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People suffering from hepatitis C, a disease caused by blood-born virus that attacks the liver, will soon have access to heal.
Most people exposed to the disease by using dirty needles, either to inject illicit drugs or when getting a tattoo or piercing. Others contracted hepatitis C from infected blood transfusions or organ transplants are carried out before the U.S. began screening for the disease in 1992. you can not get hepatitis C from casual contact like hugging, kissing, sneezing, coughing or sharing food or beverages.
Approximately 3.2 million Americans, and 170 million people around the world, had chronic hepatitis C, which is the major cause of liver transplantation. According to the Mayo Clinic, many patients may have this disease and did not even realize it because they either no symptoms or no obvious symptoms for years. But hepatitis C is a serious disease, which kills about 12,000 Americans a year. Health experts say the number is expected to triple over the next two decades.
Method two drugs currently used to treat the disease – the pill ribavirin plus interferon-alpha injections – medicine is only about 40 percent of patients. however, new large studies show that adding a third drug, either 'telaprevir or Merck Co.' s boceprevir Vertex Pharmaceuticals, may increase the cure rate by as high as 75 percent because they can block the enzyme that the virus needs to reproduce. when taken in conjunction with standard drugs, new drugs may also allow some patients to reduce treatment time in half to six months.
side effects of existing treatments include: pain trouble sleeping, fever, muscle and body, anxiety, mouth sores, dehydration, irritability, headaches, depression, dry mouth, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and hair loss. and the new drug can cause additional side effects, such as rash and / or anemia. the drug manufacturers have not announced what the cost of both drugs, the cost of treatment can cost $ 30,000.
Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the drug this summer, a move that prompted some newly diagnosed patients to delay treatment until the new drug therapies are available.
"We are entering a new era of therapy," said Dr. John Ward, head of hepatitis at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the associated Press. "We really want to start the clarion call of action for the population at risk."
Who should be tested for hepatitis C?
* anyone who ever injected illegal drugs * Recipients of blood clotting factors made before 1987 * Persons who received blood transfusion or organ transplant before July 1992 * Patientshas received long-term hemodialysis * People * People who are infected with HIV with signs or symptoms of liver disease * Children born to mothers who have hepatitis C
What happened last night
A suicide bomber wearing a vest containing explosives killed at least 42 people in Tikrit today, Reuters reported. more than 100 people were also wounded in the attack, which occurred outside a police recruitment center in Iraq where the line on job opportunities from $ 500-a month-as a trainee policeman.
53 pirates hijacked the ship and kidnap hostages in 1181 record in 2010, piracy reporting center of the International Maritime Bureau said. According to AP, the number of hostages and the ship was taken last year was the highest ever calculated the center since the attacks began monitoring in 1991.
Shame cyclist Floyd Landis has announced his resignation, Reuters reported. Landis won the Tour de France in 2006, butstumble of his title for doping.
looking ahead
the Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments on whether Anna Nicole Smith really should get a piece of property left by her husband is old Texas billionaire.
the Supreme Court will also hear arguments in the case of Utah gun owners who spent 10 days in jail NJ because of illegal firearms while traveling.
Military court proceedings against Tech. Sgt. David Gutierrez started today at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita. He is accused of violating orders requiring him to notify sexual partners that he was HIV positive. Gutierrez also faces charges of assault for allegedly engaging in unprotected sex with several women 'swingers party.
Monday poll: U.S. debt has reached a record $ 14 trillion, or $ 45,300 for each and every person in this country.
more than 1,000 babies – most of them girls – were killed or left to die in Pakistan last year. – AFP
As much asas 129 million Americans under age 65 have health conditions that already exist. – Reuters
your skin weighs about 8 pounds. – National Geographic Society
twenty years ago, Eastern Airlines shut down after more than six decades in business.
* Singer Kristy Lee Cook, 27 .* NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, 38 .* Singer Jonathan Davis, 40 Actor Jesse L. Martin .*, 42 .* Comedian Dave Attell, 46 .* Actor / director Kevin Costner, 56 Journalist bill Keller .*, 61 .* Former Senator Paul Kirk, 73.
* President John Tyler died in 1862 at the age of 71 .* writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton England, 1st Baron Lytton, died in 1873 at the age of 69 .* British author Rudyard Kipling died in 1936 at age 70 Actor Lamont Bentley died. * In 2005 at age 31.
"I do not think of all the suffering, but all the wonderful things that remain." – Anne Frank
this entry was posted on Sunday, February 6th, 2011 at 4:09 am and is filed under Media News. you can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.