Re: Study: Threat of Hepatitis Underestimated [1 Attachment]

[Guest guest]

RandyDoes that mean that you gave up the drinking five years ago?? We all know how very super important that is.Please let us all know the results of your blood tests and PCR etc. I can say, don't worry about it; but, that's the same as telling me not to worry about the possible liver cancer!! I just have to lean harder on that Higher Power and trust he will get me through.By the way, there is not ONE of us infected with this virus that should not hold our heads high!!! Imagine how lucky we all are, we found out in time. Think of all the others out there that are ticking time bombs and have no idea!!Also, my second treatment appears to be the winner!!! As of last October, when I still had three months to go, I was RNA negative...

I was still RNA negative the day after I took the last of the Riba pills. It was simple; but, certainly not easy for sure. But, for any of us that have had to fight the demon booze - we certainly up to the challenge of treatment!!! We just don't go down easy....Gloria

Well well.Great topic! Sounds like we have some FOB here. That's good. I have been leaning on my higher power a lot lately. Oh and by the way I just had blood drawn (for free) to get new viral load and RNA type. Pray for me, it's been five years since my last test and it was on the rise then. That too after a lot of self pitying and drinking. So I'm interested to see where I am. With respect to this topic I recently wrote a letter to our very powerful congressman C. W. Bill Young here in Fl. and got this reply:January

29, 2010

Thank

you for letting me know

of your support for Hepatitis C (HCV) research funding in fiscal year 2010.

You will be pleased to learn that one of my major accomplishments

when I was Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee was completing our five year commitment to

double the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. Between Fiscal Year 1998 and Fiscal Year 2003,

we grew NIH funding from $13.7 to $27.0 billion dollars. As a result of this effort, the NIH Director

awarded 10,000 more research grants in 2003 than in 1998.

The Fiscal Year 2010 Health Appropriations Bill was recently

approved by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama. The House Appropriations Committee,

which I am still a senior member of, provided the NIH with $31 billion. This was $250 million above

the budget request and $692 million above last year's level for biomedical research to improve health

and reduce health care expenditures. NIH also estimates that funding for specific HCV research will

be $96 million.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding

this important matter of mutual concern. As my colleagues and I begin our work on fiscal year 2011 appropriations,

you can be sure that I will keep your support for additional HCV funding in mind.

With

best wishes and personal regards, I am

Bill Young

Member of CongressAttached is the complete file in word document form. Randy OFrom: Gloria <gadamscan (DOT) ca> Sent: Fri, January 29, 2010 9:36:30 PMSubject: Re: [ ] Study: Threat of Hepatitis Underestimated

Most days that I'm not wound up in self-will, I have a "spiritual" Higher Power. Sometimes, just to use a shortened term, I will call him/her God. However, I have no need or intention of listening to the "religious" side. I do not go to Church, just to have someone try to tell me what I should believe!!! I simply believe in my own conception, thus the Higher Power and I have a very open relationship. . He/She has brought me through some very difficult times in my life and in the lowest times - comes and let's their presence be known to be AGAIN. I'm a slow learner when it comes to my own self-will.Gloria

What Higher power is that?From our home to your home, we speak a Blessings, and Success 2010.Walter L. Scheu, Sr. Th.DFrom: Gloria <gadamscan (DOT) ca>Subject: Re: [ ] Study: Threat of

Hepatitis Underestimated Date: Friday, January 29, 2010, 7:26 PM

I figure my Higher Power made it possible for me to sober up 15 years before learning of the Hep C. Then I realized what it truly meant when they say - drinking myself to death.Gloria

I'm with you Gloria. It is amazing how many of us know the dragon has entered our life but how many people don't. As mentioned in the past, if I didn't know I had Hep C, I would be drinking alcohol and that is the worst thing I could do to my liver!Love,SheilaFrom: Gloria <gadamscan (DOT) ca> Sent: Fri, January 29, 2010 12:08:21 AMSubject: Re: [ ] Study: Threat of Hepatitis Underestimated

I love these reports and just hoping that they are getting to the right ears!!! It's past time for a major public awareness campaign throughout the world. I believe; but, don't take my word for it - that there is a growing campaign for free testing, probably through the Hepatitis C Foundation. World Hep Day, is just now solidifying there 2010 campaign and I'm trusting that somehow every support group or person suffering this dragon, will get behind that campaign. We are talking about the World here!!!GloriaStudy: Threat of Hepatitis Underestimated

How's this for an unsettling statistic: up to 1 in 50 Americans are living with chronic viral hepatitis, but most of them don't know it. A new report released by the Institute of Medicine in January describes hepatitis as a "major public-health problem" in the U.S. and calls for greater funding for prevention and treatment, increased vaccination, and a public awareness campaign to curb the threat of hepatitis B and C. "It's long overdue," says Dr. Dieterich, a professor in the Division of Liver Diseases at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "This is really a huge step in the right direction for hepatitis."

Some 800,000 to 1.4 million Americans are currently living with hepatitis B, and 2.7 million to 3.9 million suffer from chronic hepatitis C. Both viruses rank among the world's leading causes of preventable deaths. Hepatitis infection, which attacks the liver, can eventually lead to chronic liver disease or cancer when left unaddressed.

Although both viruses are preventable and treatable if caught early, many people develop no initial symptoms from infection, and don't know they have contracted the virus until they develop signs of advanced disease. As a result, hepatitis B and C are stealth killers, leading to 15,000 American deaths each year and nearly half of the annual liver transplants performed in the U.S.

Hepatitis B is transmitted through blood or bodily fluids — spread through unprotected sex, blood transfusions, sharing of needles or contaminated tattoo or acupuncture instruments. Hepatitis C spreads only through infected blood. Patients with hepatitis B typically fight off the virus on their own, after which they retain lifelong immunity to the disease; however, about 6% to 10% of adults and children over five who are infected go on to develop chronic disease. (The numbers are much higher for younger children and infants who contract the virus.) Hepatitis C is more often a chronic infection, with a minority of patients experiencing acute disease. Both diseases disproportionately affect African Americans and Asian Americans.

Despite its potential lethality, hepatitis has long been one of public health's forgotten stepchildren. There is very little education about the disease, not only among the general public and policymakers, but also among the at-risk population, health-care providers and social workers. That ignorance is one reason the U.S. government devotes comparatively piddling resources to its prevention, tracking and control. Hepatitis receives a fraction of the funding devoted to HIV/AIDS by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, although it affects three to five times as many Americans. "The people with hepatitis B and C are less vocal and way less effective communicators than the HIV lobby," explains Dieterich.

The IOM report recommends increasing funding for hepatitis education and prevention. One key area in need of resources is vaccination. Given that 1,000 infants are still infected at birth by their hepatitis B-positive mothers each year, the report recommends that all full-term babies born to infected mothers should receive a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine before leaving the delivery room, as soon as they are stable and washed. It also recommends that states mandate the vaccine — which, while widely used, is still not required for children entering school or day care in Alabama, Montana and South Dakota — as a requirement for school attendance. (There is no vaccine yet for hepatitis C.)

In tandem with more aggressive vaccination programs, the report suggests educational programs for prisoners and other at-risk populations, including immigrants from areas like East and Southeast Asia, where hepatitis B circulates widely. Some 40,000 to 45,000 people legally emigrate to the U.S. every year from such countries, where in some cases, stigma — such as in China, where infected individuals face job discrimination — may make people wary of seeking testing or medical attention in the U.S.

Experts suspect that greater focus on hepatitis could reveal that hepatitis is vastly underreported. They also emphasize that raising awareness is just a starting point. More funding for research is needed to create better drugs — while several new classes of drugs are already in advanced clinical development, doctors say they are not enough. Further research "has a very significant chance of really leading to some very exciting new therapeutics, " says Dr. Glenn, director of Stanford University School of Medicine's Center for Hepatitis and Liver Tissue Engineering. "This is an area where money will be incredibly well spent."

http://www.time. com/time/ health/article/ 0,8599,1956864, 00.html?xid= rss-health & utm_source=feedburn er & utm_medium=feed & utm_campaign= Feed%3A+time% 2Fscienceandheal th+%28TIME% 3A+Top+Science+ and+Health+ Stories%29

Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to Answers.

Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr!

Canada Toolbar : Search from anywhere on the web and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now!

Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr!