By Jade Walker – Tue Jan 18, 9:14 am ET
The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news that occurred overnight and a preview of the stories we expect to cover today.
Featured story
People suffering from hepatitis C, a disease caused by a blood-born virus that attacks the liver, may soon have access to a cure.
Most people get the disease by using dirty needles, either to inject illegal drugs or while obtaining a tattoo or piercing. Others contracted hepatitis C from an infected blood transfusion or organ transplant that was performed before the U.S. began screening for the disease in 1992. You cannot get hepatitis C from casual contact such as hugging, kissing, sneezing, coughing or sharing food or drink.
About 3.2 million Americans, and 170 million people worldwide, have chronic hepatitis C, which is the leading cause of liver transplants. According to the Mayo Clinic, many patients may have the disease and not even realize it because they either show no symptoms (tiredness, joint and belly pain and jaundice) or the symptoms don't manifest for many years. Yet hepatitis C is a serious illness, one that kills about 12,000 Americans a year. Medical experts say that number is expected to triple over the next two decades.
The two-drug method currently used to treat the disease --ribavirin pills plus injections of interferon-alpha -- only cures about 40 percent of patients. However, new major studies show that adding a third drug, either Vertex Pharmaceuticals' telaprevir or Merck & Co.'s boceprevir, can increase cure rates by as high as 75 percent because they can block an enzyme the virus needs to reproduce. When taken in conjunction with the standard medications, these new drugs may also allow some patients to cut treatment time in half to six months.
The side effects of existing treatments include: sleeplessness, fever, muscle and body aches, anxiety, mouth sores, dehydration, irritability, headaches, depression, dry mouth, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and hair loss. And the new drugs may cause additional side effects, such as a rash and/or anemia. The drugmakers haven't announced what the drugs will cost either; the price of treatment can already cost $30,000 (before a liver transplant).
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the drugs this summer, a move that is prompting some newly diagnosed patients to hold off on treatment until the new drug therapy is available.
"We're entering a whole new era of therapy," Dr. John Ward, hepatitis chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press. "We really want to begin that clarion call for action for this population who's at risk."
Who should be tested for hepatitis C?
* Anyone who has ever injected illegal drugs
* Recipients of clotting factor concentrates made before 1987
* People who received blood transfusions or organ transplants before July 1992
* Patients who have ever received long-term hemodialysis treatment
* People who have HIV
* People with signs or symptoms of liver disease
* Children born to mothers who have hepatitis C
Source
Also See: New Hope For Hepatitis C, An Often Hidden Disease
No comments:
Post a Comment