(Credit:AP Graphics)

(CBS/AP) Hepatitis C deaths are on the rise, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. the report found baby boomers are especially at risk because they account for two-thirds of all hepatitis C cases.

The worrisome news has prompted health officials to wonder whether anyone born between 1945 and 1965 should get a blood test for hepatitis C, because many of these boomers may have had the disease for decades without even realizing it.

“One of every 33 baby boomers are living with hepatitis C infection,” says Dr. John Ward, the CDC’s hepatitis chief. “Most people will be surprised, because it’s a silent epidemic.”

Some baby boomers may not think they’re at risk because sharing a needle while injecting illegal drugs is the biggest risk factor for becoming infected with this blood-borne virus. But before 1992, when widespread testing of the blood supply began, hepatitis C commonly was spread through blood transfusions. Plus, a one-time experiment with drugs way back when could have been enough.

“Asking someone about a risk that happened 20 to 30 years ago is a lot to ask,” says Ward. That’s why officials are seeking a new strategy.

About 3.2 million Americans are estimated to have chronic hepatitis C, but at least half of them may not know it. the virus, which affects 170 million people worldwide, can gradually scar the liver and lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer. it is a leading cause of liver transplants.

For the CDC’s study, published in the Feb. 21 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed a decade of death records and found an increase in death rates from hepatitis C. in fact, in 2007 there were 15,000 deaths related to hepatitis C, higher than previous estimates – and surpassing the nearly 13,000 deaths caused by the better-known AIDS virus. perhaps more surprising, three-fourths of the hepatitis deaths occurred in the middle-aged, people 45 to 64-years old.

“Mortality will continue to grow for the next 10 to 15 years at least unless we do something different” to find and treat the silent sufferers, Ward says.

Current CDC guidelines recommend testing people known to be at high risk, and until last summer there wasn’t much enthusiasm even for that step: the reasons are the year-long, two-drug treatment promised to cure only 40 percent of people; treatment was so grueling that many patients refused to try it and treatment could cost up to $30,000.

Two new drugs – Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ telaprevir and Merck & Co.’s boceprevir – are starting to change that pessimism. Research suggests adding one of them to standard therapy can boost cure rates as high as 75 percent. While still full of side effects, they can allow some people to finish treatment in just six months. they add to the price, however, another $1,000 to $4,000 a week. Drugs that promise to work even better are also being tested.

Those advances are fueling CDC deliberations of whether to change testing guidelines to recommend that anyone born between 1945 and 1965 get a one-time screening. A second CDC-funded study, also published in the Feb. 21 Annals, analyzed models of that option, and concluded it had the potential to save 82,000 lives.

A third study published Monday from Stanford University looked more closely at the price tag, and concluded the new triple-therapy would be cost-effective for people with advanced disease. It’s still cheaper than a transplant costing well over $100,000. But not everyone with hepatitis C will go on to suffer serious liver damage. for those with mild disease, that analysis concluded some gene testing to predict who might really need the costlier triple therapy rather than the older drugs would be a good next step.

It’s not clear how quickly the CDC will settle the boomer-screening question. But doctors at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City have started raising the issue. Montefiore internist Dr. Gary Rogg also says a number of patients have sought testing after seeing hepatitis-awareness ads from the drugs’ manufacturers.

“Now it’s considered a curable disease, that makes all the difference,” says Rogg, who was surprised at some longtime patients’ test results. Even a nurse he knows learned she had it, and the only risk she could recall was a blood transfusion during surgery when she was 10 years old.

According to WebMD, symptoms of hepatitis C include feeling very tired, joint and belly pain, itchy skin, sore muscles, yellowish eyes and skin, and dark urine. since many people with the disease don’t show symptoms, it is common for people to have hepatitis C for 15 years or longer, before it’s diagnosed as chronic hepatitis C.

The CDC has more on hepatitis C.

(Credit:istockphoto)

(CBS) A British woman reportedly made a shocking discovery following a nasty coughing fit. when she brought the odd-looking tissue that came out of her mouth to a doctor, the doctor told her she had hacked up a cancerous tumor.

PICTURES: 10 ways to tumor-proof your breasts

Claire Osborn, 37, felt a tickle in her throat moments before the mass – which she described as looking “like a strip of liver” – came out, reports The Daily Mail. Once a doctor performed a biopsy on the mass, it was revealed the woman had a metastatic adenocarcinoma in the back of her throat.

Osborn was given only a 50 percent chance of survival after being diagnosed with the aggressive cancer that grew in the back of her throat, saying the cancer had likely spread to other parts of her body. Follow-up scans, however, failed to detect any tumors. Doctors removed some cancerous cells from Osborn’s tongue and her doctor gave her a clean bill of health.

“I was totally flabbergasted,” Osborn told the Daily Mail. “If I hadn’t coughed it up, the tumor would have grown and almost certainly spread to my other organs.”

The woman’s head and neck surgeon, Dr. Gary Walton, a doctor at the University Hospital Coventry in the U.K., told the Mail that he suspected the cancer had spread but the body scans showed she was clear of cancer.

“We suspect the tumor grew on a stalk at the back of her mouth which is very difficult to detect,” Walton said. “Somehow she dislodged this and the stalk snapped and she coughed up the tumor.”

“It is very uncommon to cough up cancer, but she did it,” he said.

Dr. Edward Kim, chief of head and neck medical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told ABC News the woman’s coughing fit might have acted like a surgeon’s scalpel.

“It’s very rare that these types of tumors don’t require other treatments beyond surgery,” Kim, who was not involved in the woman’s care, told ABC News. He said metastatic adenocarcinomas often need to be treated with radiation and chemotherapy.

According to the National Cancer Institute, tobacco and alcohol use, and HPV are risk factors for head and neck cancers. Typical symptoms include a lump or sore in the mouth or throat that doesn’t heal, difficulty swallowing, a sore throat that doesn’t go away, or hoarseness in the voice.

More than 52,000 men and women in the U.S. are expected to be diagnosed with head and neck cancers this year.

LOS ANGELES — A TV reporter who lapsed into gibberish during a live shot outside the Grammys said she was terrified when it happened and knew something was wrong as soon as she opened her mouth.

KCBS-TV reporter Serene Branson’s incoherence Sunday fueled Internet speculation that she suffered an on-air stroke. But doctors at the University of California, Los Angeles where she went to get a brain scan and blood work done ruled it out. Doctors said she suffered a type of migraine that can mimic symptoms of a stroke.

Branson told the station in an interview Thursday that she “started to get a really bad headache” but assumed she was just tired.

“At around 10 o’clock that night I was sitting in the live truck with my field producer and the photographer and I was starting to look at some of my notes,” she said. “I started to think, the words on the page are blurry and I could notice that my thoughts were not forming the way they normally do.”

Story: CBS says reporter fine after on-air incoherence

“As soon as I opened my mouth I knew something was wrong,” Branson said. “I was having trouble remembering the word for Grammy,” she said. “I knew what I wanted to say but I didn’t have the words to say it.”

The station quickly cut away, and she was examined by paramedics and recovered at home.

Most people with migraines don’t have any warning. But about 20 to 30 percent experience sensations before or during a migraine attack.”A migraine is not just a headache. It’s a complicated brain event,” said UCLA neurologist Dr. Andrew Charles, who examined Branson.

Most people with migraines don’t have any warning. But about 20 to 30 percent experience sensations before or during a migraine attack.

The most common sensations include seeing flashes of light or zigzag patterns. in Branson’s case, she felt numbness on the right side of her face that affected her speech, Charles said.

“She was actually having the headache while she was having these other symptoms,” he said.

Branson told doctors she’s had migraines since a child, but never suffered an episode like this before, Charles said.

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Branson, a Los Angeles native and two-time Emmy nominee, worked at the CBS affiliate in Sacramento before joining KCBS. Prior to that, she was a reporter and anchor at TV stations in Palm Springs and Santa Barbara.

A telephone message left with KCBS was not immediately returned Thursday.

Branson has been medically cleared to resume activities.

“She’s totally normal. She’s completely back to herself,” Charles said.

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