This article reviews the evaluation and initial management of chronic hepatitis C infection, with particular attention to the use of new directly acting antiviral agents in treatment regimens.
Telaprevir for Previously Untreated Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection -
In patients with HCV infection and no previous treatment, the addition of telaprevir to peginterferon–ribavirin resulted in higher response rates than those achieved with peginterferon–ribavirin alone. High rates of response were achieved with only 24 weeks of treatment.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was seven years old and living in the South Bronx when she found she was thirsty all the time. Soon after, she started wetting her bed at night.
"I was ashamed," the 56-year-old justice said, as she related how she came to learn that she has diabetes. The audience for the unusually personal glimpse at a justice's life was children who are diabetics, like Sotomayor. And the reason she met with them Tuesday in a Washington ballroom was to assure them that their common affliction is no bar to doing anything they want....continue reading
BABY BOOMER ALERT: YOU MAY HAVE HEPATITIS C AND DON’T KNOW IT
Article Contributed on: 6/24/2011 2:06:44 PM
Two-Thirds of Infections Occur Among Baby Boomers; Three-Quarters of All Who Have Disease Haven't Been Diagnosed.
Colorado Group Launches Campaign for Baby Boomers to Get Screened
(DENVER) - Stressing the need for early diagnosis and treatment, Colorado's Hep C Connection is launching a new campaign throughout the state to raise awareness among Colorado's baby boomer population about a simple blood screening that could save thousands of lives in our state alone. More than two-thirds of Americans with Hep C are baby boomers and 75 percent of those with the disease have not been screened and diagnosed.
"Our relatives, friends, neighbors and coworkers need to hear the call," said Nancy Steinfurth, executive director of Hep C Connection. "Many Colorado baby boomers are walking around with hep C and don't know it. They can avoid devastating, painful and life-threatening liver disease with a simple blood test. By the time the symptoms are noticeable, it's much tougher to treat."
Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease prevalent -- and widely undiagnosed - among baby boomers, with experts estimating that two-thirds of those with hep C were born in the baby boom years of 1946 to 1964. Hepatitis C ranges in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness that attacks the liver. It results from infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is spread through contact with the blood of an infected person.
A federal strategy released in May recommends placing a priority on screening Americans by age. A new national study showed that screening all Americans born between 1946 and 1964 could save 48,000 lives.
A listing of free confidential testing sites statewide is available by visiting the Hep C Connection website at www.hepc-connection.org or by calling 1-800-522-HEPC (4372).
She noted that an important goal of the campaign is to eliminate false and unfair stigmas associated with hepatitis C - which often cause men and women to avoid screening.
"Some people don't get tested because they believe that the only way to have contracted Hep C is through intravenous drug use, and that's just plain false," she said. "The truth is that many Americans - including many veterans - who had transfusions prior to 1992 were infected with hep C before donated blood was accurately screened for the disease."
Steinfurth said an additional reason to raise awareness among the baby boomer population is that the costs to treat the advanced liver disease that arises when hepatitis C is not treated early are high, and may include liver transplantation. Given that the first baby boomers are turning 65 this year, without changes in the rates of diagnosis and treatment, health insurance and Medicare costs will double in a decade and increase five-fold in 20 years.
ABOUT HEP C CONNECTION
Hep C Connection, based in Denver, is a statewide organization that educates the general public about hepatitis C and provides resources and support for those affected by the virus.
."If you have a personal story that you are willing to share with our e-newsletter readers or website visitors, we want to share your words with our supporters and others facing hepatitis C. Personal experiences can include stories from you or someone that you know and support in their efforts to cope, manage, and/or care for themselves while living with Hep C. For consideration or to share your personal story, please e-mail us at info@hepc-connection.org.
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Biggest breakthrough in Hepatitis C treatment ever made
SAN ANTONIO -- Researchers say it's the biggest breakthrough in Hepatitis C treatment ever made: A new medication just approved by the F.D.A. nearly doubles the cure rate, according to worldwide clinical trials. Much of the groundbreaking research took place in San Antonio, at Alamo Medical Research.
The pharmaceutical drug "Incivek" started hitting pharmacies this week. Clinical trials at Alamo Medical Research over the last six years show that eight out of ten Hepatitis C patients who took the medication were cured.
Walker Croft, a Hepatitis C patient spoke with News 4 WOAI about how sick he was before getting the treatment.
"I was dying," commented Croft. "I felt like I was not going to live too much longer."
Croft contracted Hepatitis C from a blood transfusion in the 1970s. And like most people who are infected, he went decades without even knowing he had it.
"It's much more common than people think it is," said Croft. "And it kills you."
Thanks to the new medication, today Croft is cured.
"Incivek actually gets to the virus and stops it from replicating," explained Dr. Eric Lawitz, Medical Director at Alamo Medical Research. Lawitz is a worldwide leader in Hepatitis C research and treatment.
The deadly virus attacks the liver.
"It's a slow, silent epidemic," said Lawitz. "Over 20 or 30 years, it leads to progressive liver disease that results in cirrhosis, liver cancer, or liver failure."
Lawitz' findings show traditional Hepatitis C therapy, a combination of two medications, has a cure rate of 46%. But the addition of the anti-viral drug Incivek raises that rate up to 79%. For more than half of patients, the new drug also cuts the year-long, often unbearable treatment time in half.
"It's a one-two punch," said Lawitz. "About eight out of ten patients get cured."
That's good news not only for Croft, but also for the estimated 35,000 people in San Antonio who have the disease.
"I was driving around with my daughter and she said, you know daddy, it's really good to have you back," said Croft.
Doctors say the key to therapy is diagnosis. And the key to diagnosis is getting tested.
Dr. Lawitz will hold a free Hepatitis C screening event:
Saturday, August 13th
8am - 12pm
Alamo Medical Research
621 Camden St.
Second Floor
San Antonio, TX 78215
Phone: 210-253-3426
You can find more information about Hepatitis C on the center's website: click here.
Pharmaceuticals
Supreme Court Protects Generic-Drug Makers from Being Sued for Lack of Warning
Robert Barnes
(The Washington Post, June 23, 2011)
"Makers of generic drugs cannot be sued for not warning patients of the drugs’ dangerous side effects, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday, even though brand-name manufacturers can be found liable. A five-member majority of the court recognized that it 'makes little sense' to bar suits against generic drug-makers while allowing them against brand-name manufacturers, but said federal law gave the justices no other choice… Justice Clarence Thomas said the case highlights a conflict between state and federal laws. The state statutes require drug manufacturers to warn about new information on dangerous side effects, but federal regulations require generic drugs to carry the exact same label information as the drugs they imitate."
Other Health News
U.S.: Once Rare, Infection by Tick Bites Spreads
Laurie Tarkan
(The New York Times, June 20, 2011)
"A potentially devastating infection caused by [deer] tick bites…[causing] malaria-like illness that results from infection with Babesia microti…Though far less common than Lyme disease, babesiosis can be fatal, particularly in people with compromised immune systems. Because there is no widely used screening test for…its spread poses a particular threat to the blood supply…the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [reports] a 20-fold increase [of cases between 2001-2008]. In areas where Lyme disease is endemic, like coastal Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island, babesiosis also is becoming very common, said Dr. Peter Krause, senior research scientist at the Yale School of Public Health."
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.U.S.: More Young Adults Are Living With Diabetes
Mary Brophy Marcus
(USA Today, June 23, 2011)
"Experts are becoming increasingly concerned about the growing number of people in their 20s and 30s coping with type 2 diabetes, which used to be rarely seen in those under 40. As diabetes becomes more prevalent in young people, the long-term complications of the condition...are more likely to occur at younger ages, too, says David Kendall, chief scientific and medical officer for the American Diabetes Association…Eric Choi, chief of vascular surgery and director of the Limb Salvage Center at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, fears that if young diabetics don't get the care they need, by middle age they'll be marginalized -- unable to get jobs or participate fully in life like their peers."
Off The Cuff
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.How Far Should We Trust Health Reporting?
Opinion, Ben Goldacre
(The Guardian, London, online, June 17, 2011)
"After years of threats, abuse, complaints with forged documentation, crude attempts at blackmail and more, I can tell you that journalists can be quite sensitive about criticism. But there is one valid objection to this column: that I cherry pick the worst examples to write about. This, of course, is true. When scientific claims are wrong, they're often interestingly wrong. That makes them a good teaching tool to explain how real science works. But there's also a broader worry. People make real-world health-risk behaviour decisions based on information from newspapers, and if that information is routinely misleading, there are real-world consequences
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