Hep treatment outcomes study

The Hepatitis C Treatment Outcome Study, Bond University. Certain physical and psychological profiles predict better treatment outcomes across a range of medical conditions. Little is known of how these factors predict treatment outcomes in hep C. The primary objective of this research is to increase understanding of individual profiles that are associated with better hep C treatment outcomes. The study is open to people preparing for hep C treatment and participants are being sought from within Australia or from other countries. Information provided is completely confidential and you have the right to withdraw from the study at any time. TREATMENT OUTCOMES STUDY>>

                                              

Justice Reinvestment on Lateline

Did you know that Aboriginal communities in NSW have a higher prevalence of hep C and Aboriginal people are over-represented in NSW jails? With Aboriginal adults now being jailed at a rate of 14 times higher than the rest of the community, indigenous leaders are joining the campaign to introduce a justice reinvestment approach to Australia's criminal justice system. JUSTICE REINVESTMENT ON ABC LATELINE>>

                                 

New drugs now Medicare listed

The Australian Federal Government has listed Incivo (telaprevir) and Victrelis (boceprevir) on Medicare. A small administrative monthly co-payment applies but the listing provides free access to the new triple combination treatment for thousands of Australians living with hepatitis C and who have genotype 1. For more information, phone the Hepatitis Helpline on 1800 803 990. Also read more in our upcoming edition of Hep Review magazine, downloadable from 12 April. CLICK HERE FOR HEP REVIEW MAGAZINE>>

         

Hep C murder charge

US District Judge Valerie Adair refused to dismiss the murder indictment against nurse anesthetist Ronald Lakeman in a hep C outbreak. After a brief hearing, Adair said prosecutors presented "sufficient evidence" to the grand jury tying Lakeman to a conspiracy that led to the death of Rodolfo Meana, a 77-year-old victim of the 2007 outbreak who died in April in his native Philippines. Lakeman's lawyer, Rick Santacroce, said it was "absolutely absurd" to connect Lakeman to Meana's death, arguing Lakeman didn't even participate in the colonoscopy that resulted in Meana's hepatitis infection. Last month, Adair denied a defense writ challenging the sufficiency of the murder indictment against Dr. Dipak Desai, who ran the clinics where the hepatitis C outbreak occurred. Desai, 63, and Lakeman, 65, are facing a second-degree murder charge in Meana's death, with other charges including criminal neglect of patients and insurance fraud, tied to the hepatitis infections of Meana and six others in the outbreak. The Supreme Court last month ordered Adair to dismiss a racketeering charge against the two defendants. HEP C MURDER CHARGE>>

                                            

Hep C and Nth American Aboriginal people

Liver diseases, such as hep C, are “broken spirit” diseases. The prevalence of hep C for American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) in the United States and Canadian Aboriginals varies; nonetheless, incidence rates of newly diagnosed hep C infection are typically higher relative to non-indigenous people. For AI/AN and Aboriginal peoples risk factors for the diagnosis of hep C can reflect that of the general population: predominately male, a history of injection drug use, in midlife years, with a connection with urban centers. However, the face of the indigenous hep C infected individual is becoming increasingly female and younger compared to non-indigenous counterparts. HEP C AND NTH AMERICAN ABORIGINAL PEOPLE>>

                         

China hep outbreak covered up

More than 100 people have been hospitalized, and the number of infections is growing after an outbreak of hepatitis C struck several villages in Eastern China. Residents in Anhui Province’s Fengyang County are frustrated because the communist government appears to have deliberately concealed the epidemic, and is blocking information about it from being made public. As petitioning and appeals have been denied, two of the infected people killed themselves in desperation. The suspected source of the infection was a shared needle used in a clinic. Hep C was confirmed there in November. There was a sharp increase in the number of patients in summer. Local resident Ms. Cheng spoke with The Epoch Times: “Now many people have hep C; there are more and more. Many have been hospitalized. Without any medical insurance, they have to pay for the treatment themselves. Some committed suicide because of this. Everyone is panicking.” Apparently, local hep C patients all had injections at Chezhan village clinic in Banqiao Town. The doctors there used the same needle to do a skin test on patients, and intravenous drip bottles were re-used many times. Two doctors from the clinic have fled with their families, but have not yet been held accountable for the epidemic. CHINA HEP OUTBREAK COVERED UP>>

                                              

Breakthrough in hep C research

Scientists at the University of Colorado medical school have made a breakthrough discovery that could help treat hep C. Researchers at CU’s medical campus in Aurora figured out the intimate details of how the virus takes over an invaded cell. Hep C “hijacks” the cell’s process for making proteins and instead uses that mechanism to make proteins for the virus, researchers said. In the last 20 years, scientists have determined that hep C uses an RNA molecule to take over a cell but the details have been sketchy. One key detail is reported in a paper published in December in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. Jeffrey Kieft, an associate professor at CU medical school’s department of biochemistry and molecular genetics, and his former graduate student, Megan Filbin, worked with researchers at the Tamir Gonen lab at the Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. They used ultra high-power electron microscopes to take images of RNA molecules from Hep C as they interacted with the cell’s machinery. “This points the way to developing drugs to fight hepatitis C in ways that current therapies do not,” Kieft said. BREAKTHROUGH IN HEP C RESEARCH>>

               

Supporting drug users hep treatment

Hep C treatment completion and response rates among injecting drug users are similar to those seen in general patient populations, the findings of a meta-analysis published in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases show. The best outcomes were seen in people who received therapy and support. “The availability of support services during HCV treatment significantly increased the treatment completion rates among drug users,” comment the authors. SUPPORTING DRUG USERS HEP TREATMENT>>

            

China leader in hep

China accounts for 55 percent of the 500,000 new liver cancer cases reported worldwide each year and 90 percent of the new cases stem from hepatitis B, a medical forum said. Antiviral therapy is the most effective treatment for hepatitis B, however many Chinese patients fail to receive proper treatment. The forum learned that the nation's first health guidance for hepatitis B patients will be issued jointly by the Wu Jieping Medical Association and the US pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb. "Appropriate antiviral therapy for hepatitis B can delay the deterioration of the disease and reduce the possibility of cirrhosis and liver cancer," said Dr Wei Lai, director of the Chinese Medical Association's liver disease branch. Currently, there are nearly 30 million hepatitis B patients in China. CHINA LEADER IN HEP CLICK HERE>>

                                

Aspirin lowers liver cancer risk

It looks like aspirin can help prevent liver cancer, according to a new study in the latest issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study revealed that aspirin can reduce the risk of developing liver cancer or dying from chronic liver disease by approximately 50% even if only taken monthly. Researchers found that people who had taken aspirin at least once a month in the past year were 49% less likely to develop the most common form of liver cancer compared with people who did not take aspirin. Additionally, they were 50% less likely to die from chronic liver disease in the next ten years. The study consisted of 300,000 participants who were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. ASPIRIN LOWERS LIVER CANCER RISK CLICK HERE>>

                      

FDA OKs Promacta

The US FDA has approved eltrombopag (Promacta) for the additional indication of treating low blood platelet counts in patients with chronic hep C. The treatment will allow those patients who are otherwise poor candidates because of their platelet counts to undergo interferon-based therapy for the liver disease. However, eltrombopag should not be used to normalize platelet counts in hep C patients, its manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said. It should only be used in patients with chronic hep C whose condition prevents them from starting interferon therapy. Eltrombopag carries a boxed warning of causing hepatotoxicity. The drug, in combination with interferon and ribavirin in hepatitis C patients, may increase the risk of hepatic decompensation, the FDA said. Also, safety and efficacy haven't been established in combination with direct-acting antivirals. The drug, known as Revolade outside the US is marketed in 90 countries. FDA OKS PROMACTA CLICK HERE

                  

More of Canada gets Telaprevir

Vertex announced that the Canadian provinces of Alberta and New Brunswick are now funding INCIVEK™ (telaprevir) tablets in combination with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin for residents with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C. The Alberta Health decision comes following an evaluation by the Alberta Provincial Drugs and Therapeutic Committee. INCIVEK funding in Alberta and New Brunswick includes patients who are being treated for the first time, as well as those who were treated previously, but did not achieve a sustained virologic response (SVR, or virologic cure), including null responders. MORE OF CANADA GETS TELAPREVIR CLICK HERE

                   

Alcohol and hep C treatment

For patients with hep C treated with pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin, drinking patterns and the amount of alcohol consumed before treatment do not impact treatment success, according to a study published in the October issue of Hepatology. Marcia Russell, from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Berkeley, Calif., and colleagues examined the effect of alcohol on treatment outcome in 421 treatment-naive HCV-positive patients. For 259 of the patients, a detailed drinking history was obtained. In spite of prior alcohol patterns, 80.2 percent of patients with HCV genotype 2 or 3 and 45.1 percent with genotype 1, 4, or 6 had a sustained virological response (SVR). Neither pretreatment drinking patterns nor total alcohol intake was related to SVR rates. "These findings suggest that past heavy drinking and recent drinking represent low treatment risk in these patients," the authors write. ALCOHOL AND HEP C TREATMENT CLICK HERE

                                   

Wife of Arlo Guthrie dies

Folk singer Arlo Guthrie’s wife of 43 years died Sunday of cancer at the couple’s home. Jackie Guthrie was 68. In a Facebook posting, Guthrie said his relationship with his wife was “a very great love.” But in perfect folk tradition, he saw the gray areas, too. “We didn’t always like each other,” he wrote. “From time to time there were moments when we’d have our bags packed by the door. But, there was this great love that we shared from the moment we met." A Salt Lake City native, Jackie Guthrie met her future husband in 1968 while working as a cashier at the Troubadour, the Hollywood nightclub that was an epicenter for folk music at the time. The next year, the couple bought a 250-acre property called “The Farm” that the family still owns in Washington, in western Massachusetts. They were married on the front lawn in October of that year. This summer, during a tour to mark the centennial birthday of Woody Guthrie, Jackie became so weak she could barely hold up the camera. In early September, she was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer. WIFE OF ARLO GUTHRIE DIES CLICK HERE

                               

Sylvia Kristel dies

Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel, whose iconic "Emmanuelle" role symbolised the sexual revolution of the 1970s and who spent years fighting drug addiction, has died aged 60 after a battle with cancer. Kristel was catapulted to fame in 1974 aged just 22 by her first movie, "Emmanuelle" which recounted the erotic adventures of a young woman in Asia. A worldwide success, the French film was shown in a cinema on the Champs-Elysees in Paris for 13 years, and seen by at least 350 million people around the world, but Kristel never learned to live with her fame. She soon became typecast in erotic roles, and admitted to taking acting jobs in the 1980s simply to make money to feed her expensive cocaine habit. I was a silent actress, a body. I belonged to dreams, to those that can't be broken," Kristel, who for years battled drug and alcohol addiction, wrote in her 2006 autobiography "Naked". SYLVIA KRISTEL DIES CLICK HERE

                  

Aussie gastro overload?

Australia is set for an oversupply of gastroenterologists and hepatologists in the next decade, a new report from Health Workforce Australia predicts, but stakeholders are dubious. However, stakeholders said a number of important developments were not reflected in the projections, which were based on a combination of hospital separations and Medicare data. They advised that demand is expected to rise as procedures like colonoscopies become more common alongside wider uptake of bowel cancer screening programs. Any potential change to screening methods in the bowel cancer screening program – for example from faecal occult blood testing to endoscopy – would further increase demand, stakeholders advised. New treatments for common conditions such as hepatitis C could also alter demand. In good news for patients, the specialty was one of just a handful perceived to currently have an adequate supply of practitioners, alongside cardiology and neurology. AUSSIE GASTRO OVERLOAD? CLICK HERE

                         

Aussie Top End hep B

Beginning of the end of hep B in Australia? A newborn vaccination program first introduced for Aboriginal babies in the Northern Territory has made significant inroads, significantly helping in the push to eradicate chronic hep B infection in Australia. Researchers from UNSW's Kirby Institute and the Northern Territory's Department of Health have published a study in the international journal Vaccine that shows rates of infection are 80% lower in young Aboriginal women born since the program began in 1988, compared to those born before the program began. In Aboriginal women from remote communities, the decrease has seen rates fall from 5% to 1%, the study, conducted by UNSW's Kirby Institute in collaboration with the Northern Territory Department of Health, shows. Researchers say it may be expected that a similar decline will be seen in other Australian states and territories once children vaccinated from 2000 onwards become old enough to be included in hep B testing programs. The study findings highlight the importance of immunisation programs in preventing chronic diseases such as hepatitis B, the researchers say. AUSSIE TOP END HEP B CLICK HERE