatment.
The hospital has called on the Ministry of Health to support HCV treatment for poor people.
According to a WHO report in March 2011, an estimated 170 million people (3 per cent of the world's population) were infected by HCV, 3 - 4 million people newly infected each year. — VNS
Advanced hepatitis C patients with chronic liver disease may benefit from drinking coffee during treatment, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute...
Practiced much more in Europe than the United States, many believe that homeopathic medicine is an effective way to manage chronic Hepatitis C.
by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.
Those with chronic Hepatitis C recognize that their viral infection of the liver is persistent and not easily eliminated. Particularly for the estimated 50 percent of individuals who do not respond to Hepatitis C therapy, finding alternatives to help manage this disease are in high demand. Even though it is a controversial approach, advocates claim that homeopathic remedies constitute an ideal match for Hepatitis C management, as they offer a safe, therapeutic avenue to reduce viral load and ease liver disease symptoms.
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The Accidental Genius Of Homeopathy
By George Lundberg, MD MedPage Today
| June 07, 2011
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