800 biomarkers in blood of cancer patients find on scientists UK

Research workers in england are usually making strides in the direction of developing a sole our blood examination that would facilitate the early recognition associated with cancer malignancy, Health care Announcement Nowadays documented.

Inside the examine, displayed Saturday in the Country wide Most cancers Investigation Initiate (NCRI) Most cancers Seminar with Liverpool, U. Ok., research workers evaluated 19, 000 technological paperwork along with discovered greater than 300 biomarkers from the our blood associated with cancer malignancy people.

Professionals worked in order to solution this problem, "What biomarkers occur that is used to develop a general cancer malignancy screening process assay by our blood testing, along with precisely what is their own state associated with progress? inches

“A sole blood-based screening process examination would be a activity changer for first recognition associated with cancer malignancy, which will help to make the idea any curable condition for several more people, ” said steer creator Ian Cree, any pathology mentor in the School associated with Warwick Health care Classes.

Cree said since scientists have discovered this applicable biomarkers, the next step is doing exercises those that are the most robust predictors associated with malignancies. Evidence they've already accumulated might help these “prepare to the following point with the our blood examination progress since it actions frontward in professional medical laboratory work based testing. ”

Most cancers cells typically start off losing our blood guns well before most of the indicators associated with growths commence to arise. Therefore, first examination may lead to swifter and much more efficient treatment, which often could improve success costs.

“Our purpose above the following 2 decades will be that will about three with four cancer malignancy people may make it at least 10 years following their own examination, ” said Sara Hiom, representative associated with first examination in Most cancers Investigation UK.

Hiom termed case study “an progressive along with offering brand new technique. ”

“And despite the fact that with their early stages, ” she included, “it displays just how our elevated comprehension of cancers’ ‘markers’ along with brand new technologies are usually incorporating to make available brand new prospects in order to discover cancer malignancy sooner. ”.

14 million medical conditions in US yearly on smoking causes

Smoking cigarettes is frequently crucial for you to regarding 14 zillion important health issues among National the elderly annually, a fresh verify proves.

Of which range is frequently greater than the specific U. Ersus. Centres with regards to Disease Handle besides Prevention's (CDC) really previous evaluation, within the 12 months 2000, which in turn found in which National the elderly lived with 12. 7 zillion smoking-attributable situation.

Significant obstructive pulmonary condition (COPD) — such as situation such as severe bronchitis besides emphysema — comprises more than one half within the professional medical occasions as a result of tobacco use, the specific gurus found.

"The condition issue linked to cigarettes in the united states remains enormous, besides existing costs indicate in which COPD could possibly be tremendously underreported within health and fitness survey info, " had written the specific gurus, exactly who published their very own final results yesterday (Oct. 13) within the record JAMA Inner Cures.

Info from a CDC's Land broad Wellness Interview Examine at first offered in which 6. 9 zillion more mature us citizens lived with this mixed 10. 9 zillion smoking-attributable health issues, which includes COPD, varieties of most cancers, cardiovascular system violence besides diabetes. However real volume of situation is keen better due to the fact this particular survey will depend on individuals self-reports, besides COPD is frequently underreported, the specific gurus stated.

So that you can tend to be the real reason for this particular room, the specific gurus — led through Ruben Rostron, within the U. Ersus. Ingredients besides Pill Administration's Core with regards to Smoking cigarettes Goods — furthermore considered info via yet another CDC survey, the specific Land broad Health insurance and Nutrition Exam Examine. In such a survey technique, avid gamers are not just interviewed, yet furthermore undergo bodily tests, which includes this lung operation test out called spirometry that may be acquainted with find COPD.

Driven by in which info, Rostron besides co-workers expected in which occasions linked to COPD are actually 70 % greater than the number of occasions based on self-reported info. Ones gurus expected in which 14 zillion National the elderly experienced this smoking-related issue within last year.

Deficiency of COPD diagnoses could possibly be caused by existing scientific recommendations, the specific gurus stated. Researchers tend to be well-advised to utilize spirometry to attempt folks who document signals by way of example wheezing besides severe shhh. However health professionals ought to not really screen folks who is not going to document most of these signals due to the financial besides health care bills fees.

"Individuals having slowly proceeding down asthmatic operation or perhaps folks that have cultivated common for you to different college diplomas linked to severe air passage impediment may not document most of these situation for you to medical professionals and consequently might not exactly maybe become processed with regards to or perhaps clinically determined to have COPD, " the specific gurus within the verify had written.

Smoking cigarettes is the key basis for avoidable dying in the united states. Cigarette fumes consists of quite a few discovered cancer cancer causing carcinogens. Smoking cigarettes is frequently reason with regard to 85 % linked to lung varieties of most cancers, and it has also been linked to varieties of most cancers in lots of other sorts of organs, which includes, lately, the specific hardworking lean meats besides intestinal tract.

Eating certain fats might offset some heart risk from weight gain

If you're going to overindulge and gain weight, at least try to make sure the extra calories come from unsaturated fats, a new study suggests.

When lean people pack on even a few extra pounds, heart disease risk factors in the bloodstream change – some for the better if the excess food contains unsaturated fats, versus saturated fats, researchers found.

Even a moderate weight gain of about three pounds for lean, young people clearly increased markers of heart disease risk factors like insulin resistance as well as signs of impaired vascular function, said senior author Dr. Ulf Riserus of the Unit for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism at Uppsala Science Park in Sweden.

But unsaturated fats in the diet improved cholesterol levels despite the extra calories and weight gain, which is surprising, Riserus told Reuters Health by email.

For seven weeks, two groups of healthy, relatively lean adults ages 20 to 38 were told to keep to their habitual exercise level and daily diets, adding three to four muffins to their diets each day.

The researchers provided the 240-calorie muffins, with half their energy from fats. One group of 19 adults received muffins made with sunflower oil, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), while the other group of 20 people ate muffins made with palm oil, a saturated fat. The muffins were otherwise identical.

After seven weeks, each group had gained between two and three percent of their body weight, about 3.5 pounds (1.5 kilos) each, and waist girth increased by about one percent, but blood pressure did not change significantly.

This level of weight gain in the short term is probably not dangerous at all, Riserus said, but if weight accumulates over time, especially abdominal fat, there can be health consequences.

Based on blood tests, the sunflower oil group had lower cholesterol and lipid levels at the end of the study than they had at the beginning of the study. For the palm oil group, cholesterol went up, according to the results in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Both groups showed signs of increased insulin resistance, a diminished ability to process blood sugar that can be a warning sign for diabetes onset.

Riserus and his team had previously found that the type of fat in the diet determined how much of the excess calories were stored as abdominal fat and liver fat, he said.

“If the high-caloric diet was based on unsaturated fats rather than saturated fats, very little fat was stored as liver and abdominal fat, whereas the opposite was true for the diet high in saturated fats,” he said.

Saturated and unsaturated fats have different molecular effects on the liver, he said. Unsaturated fats signal the liver to take up cholesterol from the blood, he said.

“We believe our results are very relevant considering that a large part of most populations are in caloric excess and gradually gain weight over time,” Riserus said. “Although weight gain should be avoided, the results basically tell us that we may benefit from having enough unsaturated fats in our diets, irrespectively of how many calories we eat.”

The results support the American Heart Association recommendation to replace some saturated fats in the diet, like fatty beef, butter and cheese, with unsaturated fats like vegetable oils and nuts, he said.

“I do not think people usually plan for weight gain, but, as we know, it just happens quite commonly,” said Ursula Schwab, an associate professor of nutrition therapy at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio.

“So, by following the guidelines regarding dietary fat, unintentional weight gain can be less harmful than in cases when the recommendations on the quality of dietary fat is not followed,” Schwab told Reuters Health by email. She was not involved in the new study.

All dietary polyunsaturated fats are beneficial, she said, but that is not necessarily the case for supplements.

In addition to sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and canola oil are good sources of polyunsaturated fats, Riserus said.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/10/16/eating-certain-fats-might-offset-some-heart-risk-from-weight-gain/

Women more likely than men to have anxiety, depression after heart attack

Heart attacks can impact women’s mental health more severely than men’s, suggests a new study from Lithuania.

The study, which followed 160 patients admitted to Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Clinics with a heart attack, found that six months later, the women had a greater risk of having anxiety and depression than the men did, Medical News Today reported.

“Women are misrepresented in many clinical studies on myocardial infarction (heart attack) even though they often have worse outcomes,” said study author Pranas Serpytis. “Our study shows that women are more likely to develop anxiety and depression after myocardial infarction than men, but until now this issue has been largely unnoticed.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 720,000 Americans have a heart attack each year.  Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women— accountable for 1 in every 4 female deaths.

In their study, researchers interviewed patients one month after they had a heart attack. They collected and analyzed their medical histories, and looked for instances of mental illness, high blood pressure, diabetes, and previous heart attacks. They also considered other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as smoking and a lack of physical activity.

Study authors used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to assess patients. A score of 0-7 indicates no depression or anxiety, while a score of 8-10 points to possible depression and anxiety. A score of 11 or higher suggests mild to moderate levels of depression and anxiety.

While men had an average depression score of 6.87, women’s average score was 8.66. For anxiety, men had an average score of 7.18, and women had an average score of 8.20.

Regardless of gender, study participants with depression were almost six times more likely to die in the six months after a heart attack, compared with patients who weren’t depressed.

"Major depression follows myocardial infarction in approximately 18 percent of cases and is an important predictor of disability and poor quality of life in the year post-myocardial infarction," Serpytis said.

Study authors also noted that smoking increased the risk of anxiety, while a lack of exercise was linked to depression.

The average HADS score for anxiety among smoking patients was 10.16, compared with an average score of 7.3 for patients who had never smoked and 4.55 for patients who stopped smoking more than two years before. No link was found between smoking and depression following a heart attack.

The 64 percent of patients who were physically inactive had an average HADS depression score of 8.96.

"Our study suggests that encouraging patients to quit smoking and increase their physical activity levels should reduce their risks of anxiety and depression after myocardial infarction,” Serpytis said. “More research is needed on the links between myocardial infarction and mental health problems."

Serpytis and his colleagues presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association, a part of the European Society of Cardiology, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Joe Galati, M.D./Harvoni Hepatitis C Therapy New FDA Approval and Patient Information

Published on Oct 14, 2014

Joe Galati, M.D.

Harvoni was was approved by the FDA last week, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. A fixed dose of Ledipasvir and Sofosbuvir, this is the first once daily, 2-drug therapy. Dr. Galati reviewed the dosing of Harvoni based on the presence or absence of cirrhosis, and whether you have been treated previously.

information on internet about: UCLA researchers find obesity accelerates aging of the liver

Using a novel biological aging clock, UCLA researchers find obesity accelerates aging of the liver

Finding may explain why obese people suffer from early onset of many age-related diseases, including liver cancer.

Using a recently developed biomarker of aging known as an epigenetic clock, UCLA researchers working closely with a German team of investigators have found for the first time that obesity greatly accelerates aging of the liver.

This finding could explain the early onset of many age-related diseases, including liver cancer, in obese subjects Although it had long been suspected that obesity ages a person faster, it hadn't been possible to prove the theory, said study first author Steve Horvath, a professor of human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of biostatistics at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

Using the epigenetic clock Horvath developed last year, he and Jochen Hampe from the University Hospital Dresden showed that carrying excessive weight can negatively impact select human tissues. "This is the first study that evaluated the effect of body weight on the biological ages of a variety of human tissues," Horvath said. "Given the obesity epidemic in the Western world, the results of this study are highly relevant for public health."

The findings appear Oct. 13, 2014, in the early online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Horvath's aging clock uses a previously unknown time-keeping mechanism in the body to accurately gauge the age of diverse human organs, tissues and cell types. He and his collaborators focused on a naturally occurring process called methylation, a chemical modification of the DNA molecule. Horvath used this epigenetic clock to measure the biological age of several tissues. The aging clock proved accurate in matching biological to chronological age in lean subjects. But liver tissues from obese subjects tended to have a higher biological age than expected.

In this study, Horvath looked at almost 1200 human tissue samples, including 140 liver samples, to study the relationship between epigenetic age acceleration and body weight. While obesity doesn't affect the epigenetic age of fat, muscle or blood tissue, he and his collaborators found that, on average, the epigenetic age of the liver increased by 3.3 years for every 10 Body Mass Index (BMI) units.

For example, a woman who is 5 feet 5 and weighs 140 pounds has a BMI of 23.3. A woman the same height but weighing 200 pounds would have a body mass index of 33.3. Her liver would be about three years older than the woman who weighed 140 pounds, the study found.

"This does not sound like a lot, but it is actually a very strong effect," Horvath said. "For some people, the age acceleration due to obesity will be much more severe, even up to 10 years older."
Horvath also found that rapid weight loss induced by bariatric surgery did not reverse the accelerated aging, at least in the short term.

Going forward, Horvath and his team want to determine if the premature epigenetic aging of liver tissue in obese people can be prevented to possibly reduce their risk of diabetes and liver cancer. They plan to work on models that allow them to dissect the exact molecular mechanisms behind this aging process - which is not known at this point - in order to find the right targets for therapy and prevention.

"The increased epigenetic age of liver tissue in obese individuals should provide insights into common liver-related comorbidities of obesity, such as insulin resistance and liver cancer," the study states. "These findings support the hypothesis that obesity is associated with accelerated aging effects and stresses once more the importance of maintaining a healthy weight."

###

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIA/HIH 5RO1AG04511-02), the Virtual Liver Network, the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel and the University Hospitals Schleswig-Holstein and Dresden in Germany.

Source

Of Interest
Dr. Muir is Associate Professor of Medicine, Clinical Director, Hepatology Fellowship Director, Gastroenterology & Transplant Hepatology at Duke University

Dr. Muir discusses the importance of liver health and treatment

 

AMCollege Gastro

Recruiting HCV Clinical Trial: Simeprevir, Daclatasvir and Sofosbuvir Genotype 1 or 4 and Decompensated Liver Disease

Related: Medivir: Simeprevir, Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir Phase II IMPACT Study Initiated to Treat Genotype 1 and 4 Hepatitis C Patients

IMPACT Phase II study for chronic hepatitis C Is Now Recruiting In Texas
An Efficacy, Safety and Pharmacokinetics Study of Simeprevir, Daclatasvir and Sofosbuvir in Participants With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1 or 4 Infection and Decompensated Liver Disease

Hepatitis C, Chronic
Phase 2
Drug: Simeprevir
Drug: Daclatasvir
Drug: Sofosbuvir
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT02262728

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of a 12-week regimen containing simeprevir, daclatasvir and sofosbuvir in participants with decompensated liver disease (the liver function is insufficient) due to genotype 1 or 4 Hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) C virus (HCV) infection by assessing sustained virologic response 12-weeks after the end of study drug treatment (SVR12).

This is an open-label (all people know which treatment the participants receive) Phase 2 study to investigate the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of simeprevir, daclatasvir and sofosbuvir in treatment-naive (participants have never received HCV treatment with any approved or investigational agent) and treatment - experienced (participants have failed at least one previous course of [Pegylated] interferon [(Peg)IFN], with or without Ribavirin) participants. The total study duration for each participant will be approximately 276 weeks. The study will consist of 3 parts: Screening Phase (approximately 4 weeks) and open-label treatment Phase (from Week 4 to 16) and follow-up Phase (until 5 years after the actual end of study drug treatment). Participants will receive simeprevir (150 milligram [mg] capsule), daclatasvir (60 mg tablet) and sofosbuvir (400 mg tablet) orally once daily for 12 weeks. Efficacy will be primarily evaluated by percentage of participants with SVR12. Participants' safety will be monitored throughout the study.

Estimated Enrollment: 40

Locations

United States, Texas

Recruiting
San Antonio, Texas, United States

Sponsors and Collaborators
Janssen Research & Development, LLC
Investigators
Study Director: Janssen Research & Development, LLC Clinical Trial Janssen Research & Development, LLC

questions: JNJ.CT@sylogent.com

If AbbVie Discounts its Hep C Drug, Would Pricing Reach a Tipping Point?

If AbbVie Discounts its Hep C Drug, Would Pricing Reach a Tipping Point?
By ED SILVERMAN

For instance, in an investor note, Sanford Bernstein analyst Geoff Porges wrote that Gilead left AbbVie “less room to start a price war” than some may have expected. How so? Gilead priced the eight-week regimen at $63,000, which means average pricing for Harvoni would be about $80,000, assuming that as many as 45% of the patients with most common form of the virus use the drug for eight weeks.

This is actually less than what most insurers are now paying for Sovaldi, which costs $84,000 for a 12-week regimen, but must be taken with another drug. This pushes the cost to somewhere between $95,000 or so and $160,000, depending upon which medication is added. In short, the Gilead maneuver may place added pressure on AbbVie to consider aggressive pricing.

Continue Reading @ WSJ....

Related On The Blog
Reducing the cost of new hepatitis C drugs

An index of articles pointing the reader to current controversy over the price of Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) and Sovaldi.
The situation has Medicaid plans and insurers nationwide groping for the right balance. Worldwide patients are unable to afford treatment, while others wait in the wings on coverage. 

Fair Pricing Coalition Welcomes Approval of Gilead Sciences’ Combination Tablet for Hepatitis C, Urges a Uniform Price for Curative Treatment

Fair Pricing Coalition Welcomes Approval of Gilead Sciences’ Combination Tablet for Hepatitis C, Urges a Uniform Price for Curative Treatment
Posted on October 13, 2014 by jberry

The $63,000 wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) for eight weeks of Harvoni™ (sofosbuvir and ledipasvir) should be extended to 12- and 24-week curative treatment durations.

The Fair Pricing Coalition (FPC) today applauded the October 10, 2014, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Harvoni, a combination tablet containing the direct acting antivirals (DAAs) sofosbuvir and ledipasvir for the curative treatment of genotype 1 hepatitis C, and called upon Gilead Sciences to establish a uniform price per cure, regardless of the length of therapy.

The FPC, a coalition of HIV and viral hepatitis treatment activists, recognizes the significant advance in treatment success and convenience of Harvoni, but is disappointed at the Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC) of $1,125 per once-daily tablet, or $63,000, $94,500, and $189,000 for an 8-, 12-, and 24-week course of treatment, respectively.

The FPC maintains that these costs, particularly for the 12- and 24- week courses of treatment, are exorbitant. Since they are now published, however, FPC concludes that the WAC of $63,000 for eight weeks of Harvoni, which is projected to be the most common duration of treatment as more people living with genotype 1 hepatitis C learn of their infection and seek care, should be made the uniform cost per cure, regardless of the length of therapy.

Harvoni’s FDA approval follows that of Sovaldi® (sofosbuvir) on December 3, 2013, the price of which was denounced by FPC. The $84,000 WAC ($1,000 per pill) of Sovaldi has since brought rebukes from insurers, activists, government officials, health care providers, and people living with hepatitis C.

While Gilead has contended that the total price for a course of treatment with a Sovaldi-containing regimen was a modest increase compared with previous standards of care, this is an invalid argument based on the incorrect premise that these regimens were appropriately priced to begin with. So, although an eight-week course of Harvoni will result in a lower cost-per-cure than previous regimens, the $1,125 WAC per pill means that coverage for the 50 percent or more of people living with genotype 1 hepatitis C who require 12 or 24 weeks of therapy will be unreasonably costly and therefore potentially unattainable.

“Harvoni is a remarkable breakthrough in hepatitis C treatment,” explained FPC Co-Chair Lynda Dee. “It is easy to take, is associated with cure rates between 94 and 99 percent, is safe and effective in advanced liver disease, is much less toxic than older regimens, and has a manageable drug interaction profile. Yet its price sours our appreciation of these long-awaited agents, particularly now that we have examples that curative treatment is inaccessible to many because of out-of-control escalator drug pricing.”

Gilead’s pricing of Sovaldi, and now Harvoni, puts these medications on a par with the pricing of pharmaceuticals that are much more costly to manufacture and often for rare diseases, despite the fact that Sovaldi and Harvoni are relatively inexpensive to produce, and that at least 3.5 million people are estimated to be living with hepatitis C in the United States. These costs are putting unprecedented pressure on public and private insurers, and stripping patients and providers of the required autonomy to make treatment decisions based on need.

The FPC recognizes that Gilead Sciences is maintaining their free medications program for low-income, uninsured patients, and expanding subsidies that greatly minimize out-of-pocket expenditures, such as co-payments and co-insurance costs, associated with the placement of Harvoni and Sovaldi in specialty drug tiers. Yet these programs are unable to address all disparities of access to treatment due to excessive pricing, resulting in a two-tiered system of care based on insurance coverage and ability to pay.

“Many resource-constrained programs, such as Medicaid, have only been covering Sovaldi-containing regimens for patients with advanced liver disease, despite the fact that people with early stages of disease can transmit the virus to others and may suffer health consequences if treatment is delayed,” said Murray Penner, FPC Co-Chair. “People living with hepatitis C who seek access to these medications are also being required to undergo degrading evaluations related to drug and alcohol use, factors which have not been scientifically substantiated as determinants of the success or failure of treatment. It remains unclear if the reduced cost associated with eight weeks of Harvoni treatment will mollify these programs and we fear these restrictions will be extended, particularly for those requiring 12 or 24 weeks of treatment.”

“A remarkably safe, effective, and easy-to-take tablet means that if it is financially accessible to the many millions of people who desperately need it, we can actually imagine eliminating this insidious disease nationally and globally,” said Dee. “Gilead has failed to comprehend that pricing its curative treatments beyond what the market can bear is a shortsighted business tactic and a failed public health opportunity, both to the detriment of people living with hepatitis C.”