Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/liver_disease/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241935.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241935.phpA towering $60,000 bill, a year of fierce, flu-like symptoms and a running risk of depression are among the possible costs of two new hepatitis C treatments. But according to Stanford University health policy researchers, they might be worth it...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241936.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241936.php 1. Death Rates from Viral Hepatitis Infections Steadily Increase From 1999 - 2007, Now Surpass HIV-related Deaths in U.S. Middle-aged Americans Disproportionately Affected by "Silent Epidemic" Approximately 3.2 million people in the United States are infected with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), a leading cause of liver disease, cirrhosis, and death...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241938.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241938.phpMore people die per year from hepatitis C than HIV each year in the USA, and the number of people dying from hepatitis C or B occurs disproportionately in middle-aged individuals, researchers from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reported in Annals of Internal Medicine...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241925.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241925.phpDefects in a protein that functions as a dietary fat sensor may be a cause of obesity and liver disease, according to a study published in the journal Nature, led by researchers at Imperial College London. The findings highlight a promising target for new drugs to treat obesity and metabolic disorders...Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241774.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241774.phpA University of Alberta researcher and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology has made the discovery of a vaccine that will potentially help combat hepatitis C. Michael Houghton, who led the team that discovered the hepatitis C virus in 1989, announced his findings at the Canada Excellence Research Chairs Summit in Vancouver this afternoon...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241639.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241639.phpPeople who have received a donor organ need lifelong immunosuppressant drugs to keep their immune system from attacking the foreign tissue. However, with a suppressed immune system, many infectious agents turn into a threat. Infections such as with human cytomegalovirus and a certain type of human polyomavirus frequently cause complications in transplant recipients...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241320.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241320.phpMedical researchers at the University of Alberta reviewed the medical records of more than 100 patients who had a liver scarring condition and discovered those who were losing muscle were more apt to die while waiting for a liver transplant...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241324.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241324.phpThe first European Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) for the diagnosis and management of Wilson's disease are published by the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) on the EASL website*...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241256.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241256.phpTreatment with three relatively new "targeted" cancer drugs has been linked to a slightly elevated chance of fatal side effects, according to a new analysis led by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. They added that the risk remains low, but should be taken into account by physicians and patients. The incidence of fatal complications was 1...Cancer / Oncology Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241151.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241151.phpAn open-label study of rituximab, a monoclonal antibody for human CD20, was shown to be safe in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) who had an incomplete response to the standard ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) therapy, also known as Ursodiol...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241152.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241152.phpCaffeine consumption has long been associated with decreased risk of liver disease and reduced fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease. Now, newly published research confirms that coffee caffeine consumption reduces the risk of advanced fibrosis in those with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241164.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241164.phpHepatitis C is a viral disease that leads to inflammation and organ failure. However, researchers are puzzled as to why some individuals are very susceptible to the disease, while others are not. Researchers believe they could find out how genetic variations produce these different responses by investigating liver cells from different individuals in the lab...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241102.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241102.phpHepatitis C, an infectious disease that can cause inflammation and organ failure, has different effects on different people. But no one is sure why some people are very susceptible to the infection, while others are resistant. Scientists believe that if they could study liver cells from different people in the lab, they could determine how genetic differences produce these varying responses...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241038.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241038.phpThe CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) now recommends routine HPV vaccination for males aged 11 to 12 years and catch-up vaccination for males aged 13 to 21. These are just two of the changes to the 2012 Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule published February 1 in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians (ACP)...Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241018.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241018.phpA team of scientists from the University of Utah and the University of California at San Francisco has discovered that the mutation of a gene encoding a ketone body transporter triggers accumulation of fat and other lipids in the livers of zebrafish. This discovery, published in the Feb...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241002.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241002.phpResearchers from the U.K. determined that preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a specific predictor of 90-day survival following liver transplantation...Transplants / Organ Donations Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240915.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240915.phpInfluenza virus can rapidly evolve from one form to another, complicating the effectiveness of vaccines and anti-viral drugs used to treat it...Flu / Cold / SARS Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240836.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240836.phpResearchers at CIC Biogune, the Cooperative Centre for Research into Biosciences and led by Dr. Maria Luz Martinez Chantar, have found a strong relationship between high levels of Hu antigen R (HuR) protein and the malignancy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, through a novel molecular process in the investigation of this pathology and known as neddylation...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240876.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240876.phpAccording to Johns Hopkins researchers, individuals who donate a portion of their liver for live transplantation usually recover safely from the procedure and can expect to live long, healthy lives. The study is published in the February issue of the journal Gastroenterology. Dorry L. Segev, M.D., Ph.D...Transplants / Organ Donations Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240742.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240742.phpA molecule embedded in the membrane of human liver cells that aids in cholesterol absorption also allows the entry of hepatitis C virus, the first step in hepatitis C infection, according to research at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240556.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240556.phpA recently published study investigating hepatitis B vaccination rates in the United States found that more than half of adults at risk for hepatitis B virus remain unvaccinated. With many of these individuals making contact with the healthcare system, including HIV testing, this statistic reflects many missed opportunities to vaccinate this population...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240544.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240544.phpMen are four times more likely to develop liver cancer compared to women, a difference attributed to the sex hormones androgen and estrogen. Although this gender difference has been known for a long time, the molecular mechanisms by which estrogens prevent - and androgens promote - liver cancer remain unclear...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240528.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240528.phpA new combination of investigational drugs successfully suppressed hepatitis C genotype 1 infection in a high percent of patients who had not responded to previous treatment in a study led by a University of Michigan hepatologist. The study, which was published Jan...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240453.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240453.phpResearch from the University of Michigan Health System shows the risk for kidney failure among liver transplant recipients is higher following the implementation of Model of End Stage Liver Disease (MELD), a policy change in 2002 that altered how liver transplant allocation is decided. The study, led by Pratima Sharma, M.D., M.S...Transplants / Organ Donations Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240415.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240415.php VIROLOGY: How to prevent hepatitis B virus reproducing Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major health problem worldwide, despite the fact that a highly effective preventative vaccine exists. A modified form of the immune molecule IFN-alpha is commonly used to treat individuals infected with HBV...Liver Disease / Hepatitis