Thursday, Jun. 18, 2009

Researchers look into new Hep C treatment

A new combination therapy has been found to help hepatitis C patients who have not responded to previous treatment.

Researchers at St. Louis University say a mix of daily consensus interferon and ribavirin can be effective even for patients whose condition is particularly difficult to treat.

"This represents an important advance for difficult-to-treat hepatitis C patients who have failed to respond to traditional therapy," said Dr. Bruce Bacon. Bacon is co-director of the St. Louis University Liver Center and leader of the research, which involved 515 patients at 44 centers.

About 4 million people in the United States are infected with hepatitis C. About half fully recover after a lengthy course of pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The other half may improve, but the virus is not eliminated, which may lead to a worsening of the disease later.

Researchers found the new interferon-ribavirin treatment can help more than 30 percent of people who had shown some response to initial treatment and about 10 percent of patients who had shown no response.

Going back to the moon

NASA scientists will be looking to get twice the bang for their buck when the next unmanned lunar mission blasts off from Cape Canaveral this afternoon.

Liftoff is tentatively set for 4:12 p.m. CDT. The Atlas V rocket will be carrying two probes, each with a different job, and no people as NASA prepares for the return of humans to the moon.

One will be the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which will map potential landing sites when it goes into polar orbit around the moon. The orbiter carries seven instruments to locate potential resources such as water, monitor radiation levels and test new technology.

"If all goes well, NASA will bring home the best-ever global atlas of the moon's surface, resources and environment," said Rich Talcott, senior editor of Astronomy magazine.

In October, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite will follow the Atlas V's second stage down to the surface of the moon. After the spent rocket crashes, LCROSS will fly through the six-mile-high impact plume, looking for signs of water ice.

Previous missions have found evidence of water at the poles but no definitive proof. The presence of water could be a valuable resource for astronauts in manufacturing oxygen and rocket fuel.

Hormones and anti-aging

Despite the promotion of hormones for anti-aging, evidence to support these claims is lacking, according to a policy adapted this week by the American Medical Association at its annual meeting in Chicago.

"The AMA wants patients to know the risks and benefits of hormones promoted to reduce the signs of aging," said Dr. Steven Stack of research that looked into human growth hormone, testosterone and estrogens both with and without progestins. "Patients should weigh the risks and benefits and base their decisions on scientifically valid information."

In other policy votes, the AMA found that tasers, when used appropriately, can save lives; more research is needed before higher vitamin D requirements can be recommended for the general population; and more attention should be paid to breast cancer in men. The group also voted to further study electronic cigarettes as a viable smoking-cessation option.

SIU medical school gets grant

A research scientist at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield has been awarded the largest National Institutes of Health grant in the school's history.

Andrzej Bartke, a distinguished scholar of internal medicine, has received a five-year, $8.6 million grant that focuses on the effect of growth hormone on aging and longevity.

Bartke's research will involve mutant mice that not only live longer than normal mice, but also retain memory into old age while being less likely to develop cancer. Bartke is trying to identify mechanisms that link reduced growth hormone action with increased life expectancy.

Stroke treatment changing

California researchers may have opened a bit farther the critical window of time when stroke patients can safely be given a life-saving treatment.

Until now, doctors have thought that patients must seek treatment within three hours after a stroke starts to safely receive a medication call tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) that can dissolve clots, restore blood flow and save brain tissue.

But a new study at Stanford University suggests that the three-hour limit may be too short. After looking at four major studies involving more than 1,600 patients, scientists found that tPA treatment could start up to 41/2 hours after the onset of symptoms and still improve the odds of a favorable outcome by 31 percent.

The findings were published in the May 28 online edition of the journal Stroke.

Alcohol, pancreatitis connection weakend

Doctors have long thought alcohol played a major role in the development of pancreatitis. Now, a new study at St. Louis University finds the connection far weaker than once believed.

Inflammation of the pancreas can affect as many as 100,000 Americans each year. Untreated, it can lead to digestive problems, diabetes and cancer.

Experts thought as many as 80 percent of cases might be caused by alcohol. But in a study of 1,000 patients with pancreatitis, researchers found less than 40 percent of the men and only 11 percent of the women were heavy drinkers.

Smoking, however, was found to be a significant risk factor for pancreatitis as was very heavy drinking, which was defined as five or more drinks per day. In addition, the study suggested that other causes, such as environmental or genetic factors, contributed to chronic pancreatitis in those who were not heavy drinkers.

"This offers a great deal of hope for the future that with continued studies, we will be able to identify other potentially treatable causes of chronic pancreatitis," said Dr. Frank Burton, who wrote the study, which appears in this week's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.