Hepatitis E on the Rise!

It is a fact that, like any other viruses, hepatitis virus also exists in many forms. Hepatitis E is transmitted much like that of a hepatitis A where it exists in food contaminated with stools with such virus. With that, proper sanitation, the risk of infection will be minimized.

Below is a website that tackles latest information about Hepatitis E and information regarding the development of new vaccines and its level of effectiveness among the test population. Hepatitis E infection is also one cause of death among countries with insufficient budget in health maintenance and disease prevention and cure.

Please visit CECentral for more information.

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New Hope for Patients with Advanced Cancer Status

Many of the usual status among cancer patients is either the metastasis (reproduction and transfer of an infectious agent from the original place to another) and/or the advance division replication of cancerous cells. These cancerous cells, when left untreated, will usually lead to irreversible organ damage and inevitable death.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC, a leading drug company worldwide, introduces a new drug that would bring hope to people in advanced cancer status. The drug, TYKERB, when used together with other cancer drugs, taxanes and anthracyclines and/or Herceptin, was found to be effective in most cases.

In a recent international study, it was found out that this drug helps in slowing down the rate of growth among cancer cells and was used the moment the findings was made.

For more information, please visit
ABC News
Forbes.Com

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EU Working To Address HIV/AIDS Issues

The European Union is planning to schedule a meeting on June this year to tackle certain issues surrounding issues HIV/AIDS pandemic. The countries who are part of the European Union are working closely with health officials of their individual nations in order to develop plans and measures that would eventually eradicate HIV/AIDS in the world.

The plans include the development of AIDS vaccine and producing effective treatment, including but not limited to antiretroviral drugs among patients and low-cost drugs and treatment and installing treatment facilities among people infected by such virus.

Germany, the country who is holding the current presidency of the European Union is putting such issue at a top priority in order to help all people in this dreadful ailment. While the disease itself is a number one problem among nations and people infected with the virus, stigma and discrimination may also pose as a hindrance to patients' full access to drugs and operate in their immediate environment.

More readings at AllAfrica.COM

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Hepatitis B: Silent Killer

I have heard Mark Lim, a medical doctor who died of hepatitis B. He is an asian doctor who died of liver cancer due to hepatitis b at the age of 33. He was a young man, teeming with dreams and aspirations but these were snatched from him due to the deadly disease that afflicts one of 10 Asians today.

Its is sad to know that despite of the many industrial developments known to Asian countries nowadays, health remains to be a number one issue. Our politicians should reform our current laws and mandate a full vaccination of all newborns and those who have not yet received hepatitis b vaccines.

Vaccines save lives! Join the fight agaisnt Hepatitis B and Liver Cancer!

Creation of New Generic Drugs by Thailand: A Model Nation

Thailand has shown its initiative with its consitituents who are suffering from deadly HIV/AIDS disease by creating generic drugs as a response to what they call national emergency.

As what everybody knows, Thailand issued compulsary licenses to two patented drugs known to treat HIV/AIDS and heart diseases. Abbot, a international drug pharmaceutical company who holds patent among these drugs expresses digusts about the outcome, threatening Thailand even more with not selling them drugs that the company will develop in the future.

This decision was part of an overwhelming demand for cheaper drugs because Thailand has the most number of HIV/AIDS patients in Asia at the very least with more than half a million patients infected by this virus. This demand even encourages health officials to develop cheaper patented drugs as they declare such national call.

Although I quite understand why Abbot behaved such way, what I despise is the way they dealt with the issue and stated that they will cease production and sales to Thailand due to the decision made by the incumbent government. It saddens me when pharmaceutical companies are suppose to work on the manufacture of quality drugs that are sold in a fair price.

Is that how capitalism should work in a certain community? Working on generating drugs that cure yet without a heart? Just asking.

For more information, please visit ETNA

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Germany Produces Anti-Cervical Cancer Vaccine

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Wart Viruses

The future is full of hope in eradicating diseases that are today incurable in any means by sophisticated medicines and processes of medicine.

Just recently, Germany has introduced vaccine that is aimed to prevent women from cervival cancer by becoming immunized to the cancerous effects of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

Human Papilloma Virus is sexually transmitted virus which causes Genital HPV infection. There are more than 100 types of these viruses specially for viruses Types 16 and 18 which accounts to 90% of genital warts.

Germany recommends that girls whose age ranges from 12 to 17 receives the vaccine, Gardasil (vaccine produced by Merck and Sanofi Pasteur). This vaccine provides protection among HPVs and ward off its harsh consequences.

Currenlty, more than 20 million individuals are infected with HPV and are continually passing on the infection. Without the vaccine, the continued increase of infected individuals will continue to rise.

I hope our country, Philippines, would also start investing on vaccine production program and engage in research that would eventually find cure to some of the most dreaded diseases of today.

For more information, please visit BBC News (Human Papilloma Virus)

Accelerated Hepa B vaccine

I just recently got some information from the Hepatitis B Information through email about an accelerated Hepatitis B Vaccine specially designed for unvaccinated individuals who are travelling abroad where the disease Hepatitis B is endemic (prevalent).

Please read on the information below. More information is available at Hepatitis B Foundation website.

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FAQ: New Accelerated Twinrix Dosing Schedule Approved

Q: I am traveling internationally in one month. Is there still enough time for me to be vaccinated against hepatitis A and B?

A: Yes! The FDA recently approved an accelerated dosing schedule for adults with Twinrix, the only hepatitis A and hepatitis B combination vaccine available in the U.S. With the accelerated schedule, you will get all three doses of the vaccine within one month, instead of the usual six months. The approved accelerated schedule is at 0, 7, and 21-30 days, with a booster at 12 months. This schedule is beneficial to international travelers, health care workers, emergency responders, individuals diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease, and other at-risk adults.

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Abbott, Thailand and more...

A call from HIV/AIDS activists in more than 20 countries to boycott Abbot Laboratories drug products with regard to the treatment it is giving Thailand due to its recent provision on compulsory license on some HIV/AIDS drugs like Kaletra.

Thailand issued compulsory licenses on some drugs from heart disease to HIV/AIDS-related diseases and infection in order to help local patients who are in such condition. Thailand carries one of the biggest health burden in HIV/AIDS-related cases in the world.

Abbot who is an exclusive manufacturer of these popular anti-retroviraldrugs and was alleged to have been engaging in some sort of abusive pricing which is forcing a lot of countries to issue compulsory licenses and break patent on drugs that are currently registered with these big pharmaceutical companies.

While I think that this is harmful to Abbot side and beneficial to the government and people who uses it, it is sometimes best for these pharmaceutical companies to rethink and reconsider the prices theydictate to the market and to the general public. Monopoly seems to be the biggest problem and capitalism is becoming fatal.

Sometimes, before I go to sleep, money really makes the world go round....

More information at the following sites:

Reuters
TheStar.com

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HIV/AIDS VACCINE

Wondering how the world should be like without AIDS? It can never be more enjoyable for millions of people who currently are suffering from HIV/AIDS all over the world. According to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, there are currently over 39 million people living with HIV worldwide and more than 2.8 million lives has been lost due to this debilitating disease. The need for a vaccine is currently one of the top priority in both developing and developed countries around the planet.

The international community is excited to work on researching and developing ways on how to come up with a universal solution that will combat HIV/AIDS pandemic. The menance that is brought by this incurable disease is immeasurable and seems to be beyond control.

The development of vaccine is one of the focus of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and is actively seeking participation both from the public and private sectors. Research and development should be one of the focal point of this initiative and should not be for personal gain of the priveleged few. Political support should also be seen as a guide to this long term pursuit of cure for people who are infected by this lethal agent. Commitment of leaders worldwide should be visibly seen in order to progress this novel research for cure. Philippines, let us show our support by becoming informed about the disease. Visit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative for more information. Be part of this battle! Let us fight for our friends and families! Let's fight for life!

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3 Reported Death in Vietnam allegedly due to Hepa B Vaccine

The recent death of three children in Vietnam is probably one of the reason why some parents are hesitant to some immunization programs conducted by governments around the globe.

Breaking the patent on some drugs and vaccines sometimes present dangers to communities and countries as a whole because the manufacture method is sometimes being compromised to the point that a little tweak in the manufacture process may cause impurities and ultimately cause health dangers to recepients. The use and manufacture of South Korean LG Hepa B Vaccine (Euvax B) has been stopped worldwide which is currently the vaccine brand is in use in 24 countries to date.

The recent articles below provides information about the disease. discusses.

www.vaccinerx.com
vietnamnews

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$30 Billion Funds for Budget to fight HIV/AIDS

While most or some of us are sometimes not in favor on how US handles the Iraq situation and all other international issues, I have nothing but praise to their apparent generosity when it comes to providing budget and products that sustains health, provides food and safety.

The Bush administration is seeking for a $30 billion fund, an additional $15 Billion to the current budget, to fight HIV/AIDS around the globe, especially in Africa.

While this seems to be a good move for the US government to curb the progress of HIV/AIDS across countries around the globe, it still is being criticized for its apparent lack of interest in issues regarding global climate change which I think will have a strong impact as a whole in US economy.

I just hope that along with the scientists' efforts to create a vaccine for HIV, I wish that they would also work on developing a cure for the disease: something that we all are hoping for along with other diseases such as hepatitis and cancer.

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Nanotechnology/Nanoscience: Way towards Creating a Cure for Hepatitis B and other Viral Infections

Nanotechnology has been tagged as one of the emerging science owed to the fact that its processes and instrumentation originates to existing sciences and its creation was made out of the need of the scientific community to come up with instrumentation and knowledge base that would address most of the processes that is beyond the scope of one science; or needs the help of another related science to aid its completion.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are just some of the hot sciences today and these could be one of the key to some of intriguing challenges in the field of medicine and material science and engineering.

The manipulation of minute agents and how these particles will interact with structures smaller than that of viruses is a dream that was made possible by the nanoscience. Scientists are beginning to speculate that the next 20 years be the birth of powerful sciences that will provide solutions to most of the medical health problems plaguing humans today.

Current the scientific community is exploring nanotechnology in the development of viricides (nanoviricides) that destroys viruses and prevent their injurious activity to a specific cell type.

The future looks exciting to this science and I just hope that it will accelerate the development of therapeautical agents that will finally provide a cure to Hepatitis and other viral diseases.

Please visit the following website for more information.

Nanotechnology Now
Businesswire.com

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Cure for HIV/AIDS FINALLY FOUND?

Cure for HIV/AIDS FINALLY FOUND?

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the University of Hamburg's

Heinrich Pette Institute for Experimental Virology and Immunology have found ways on how they can remove AIDS virus from infected cells, thus, making them healthy once again.

Researchers at the above institutions created an enzyme (Tre) that cleaves (removes) HIV's (virus that causes AIDS) genetic material from the infected cells, allows reorganization of the host's genetic material and free living cells of the infective agent. The recombinant DNA technology was one of the techniques used in the experiment by using restriction endonucleases, a class of enzymes that cleaves (detach from end to end) specific sequence of genes in a specific cell's or organism's or, as in the case of viruses, particle's genetic material, in order to get the desired sequence of genes.

Through this wonderful research provides hope for the estimated 40 million individuals who are currently suffering the havoc of HIV/AIDS disease.

For more information, please visit the Scientific American website.

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Second-Generation HIV Drug that Treats Resistant HIV strains

An article published at the Scientific American website provide information on regarding "second-generation"HIV drug which combats resistant HIV virus.

The exciting drug etravirine (TMC125) is capable of treating HIV virus to the point of becoming undetectable in blood level serum*. Several hundreds to thousands of HIV/AIDS suffers who are becoming non-responsive to HIV cocktail treatments due to resistant AIDS virus. This drug brings hope to treating people with drug-resistant HIV strains.

Just like any other HIV medication, TMC125 is given alongside with other HIV drugs that works by halting the backend DNA viral replication of these particles, thereby, slowing down the progress of developing AIDS. TMC125 works by patching on the targeted opportunities of HIV drugs which failed to serve their function, that is, slowing down the activity of these viruses. All of these HIV drugs are a class of protease inhibitors which works by inhibiting the activity of the protease enzyme (an enzyme responsible for the replication of HIV's genetic material) thereby inhibiting the ability of the HIV virus to replicate itself.

AIDSmeds.com provides a simple yet informative definition of protease inhibitors (PIs): What are Protease Inhibitors (PIs)?

Protease Inhibitors (PIs) are a class of anti-HIV drugs. When one PI is used in combination with other anti-HIV drugs – usually a total of 3 drugs – then this combination therapy can block the replication of HIV in a person's blood.

Protease inhibitors prevent T-cells that have been infected with HIV from producing new copies of the virus.

When HIV infects a cell in a person's body, it copies it's own genetic code into the cell's DNA. In this way, the cell is then "programmed" to create new copies of HIV. Once HIV's genetic material (RNA) is inside a T-cell's DNA, the cell produces a long strand of genetic material that must be cut up and put together correctly to form new copies of the virus. Cutting up this strand requires a scissor-like enzyme called protease. PIs block this enzyme and prevent the cell from producing new viruses.

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Caffeine Plus Acetaminophen Toxic for Some

I just love the information I gained in this site. I hope you may read it, too. We always spend so much time working and earning money but then the bottomline is, we all do that to maintain health. Everything ceases when our health starts disintegrating. Read on.

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Caffeine Plus Acetaminophen Toxic for Some

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter ,

HealthDay

Posted: 2007-09-26 16:11:53

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Very high doses of caffeine and acetaminophen (such as Tylenol), taken together, could lead to liver damage, researchers warn.

This combo produces a byproduct enzyme that's toxic to the organ, researchers from the University of Washington report.

This toxic twosome can occur not only by drinking caffeine while taking acetaminophen, the experts added, but also from large doses of painkillers that combine caffeine and acetaminophen. These painkillers are often used to treat migraines, menstrual discomfort and other conditions.

"Caffeine can interact with an enzyme that can form a toxic metabolite of acetaminophen in such a way that it increases the formation of that toxic metabolite," said lead researcher Sid Nelson, a professor of medicinal chemistry. "This can result in liver damage," he said.

In the study, Nelson's team tested the effects of acetaminophen and caffeine on E. coli bacteria. These bacteria had been genetically engineered to mimic a human enzyme in the liver that detoxifies many prescription and nonprescription drugs, explained the authors in a report in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.

Nelson noted that it takes large qualities of caffeine to produce this reaction.

"Normally people wouldn't be ingesting that amount of caffeine," he said. "It would take 10 times the amount of caffeine found in a couple of cups of coffee," Nelson said.

His team found that caffeine triples the amount of a toxin called N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI) produced by the enzyme as it breaks down acetaminophen.

This same toxin is also produced during an interaction between alcohol and acetaminophen that's also well known to damage the liver.

In prior studies, Nelson's team had found that high doses of caffeine boosted liver damage in rats that had already suffered acetaminophen-linked liver damage.

The bacteria used in the study were exposed to doses of acetaminophen and caffeine far higher than most people would be exposed to, Nelson noted. It's not clear at what point such a mixture becomes toxic, he said.

Some people may be more vulnerable to this toxic interaction than others, Nelson said. They might include people who take certain antiepileptic medications, such as carbamazepine and phenobarbital, and people who use the alternative remedy St. John's Wort.

These drugs increase levels of the enzyme that produces NAPQI and may produce even more when mixed with acetaminophen and caffeine together, Nelson speculated.

In addition, because alcohol can boost NAPQI production, people who drink a lot may be at increased risk for this toxic interaction, the researcher said. The risk is also increased for people who take drugs that combine acetaminophen and caffeine, used to treat migraines, arthritis and other conditions.

Still, for most people, there's no reason to panic, since the chances of caffeine and acetaminophen becoming a toxic mixture remains small, Nelson said.

"Almost all people don't need to worry about taking caffeine with acetaminophen," Nelson said. Exceptions might be, " those [people] taking high does of caffeine, high doses of acetaminophen, who are possibly alcoholic and/or are epileptic and take certain anticonvulsive drugs," he said.

More information

For more on acetaminophen, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

SOURCES: Sid Nelson, Ph.D., professor, medicinal chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle; Oct. 15, 2007, Chemical Research in Toxicology

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Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

09/26/2007 09:00 EST

October as US' National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October was declared as the US' National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, although the Breast Cancer Awareness month in other countries are also celebrated on the same month. It is exciting to say that the future looks bright for people with breast cancer since rapid advancement in medicine has brought medicines and treatment options that is currently being developed in order to help people afflicted with such disease.

The production for possible vaccines is also being developed that would target specific cancer cells in the breast and keeps them from metastasizing (traveling to other areas of the body). Funding on research studies is truly needed in order to help people suffering from breast cancer and lessen the number of people perishing because of the disease. Medical News Today has an interesting article about breast cancer vaccine that is currently being developed.

An interesting remark made by Congresswoman Betty McCollum of Minnesota about this event.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is a month to honor all of the women and men who have so courageously faced breast cancer – to remember those we have lost and give thanks for those who embrace life and inspire us despite the challenges they confront every day.

This is also a month to renew our commitment to the knowledge and research that can prolong or save so many lives. Early detection and treatment are vital to the health of the hundreds of thousands of women diagnosed with breast cancer each year. We must continue our efforts to ensure that all women know what it takes to detect and fight this disease.

We must also step up our efforts to ensure that all women have access to the screening and treatment they deserve, and that our nation’s top-notch cancer researchers have the resources they need to pursue every avenue of hope. To do this, the federal government must commit to funding research and supporting health care with the same courage as the hundreds of thousands of Americans who commit to battling breast cancer every day.

This is a month to celebrate our past victories in confronting breast cancer, and to recommit ourselves to the challenging work ahead. Together, as sisters, mothers, and daughters – along with fathers, brothers, and sons – we can raise awareness, get the screening we need, and expand access so that every woman in America is assured the detection and treatment necessary to beat this disease.

Hepatitis C Carrier, Pamela Anderson, Getting Healthier

Indeed Hepatitis C and other subtypes of Hepatitis such as Hepatitis B spares no one; even the celebrities and stars. Pamela Anderson, a Bay Watch star, was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and disclosed in March 2002 that she had the disease and claimed that she contracted the disease from her previous husband Tommy Lee but reported that her body is responding to the hepatitis c treatment she is currently on.

Hepatitis C is a serious liver disease that affects millions of people. To date more than 180 million people are infected with Hepatitis C Virus according to the World Health Organization (WHO) with numbers increasing every year (around 3 to 4 million infected per year) and more than 3 quarters of those currently infected will develop chronic liver disease (chronic hepatitis). Moreover, WHO stated that the disease is " responsible for 50–76% of all liver cancer cases, and two thirds of all liver transplants in the developed world"

Too bad there is no existing vaccine to prevent Hepatitis C infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are different ways by which a person can be infected with hepatitis c virus:

• You ever injected street drugs, as the needles and/or other drug "works" used to prepare or inject the drug(s) may have had someone else's blood that contained HCV on them.
• You received blood, blood products, or solid organs from a donor whose blood contained HCV.
• You were ever on long-term kidney dialysis as you may have unknowingly shared supplies/equipment that had someone else's blood on them.
• You were ever a healthcare worker and had frequent contact with blood on the job, especially accidental needlesticks.
• Your mother had hepatitis C at the time she gave birth to you. During the birth her blood may have gotten into your body.
• You ever had sex with a person infected with HCV.
• You lived with someone who was infected with HCV and shared items such as razors or toothbrushes that might have had his/her blood on them.

Genetic Predisposition A Likely Reason for Progression to AIDS Among Individuals with HIV

A new study at the University of Texas HealthScience Center in San Antonio were able to identity two specific genes that can be blamed for HIV-infected individuals' predisposition to AIDS. Two genes that were identified during the study, CCR5 and CCL3L1, were the main culprit as to why some people are more likely to develop AIDS than others.

Previously, it was thought that viral loads (the amount of virus present in the blood), was the primary determinant why individuals who are infected with HIV will more likely to develop than any other individuals. The new study reveals a different story.

Individuals with specific combination of the two genes above which controls the entry of HIV particles into cells with CD4 markers (certain binding sites for T4 white blood cells) and works on cellular immune response respectively have greater chances of their health condition to worsen compared to other individuals who don't. Read more at Science Daily.

This study was made possible by National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases (NIAID) and was published at the October issue of Nature Immunology.

R7128 Received Fast-track Status from FDA

The US Food and Drug Administration has given Pharmasset Inc.'s (NASDAQ:VRUS) R7128 a fast-track status in order to make the drug become more available to individuals who are chronically infected with Hepatitis C Virus. CNN has the story.

Vaccine for Hepatitis C is not yet available and just like Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C can cause liver damage such as cirrhosis and cancer.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that, "you may be at risk for hepatitis C and should contact your medical care provider for a blood test if you:

* were notified that you received blood from a donor who later tested positive for hepatitis C.
* have ever injected illegal drugs, even if you experimented a few times many years ago
* received a blood transfusion or solid organ transplant before July, 1992
* were a recipient of clotting factor(s) made before 1987
* have ever been on long-term kidney dialysis
* have evidence of liver disease (e.g., persistently abnormal ALT levels)

Please visit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more information about Hepatitis C virus.

Vitamin B: Key To a Healthier Hair

Most people almost always blame the weather for bad hair day issues. Well, it might be time to think about the kind of diet you subscribe to for you to be able to figure out if the cause of your hair growing gray fast or becoming unhealthy is more on the nutrients lacking in your body or if you are giving your body enough rest to repair the day-to-day damages of daily living.

Thatsfit.com lists some of the effects and benefits of Vitamin B and enough rest to our hair. Check it out

Your diet may be causing your bad hair day

Posted: Jan 15th 2008 8:15AM by Bethany Sanders
Filed under: Food and Nutrition, General Health, Healthy Habits, Natural Beauty The dry, cold air of winter can be hard on your hair. But what if your bad hair day has more to do with your diet than the weather? Dietician Keri Glassman shared her thoughts about hair and a healthy diet on The Early Show recently, and I found myself really surprised by what she had to say.

For instance, did you know that by eating foods rich in protein and B12, you can make your hair stronger? Or that eating foods that contain vitamins B5 and B6 may help you hold onto your color and prevent graying? In general, though, the habits that grow a healthy head of hair are the same habits that promote health in the rest of your body. Eat whole, unprocessed, nutritious foods. Get enough sleep, reduce stress, and drink plenty of water.

New Source of Stem-Cell Found

The United States and even the Philippines were just some of the countries that are inhibiting the stem-cell science due to previous history of harvesting stem-cell through some inappropriate source.

Now, through intense research, scientists around the globe are starting to figure out sources that that they never thought were harboring stem-cells. The Institute for Regenerative Medicine division of Wake Forest University shared this wonderful discovery. Read more at Healthline Connects.

Pre-Chewed Food New Routes of Tranmission for HIV

Its been interesting to note that a new documented cases of transmitting HIV is through pre-chewed food to infants. This practice is mostly seen in communities or countries with inadequate appropriate food supply to infants that are immediatey available to developed countries commercially.

The article at AOL Body will provide you more information about this issue.

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Pre-Chewed Food Gave HIV to Kids
By MIKE STOBBE
AP Posted: 2008-02-07 09:54:50
ATLANTA (Feb. 6)

For the first time, health officials report that the AIDS virus can be spread by a mother pre-chewing her infant's food, a practice mainly seen in poor, developing countries.

Three such cases were reported in the United States from 1993-2004, government scientists said Wednesday in a presentation in Boston at a scientific conference.

It's blood, not saliva, that carried the virus because in at least two of the cases the infected mothers had bleeding gums or mouth sores, according to investigators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control ...more

Hepatitis Outbreak due to Unsafe Medical Practices

Considering the multiple ways on how one might get infected with hepatitis b, there also seems to be some connection on nurses/doctor-patient care which might expose patients to these communicable diseases.

There are multiple incidence where doctors, nurses and anesthesiologists were reported to have inadvertently exposed patients to these types of diseases due to unsafe medical practices like the reuse of syringes and other medical devices.

We know that used, and disposable medical devises such as syringes should not in any way, be reused for the purpose of cost-savings practices or any other reasons so to speak. Read what American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) has to say regarding this issue.

State Crisis due to Medical Malpractice Issue at Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas

It was such a tragedy as I may say that more than 40,000 patients may have been exposed to have various communicable diseases like Hepatitis B, C, or HIV in an Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas for several of the nurses anesthesiologists there have inadvertently reused the syringes for administering anesthesia so thousands of patients who go there everyday to undergo certain invasive medical procedure.

It was sad to note that a couple of nurses, 5 so far, have volunteered to give up their licenses due to the said negligence and violation of medical ethics among nurses. Healthline.com provides more information about this issue and how to contact the Southern Nevada Health District's hotline for further advise regarding this issue.

No Exercise and Frequent Fast Food Meals Not Good to Liver

If you think that chronic inactivity and eating fast food meals will save you time and money instead of going to a good restaurant or not cooking your own meal at home is healthy, Well, think again. The journal Gut provided the result of one of their experimental researches on the effect of eating too much fast food meals and inactivity to the liver.

The result of the research states that unhealthy lifestyle can take its toll on the liver which is indicative of certain proteins like alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and detected in the blood stream. Damaged liver cells produce specific proteins and secrete them in the blood stream. These molecules are detected through blood chemistry checks. The Hepatitis B Foundation posted the article on its site. Read more at Science Daily.

Hepa A and Hepa B Twin Vaccination Program

GlaxoSmithKline, a leading international pharmaceutical firm has worked on producing vaccine combination that target several related disease organisms.

Just recently, The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Twinrix, GSK's dual combination vaccine that is aimed to produce immunity tohepatitis a and hepatitis b.

Perhaps, this is the very first vaccine that targets a combination of disease organisms (especially, virus that attacks the liver). This is indeed a breakthrough in the field of medical engineering and immunology.

For most people, they are unaware that both of these serious disease are vaccine -preventable. The fact that a lot of people are suffering from the diseases is because they are fully unaware that safe vaccines are available that will protect them and their lovedones during their lifetime.

For the Philippines, access to anti-hepatitis vaccines is somehow non-existent since even affordable medicines are hard to find. I just hope that our today's senatoriables will give their focus more on the importance of public health and safety. May God bless our country.

Drug Treatments and Counselling for HIV/AIDS Patients

Perhaps, one of the most challenging part of people having HIV/AIDS is taking advantage of existing drug treatments that is available in the market today.

Sometimes, even when drugs are available, a patient could hardly support his or her own way to sustaining the medications due to its accompanying high cost.

In Asia, Japan perhaps has one of the most comprehensive treatment and support programs and facilities avaialble for patients suffering from HIV/AIDS disease.

The Suidobashi Misakicho Clinic located in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo provides clinic visits from 5pm to 8 pm daily and 1pm to 5pm on Saturdays. This is in addition to its daily hours of service and operation.

The Government of Japan is working on a plan to designate facilities and even installing newer ones in order to cater for people who are suffering from this debilitating disease. Even though cures are not yet available, effective treatments can be taken in order to keep the activity of the HIV/AIDS at a minimal level in order to provide patients more opportunity to enjoy life and work.

For more information, please visit DYO.

HIV-Related Travel Restrictions

The Joint United Nation Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has setup an international team that would investigate on the unfair HIV travel restrictions imposed by most countries to people with such infections or disease.

While most of us know that most countries would argue about protecting their own people about the danger imposed by people with HIV/AIDS to their constituents, we cannot deny the fact that this may also become an issue on discrimination, human rights and travel-related freedom by people living with such disease.

I believe that the United Nation should impose tougher sanctions for countries violating human rights just because people are infected with HIV. I think that for as long as people living with HIV are healthy and productive in their respective jobs, they should not be prevented from participating though and should not be denied of living a decent and normal life and should remain insulated from the stigma of the society. In fact, HIV positive individuals cannot infect others through casual contact. Click here to read more.

Dental Erosion on the Rise

According to a study conducted by the University of Texas under the supervision of Professor Amaechi, it shows that incidence of dental erosion, a tooth loss, as a result of the removal of enamel (mineral coating outside the teeth) due to constant exposure to harmful acids as we overeat with food that are corrosive to the teeth is on the rise.

It is important to at least select the kind of food we eat and avoid overeating. Some of the food that are known to contain acidic substances which destroys the protective mineral coating of the teeth are listed below (based on the article posted at Healthline.com):

• soft drinks
• beer salts
• sports drinks
• herbal teas
• Lucas brand candy imported from Mexico
• aspirin
• the stomach acids in GERD

Please visit Healthline.com for more information.