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Individuals who have experienced a major bleed from their stomach or oesophagus (known as an upper gastrointestinal bleed) may be more likely to die from other causes, particularly malignant tumours and cardiovascular disease, than those without an upper gastrointestinal bleed, according to a study by UK researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-upper-gi-linked-death.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:40:23 EST news286562411 For the first time, scientists show that a leading cause of liver transplant, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), is a distinct disease from inflammatory bowel disease, opening up new avenues for specific PSC treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-large-scale-genetic-relationship-primary-sclerosing.html Genetics Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:00:17 EST news285763950 We are often asked whether coffee is good or bad for the health. The answer is both good and bad. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-coffee-health.html Health Sat, 13 Apr 2013 09:20:01 EST news285049051 Liver diseases have an impact on the Australian economy 40 per cent greater than chronic kidney disease and Type 2 diabetes combined, according to a report released today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-liver-disease-diabetes-team-burden.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 27 Mar 2013 08:00:05 EST news283589061 A new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows that alcohol is now the third leading cause of the global burden of disease and injury, despite the fact most adults worldwide abstain from drinking. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-unhealthy-widespread-world.html Addiction Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:48:22 EST news281616491 A study by researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and a multinational team reveals how daclatasvir, a direct-acting antiviral agent in development for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), targets one of its proteins and causes the fastest viral decline ever seen with anti-HCV drugs – within 12 hours of treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-hepatitis-drug-treatment-vivo-vitro.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:00:05 EST news280414824 (Medical Xpress)—Scientists have discovered a gene that interferes with the clearance of hepatitis C virus infection. They also identified an inherited variant within this gene, Interferon Lambda 4 (IFNL4), that predicts how people respond to treatment for hepatitis C infection. The results of this study, by investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the NIH, and their collaborators at NIH and other institutions, were published online in Nature Genetics on Jan. 6, 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-team-gene-affects-clearance-hepatitis.html Genetics Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:15:04 EST news276848091 Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have discovered a trigger by which the Hepatitis C virus enters liver cells ─ shedding light on how this serious and potentially deadly virus can begin to damage the liver. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-clue-hepatitis-virus-liver.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:28:38 EST news274526909 An international multi-disciplinary research team led by Northwestern Medicine scientists has uncovered a new role for the protein toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the development of tissue fibrosis, or scarring. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-implicate-well-known-protein-fibrosis.html Medical research Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:07:00 EST news272632012 (Medical Xpress)—A newborn vaccination program first introduced for Aboriginal babies in the Northern Territory has made significant inroads, significantly helping in the push to eradicate chronic hepatitis B infection in Australia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-hepatitis-australia.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 14 Nov 2012 07:40:08 EST news272100402 (HealthDay)—People with liver cancer tied to infection with the hepatitis B virus who got antiviral therapy after cancer surgery had a lower risk of tumor recurrence than those who did not get it, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-antiviral-therapy-recurrence-hepatitis-b-linked.html Cancer Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:30:01 EST news271960674 A consortium of Quebec researchers coordinated by the Medical Genetics Service of the Sainte-Justine UHC has just published the findings of a 25-year study on the treatment of tyrosinemia, a life-threatening liver disease of genetic origin, which is screened at birth in the province of Quebec, where it is much more frequent than anywhere else in the world. "After five years of treatment, no trace of the disease can be detected in the liver of newborns who were treated with nitisinone starting from the first month of life," states Dr. Grant Mitchell of the Sainte-Justine UHC and the University of Montreal, who is the senior author of a study published in Molecular Genetics and Metabolism in September 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-nitisinone-efficacy-life-threatening-liver-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:18:21 EST news270919052 A University of Colorado Boulder-led team has discovered two prime targets of the Hepatitis B virus in liver cells, findings that could lead to treatment of liver disease in some of the 400 million people worldwide currently infected with the virus. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-decades-scientists-cellular-hepatitis-virus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:00:02 EST news270136100 Researchers headed by Erwin Wagner, the Director of the BBVA Foundation-CNIO Cancer Cell Biology Programme at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), have deciphered how a stress-inducible gene regulator, AP-1, controls the survival of liver tumor-initiating cells. These results, published in the online edition of Nature Cell Biology, could provide new preventive strategies and identify potentially targetable molecules to prevent liver cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-oncogenic-network-specific-liver-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 07 Oct 2012 14:01:41 EST news268837278 A new 'traffic light' test devised by Dr Nick Sheron and colleagues at University of Southampton and Southampton General Hospital could be used in primary care to diagnose liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in high risk populations more easily than at present. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-traffic-earlier-diagnosis-liver-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:05:54 EST news265457144 A new study from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine has identified molecular changes responsible for abnormal cholesterol production and metabolism in the livers of patients with a common liver condition, and these changes may explain the severity of a patient's liver disease and risks to their heart health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-cholesterol-metabolic-pathways.html Medical research Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:01:20 EST news258307274 Comorbidities are common among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and a number of these comorbidities are independently associated with an increased mortality risk, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-comorbidities-mortality-copd-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 04 May 2012 02:10:03 EST news255312988 A South African study presented today determines the importance of bacterial infections, which commonly occur in cirrhosis and can alter the natural history of the condition, possibly leading to loss of liver function and decompensation. It is now recognised that many infections in cirrhotic patients result from bacterial translocation (BT) from the intestine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-intestinal-macrophages-liver-cirrhosis-disrupt.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 19 Apr 2012 06:54:08 EST news254037235 Researchers from the Mayo Clinic confirm that ultrasound-based transient elastography (TE) provides excellent diagnostic accuracy for detecting cirrhosis due to recurrent infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection following liver transplantation. Findings from the study published in the March issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, suggest that detection of significant fibrosis is more accurate when comparing patients with chronic HCV of the native liver. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-ultrasound-technology-accurate-cirrhosis-recurrent.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:15:57 EST news249732951 A 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. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-combination-oral-drugs-suppresses-common.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:30:01 EST news246190563 The active ingredient boceprevir has been available since the middle of 2011 as a treatment for chronic hepatitis C of genotype 1. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined to establish whether boceprevir offers added benefit in comparison with the previous standard therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-boceprevir-indication-added-benefit-specific.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:37:27 EST news242649434 (AP) -- The toll of excessive drinking works out to about $2 per drink, in terms of medical expenses and other costs to society, according to a new federal research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-cdc-shot-excessive.html Health Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:06:32 EST news238075585 For the first time, scientists have cleanly corrected a human gene mutation in a patient's stem cells. The result, reported in Nature on Wednesday 12 October, brings the possibility of patient-specific therapies closer to becoming a reality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-gene-therapy-methods-accurately-mutation.html Genetics Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:00:20 EST news237637269 Researchers from the United States and Europe involved in an NIH-funded multicenter study have determined that increased body mass index (BMI) is an independent predictor of clinical decompensation in patients with compensated cirrhosis, independent of portal pressure and liver function. The findings suggest obesity accelerates cirrhosis progression and measures to reduce BMI could improve the prognosis for patients with advanced liver disease. Study details are available in the August issue of Hepatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-obesity-cirrhosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:15:16 EST news230462100 Persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can lead to chronic hepatitis C and then progress to fatal liver diseases including liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths. Worldwide, more than 170 million people are infected with HCV, and the virus accounts for 30–70% of liver cancer cases. The recent identification of a genetic variant associated with increased susceptibility to hepatitis C virus-induced liver cancer could have major implications for global healthcare, as it may lead to tests that predict liver cancer susceptibility. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-tell-tale-liver-cancer.html Genetics Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:39:59 EST news229351177 Overweight carries a greatly increased risk of cirrhosis of the liver in men, reveals a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy. "Given the increasing problem of overweight in Sweden, there is reason to fear that more people will develop cirrhosis of the liver," says Jerzy Kaczynski, docent at the Sahlgrenska Academy and doctor at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-overweight-liver-alcohol-middle-aged-men.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:50:51 EST news226666200