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Scientists Can Now Differentiate Between Healthy Cells And Cancer Cells
Posted on January 4th 2009
A new study by McMaster University researchers has provided insight into how scientists might develop therapies and drugs that more carefully target cancer, while sparing normal healthy cells.

Liver transplants from elderly donors are safe
Posted on December 29th 2008
Advanced donor age, per se, does not adversely affect the transplant recipient or the survival of the organ after liver transplantation, according to a report in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Study may predict if hepatitis C drugs will work
Posted on December 23rd 2008
Doctors hope to be able to better predict which patients will respond to traditional treatment for the hepatitis C virus using a new method for identifying slight variances in the virus' genetic makeup.

Sorafenib Improves Survival in Liver Cancer
Posted on December 16th 2008
Liver cancer patients in the Asia-Pacific region - where most cases of the disease occur - had significantly improved overall survival when treated with sorafenib (Nexavar), investigators here reported.

Schering-Plough hepatitis C drug approved for kids
Posted on December 12th 2008
Schering-Plough said Friday that FDA had approved sales of a treatment combining its antiviral pill, Rebetol, with its PEG-Intron, an advanced, genetically engineered version of the immune system protein interferon, for children age 3 to 17 infected with the hepatitis C virus.

Cellular Stress Causes Fatty Liver Disease In Mice
Posted on December 8th 2008
A University of Iowa researcher and colleagues at the University of Michigan have discovered a direct link between disruption of a critical cellular housekeeping process and fatty liver disease, a condition that causes fat to accumulate in the liver.

Genetic Signature Predicts Outcome Of Pediatric Liver Cancer
Posted on December 8th 2008
Scientists have identified a genetic signature that is remarkably effective at predicting the prognosis of an aggressive liver cancer in children. The research, published by Cell Press in the December issue of the journal Cancer Cell, may lead to better treatments for pediatric liver cancers.

Interferon As Long-term Treatment For Hepatitis C Not Effective
Posted on December 8th 2008
Use of the drug interferon by itself as a long-term maintenance strategy to slow the progression of liver disease associated with the hepatitis C virus is ineffective, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers and their colleagues from nine other institutions have found in a multicenter study.

Bariatric Surgery May Resolve Liver Disease
Posted on December 1st 2008
Bariatric surgery has become a popular and effective method for rapid and permanent significant weight loss in morbidly obese individuals. A recent study reports bariatric surgery results in improvement of histopathological features of NAFLD.

U.S. women less likely for liver transplants: study
Posted on November 25th 2008
Women are less likely than men in the United States to get a life-saving liver transplant, perhaps because of physical differences between the two sexes, according to a study published on Tuesday.

AASLD: Mortality Risk in HCV-Positive Transplant Patients Similar Regardless of Donor Status
Posted on November 4th 2008
Hepatitis C-positive liver transplant recipients live just as long whether the donor is HCV-positive or -negative, data from the national transplant network suggest.

A Broad Spectrum Of Liver Disease Accurately Identified By Mayo Clinic's New Imaging Technology
Posted on November 3rd 2008
A new study shows that an imaging technology developed by Mayo Clinic researchers can identify liver fibrosis with high accuracy and help eliminate the need for liver biopsies. Liver fibrosis is a common condition that can lead to incurable cirrhosis if not treated in time.

AASLD: Fatty Liver in Kids Increases Risks of Death, Transplant
Posted on November 3rd 2008
Children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are more than 13 times as likely to die over a 20-year period or need a transplant as kids in the general population, a researcher said here.

Existing Anti-obesity Drugs May Be Effective Against Flu, Hepatitis And HIV
Posted on September 29th 2008
ScienceDaily - Viruses dramatically increase cellular metabolism, and existing anti-obesity drugs may represent a new way to block these metabolic changes and inhibit viral infection, according to a study just published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Gene Variant Boosts Risk Of Fatty Liver Disease
Posted on September 27th 2008
ScienceDaily - Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that individuals who carry a specific form of the gene PNPLA3 have more fat in their livers and a greater risk of developing liver inflammation.

Tarceva makers warn of liver damage, 2 deaths
Posted on September 23rd 2008
Reuters - Genentech Inc and OSI Pharmaceuticals have alerted doctors about cases of liver damage among patients who took the cancer drug Tarceva in a post-approval study, U.S. regulators said on Tuesday.

Natalie Cole hospitalized due to hepatitis C
Posted on September 20th 2008
Natalie Cole, who recently revealed she had hepatitis C, has been hospitalized as a result of side effects from her medication and a heavy promotional schedule, her representative said Friday.

Exercise reduces fat in livers of diabetics: study
Posted on September 19th 2008
Regular moderate exercise helps people with diabetes to reduce fat in their livers, in turn potentially preventing liver failure and heart disease, U.S. researchers said on Friday.

Hepatitis B plan seeks to aid high-risk groups
Posted on September 19th 2008
Federal health officials Thursday made public new recommendations designed to reduce the toll of chronic hepatitis B, particularly among Asian Americans and others considered at high risk for the disease that's known as a silent killer.

Unsanitary Dialysis Center Shuts Down Over Hepatitis
Posted on September 16th 2008
A Manhattan dialysis center closed down after State Health Department inspectors found blood on chairs and machines and discovered that at least one patient had contracted hepatitis C because of the unsanitary conditions.

Hepatitis C Battle Intensifying
Posted on September 8th 2008
Liver specialists in Nevada are seeing an increase in patients since health officials in February announced an outbreak of hepatitis C cases linked to an endoscopy clinic.

Heavy teens run risk of severe liver damage
Posted on September 7th 2008
In a new and disturbing twist on the obesity epidemic, some overweight teenagers have severe liver damage caused by too much body fat, and a handful have needed liver transplants.

African-Americans Twice As Likely As Caucasians To Die Following A Liver Operation, Study Finds
Posted on September 4th 2008
New research published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows African Americans are more than twice as likely as Caucasians to die in the hospital after surgical removal of part of the liver -- an increasingly used procedure for the treatment of liver cancer.

Progenitor cells eyed for liver transplants
Posted on September 2nd 2008
German researchers report they have isolated progenitor cells, the stage above stem cells, from human liver specimens. When transplanted into mice, the cells show signs of "taking" and becoming new liver cells.

Flawed gene boosts liver disease risk
Posted on August 14th 2008
Italian researchers said a genetic mutation may increase the risk of steatohepatitis, also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

FDA OKs HIV Drug Viread for Hepatitis B
Posted on August 12th 2008
The FDA has approved the HIV drug Viread for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B in adults.

Obese people not always unhealthy
Posted on August 11th 2008
In a recently published research paper, Dr. Norbert Stefan from the University of Tübingen in Germany said that fat stored in the liver may be more dangerous than fat stored around the waistline.

Transplant no barrier to Olympic cyclist
Posted on August 11th 2008
Daily Yomiuri Online - Almost seven years after donating part of his liver to his mother, Takashi Miyazawa was able to cycle through Beijing in the Men's Road Race on Saturday, with his mother healthy enough to travel to Beijing to watch him compete.

Scientists stop mice livers from ageing: study
Posted on August 10th 2008
AFP - Researchers have blocked the ageing process in mice livers by halting the accumulation of harmful proteins inside the organ's cells, according to a groundbreaking study released Sunday.

Health worker wages personal and professional war on hepatitis
Posted on August 9th 2008
Peninsula Daily News - The accidental needle prick didn't hurt much 20-some years ago, certainly not enough for Christine Hurst to remember. What she'll never forget is how it turned her life inside out. "I was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1998 after several years of having chronic fatigue and flu-like symptoms, but never getting really sick," she said last week in Clallam County's Health and Human Services Department.

Study Disproves Belief That Hepatitis C Blunts HIV Drugs
Posted on July 25th 2008
A new study challenges the long-held belief that the hepatitis C virus (HCV) impairs the immune system's ability to restore itself after HIV patients are treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Livers from older donors work well in transplants
Posted on July 21st 2008
Liver transplant patients who receive an organ from a donor age 60 or older do just as well as patients getting a liver from a younger donor, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Liver donor's family, recipient unite online
Posted on July 6th 2008
In an operation in Pittsburgh in 1984, Amanda's family donated their daughter's liver to Trine, making her one of the nation's youngest patients ever to receive a liver transplant. Years later, the two families have reconnected online and will meet this month at the U.S. Transplant Games in Pittsburgh.

Child with rare disease awaits liver transplant
Posted on July 6th 2008
Five-month-old Rayne Riggleman giggles as she sits on her mother's lap, her blue eyes locked on the shiny skull ring on the hand of her father, who strokes her cheek affectionately. But Rayne's happy nature is in stark contrast to her jaundiced eyes, yellow skin and basketball-sized belly that are symptoms of the rare liver condition biliary atresia she was born with, in which the ducts or tubes that drain bile from the liver are not formed correctly, her pediatrician said.

Fatty Liver Disease May Raise Heart Disease Risk In Overweight, Obese Kids
Posted on July 1st 2008
A fatty liver disease that is not well-known in overweight and obese children may be a precursor of cardiovascular disease, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers Make Pivotal Breakthrough in Alcohol Addiction Treatment
Posted on June 5th 2008
Addiction experts led by a University of Virginia Health System team have found that topiramate, an effective therapeutic medication, not only decreases heavy drinking, but it also lowers all liver enzymes, plasma cholesterol, body mass index (BMI), and systolic and diastolic blood pressure – all of which tend to increase with heavy drinking and pose such serious health risks as heart disease and cirrhosis.

Tumor Suppressor Gene Identified; Deletion Results In Liver Cancer In Mice
Posted on June 4th 2008
Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have taken the search for cancer-causing genes an important step forward. In a newly published paper, they confirm that a gene called DLC1 is a tumor suppressor. They have demonstrated in living mice that its deletion, inactivation or loss precipitates events culminating in an aggressive type of liver cancer closely related to common human epithelial cancers of the liver (also known as hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC).

Fatty liver linked to increased risk of diabetic kidney disease
Posted on May 29th 2008
For patients with type 2 diabetes, a condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may be an important risk factor for diabetes-related chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a study in the August Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

Diabetes Doubles Liver Cancer Risk For Patients With Advanced Hepatitis C
Posted on May 29th 2008
Patients who have chronic hepatitis C with advanced fibrosis have twice the risk of developing liver cancer if they also have diabetes.

Am I Number 12?
Posted on May 19th 2008
Today the World Hepatitis Alliance is launching a viral campaign aimed at getting people talking about the fact that approximately 500 million people globally are living with either hepatitis B or C. Go to http://www.aminumber12.org to receive valuable information about a disease that kills some 1.5 million people a year.

Common Bacteria Activating Natural Killer T Cells May Cause Autoimmune Liver Disease
Posted on May 16th 2008
A bacteria commonly found in soil and water triggered autoimmune symptoms in mice similar to those found in an incurable liver disease called Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC). Reporting their findings in the May 15 Cell Host & Microbe, the multi-institutional research team said injecting laboratory mice with the bacterium - Novosphingobium aromaticivorans - prompted activation of Natural Killer T (NKT) cells, which were critical to initiating autoimmune processes that led to liver disease.

BARACLUDE(R) (Entecavir) Treatment Resulted In Greater Viral Load Suppression Compared to Adefovir at 96 Weeks In Antiviral-Naive Adult Chronic Hepatitis B E-Antigen Positive Patients
Posted on April 26th 2008
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced new data from the E.A.R.L.Y. study, in which treatment of antiviral-naive adult chronic hepatitis B patients with Baraclude (entecavir) resulted in greater long-term viral load reduction than adefovir at 96 weeks - consistent with earlier 12-week results (primary endpoint). These data were presented last week in Milan, Italy, at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver.

Vertex reports promising hepatitis C drug results
Posted on April 24th 2008
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Wednesday said early trial results show that its experimental hepatitis C treatment controlled or eradicated the virus in more than 80 percent of patients for whom previous treatment had failed. The trial results were presented in Milan at a meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver.

Nevada completes inspections in hepatitis C case
Posted on April 20th 2008
State health officials on Thursday completed inspections of all but two of 50 Nevada clinics checked following an outbreak of hepatitis C in six patients who went to a Las Vegas endoscopy center. Seven of the inspected clinics had "major infection control problems, such as the reuse of single-dose vials," according to a release from Gov. Jim Gibbons' office.

HCV Outbreaks at Dialysis Units Linked to Outmoded Infection Control
Posted on April 7th 2008
Four outbreaks of hepatitis C at dialysis centers between 1998 and 2006 were caused by infection control practices that disregarded CDC recommendations, according to an investigation by the agency.

Early-onset Obesity In Father Linked To Increased Potential For Liver Disease In Child
Posted on April 3rd 2008
A history of early-onset paternal obesity increases the odds of elevated liver enzyme levels in offspring and points to the potential for a genetic link between obesity and liver disease, according to a study in Gastroenterology.

Sugarland, Nominated for 2008 CMT Awards, Names American Liver Foundation Charity of Choice
Posted on March 28th 2008
CMT will gift $2500 to charities of winners in each category. Your Vote for Sugarland is a Vote for the American Liver Foundation

New Method Disrupts Hepatitis C Virion Production
Posted on March 24th 2008
Timothy Tellinghuisen, an assistant professor in the Department of Infectology at Scripps Florida, and his colleagues used mutations of the viral NS5A phosphoprotein to disrupt virus particle production at an early stage of assembly.

FDA issues alert about HIV drug Prezista
Posted on March 24th 2008
The FDA said Prezista (darunavir), an anti-retroviral drug used to treat for the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, is suspected of contributing to several hepatic events, including liver failure, destruction of liver tissue, cirrhosis, hepatitis and jaundice.

Nevada completes inspections in hepatitis C case
Posted on March 20th 2008
State health officials on Thursday completed inspections of all but two of 50 Nevada clinics checked following an outbreak of hepatitis C in six patients who went to a Las Vegas endoscopy center. Seven of the inspected clinics had "major infection control problems, such as the reuse of single-dose vials," according to a release from Gov. Jim Gibbons' office.

Liver Health Today: ALF Welcomes New CEO
Posted on March 19th 2008
Liver Health Today features an article about American Liver Foundation CEO Rick Smith.

City Shuts Clinic Linked to Virus Cases
Posted on March 3rd 2008
The City of Las Vegas has shut down the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, a clinic believed to have spread hepatitis C through shoddy practices. Officials are urging 40,000 people who received treatment at the center in the last four years to get tested for hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus, as well as H.I.V.

Biogen's Tysabri May Cause Liver Injury, U.S. Says
Posted on February 27th 2008
Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp.'s multiple sclerosis medicine Tysabri may harm the liver within six days of the first dose, U.S. regulators said, urging doctors to warn patients about the risk.

Kava Linked To Liver Damage, New Evidence Shows
Posted on February 23rd 2008
Scientists have found new evidence that kava may have a negative effect on the liver. Kava is a plant native to the South Pacific that has been used as a ceremonial beverage in the region for thousands of years, and, more recently, as a natural treatment for medical conditions such as anxiety.

Report: Liver Cancer Deaths Rise 10% in Single Year
Posted on February 21st 2008
American Liver Foundation Recommends HCV Testing to Identify Cancer Risk

Fast food eaters risk liver damage, weight gain
Posted on February 14th 2008
Too much fast food and too little exercise can wreak havoc on the liver, according to results of a small Swedish study.

Discovery Of Good -- And Bad -- Liver Stem Cells Raises Possibility Of New Treatment
Posted on February 11th 2008
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center report that they have located stem cells in the liver that, when defective, may contribute to the development of liver cancer. The discovery suggests that a new type of experimental drug now being tested in other cancers might offer benefit in treating liver cancer.

Liver Transplants: Donor Organ Allocation System Analyzed
Posted on February 11th 2008
In the February issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, physicians explore how the current system for allocating donor organs in the United States affects outcomes for patients with end-stage liver disease.

Common Genetic Disease Found To Be Liver Disorder
Posted on February 8th 2008
In a joint effort, researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] and the University of Heidelberg, Germany, have discovered that hereditary hemochromatosis is a disease that not just affects but indeed originates in the liver. They report that the disorder develops when a crucial gene is lacking in liver cells.

Grapefruit Compound May Help Combat Hepatitis C Infection
Posted on February 4th 2008
A compound that naturally occurs in grapefruit and other citrus fruits may be able to block the secretion of hepatitis C virus (HCV) from infected cells, a process required to maintain chronic infection.

American Liver Foundation Raises Awareness About Liver Disease at Rockefeller Center
Posted on January 7th 2008
Visit Rockefeller Plaza at 48th Street in New York City - steps away from the NBC Today Show - to view the American Liver Foundation's window display.

New Clues for Liver Cirrhosis Treatment
Posted on December 27th 2007
Working with mice, researchers have found a molecule that prevents - and even reverses - formation of scar tissue in damaged livers. The finding promises new treatments for cirrhosis and other scarring diseases of the liver.

After Hepatitis Case, New York State Acts to Speed Alerts to Patients at Risk
Posted on November 29th 2007
The state health commissioner, Dr. Richard F. Daines, has proposed a series of internal changes to prevent delays in notifying patients who might have been exposed to hepatitis C . This comes in the aftermath of news that a Long Island, NY doctor used improper procedures for preventing the spread of blood-borne diseases.

ALF Web Site Honored In National Web Competition
Posted on November 21st 2007
LiverFoundation.org Wins Silver Award in Health Care Category in 2007 W3 Awards.

AASLD: Liver Transplant for HBV-Related End-stage Liver Disease Drops Dramatically
Posted on November 4th 2007
The number of U.S. patients registered with the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network for liver transplantation to treat liver disease secondary to hepatitis B virus (HBV) has decreased by 37% since 2000, according to a study. The decrease is likely the result of the widespread use of effective antivirals for HBV, according to W. Ray Kim, M.D.

FDA Approves Alternate Dosing Schedule For Twinrix
Posted on October 22nd 2007
Twinrix, the only hepatitis A and hepatitis B combination vaccine available in the U.S., has been approved by the FDA for an accelerated dosing schedule.

Hepatitis A Vaccine Best Bet to Treat Virus
Posted on October 18th 2007
CDC now recommends administering vaccine following exposure to hepatitis A virus instead of traditional immune globulin injection.

The American Liver Foundation Appoints Rick Smith, a Twenty-Year Veteran of the MS Society, As Chief Executive Officer
Posted on September 26th 2007
The American Liver Foundation announced today that Rick Smith has been named the next President and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, effective November 5, 2007.

Diet Change Can Curb Fatty Liver Disease
Posted on September 21st 2007
Diets high in quick-burning carbohydrates may cause fatty liver disease, which can lead to liver failure and death, according to a study in mice by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston. (The Washington Post)

Earlier Diagnosis And Treatment Of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis In Families Now Possible
Posted on September 14th 2007
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that first-degree relatives (i.e., parents, siblings, children) of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) are more likely to have the biomarker of the disease in their blood.

The American Liver Foundation Mourns the Loss of a Heroic Hepatitis C Advocate
Posted on September 12th 2007
Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop, Dies at Age 64.

Possible Hepatitis C Vaccine
Posted on September 6th 2007
In a collaborative effort with groups across Europe and the USA, scientists from The University of Nottingham have found monoclonal antibodies which may be a significant step towards a hepatitis C vaccine.

For Living Donors, Many Risks to Weigh
Posted on September 5th 2007
Jane Brody of The New York Times discusses the complex issues inherent in using living donors.

Cardiac Surgery In Patients With Liver Cirrhosis
Posted on July 9th 2007
A new study on the outcome of cardiac surgery in patients with liver cirrhosis found that the surgery can safely be performed in patients with milder disease, while those with more severe cirrhosis are less likely to survive according to the July 2007 journal Liver Transplantation.

Statins May Offer Liver Benefit
Posted on June 8th 2007
Statins may improve liver function in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection, according to a small pilot study

The Optimal Liver for Transplant in Hepatitis-C Patients
Posted on June 1st 2007
New research suggests that hepatitis C (HCV) infected patients receiving livers from HCV-infected donors have a slower rate of fibrosis progression at 1 year than those receiving uninfected livers.

New Test for Fatty Liver
Posted on June 1st 2007

Hepatitis C rises among young people
Posted on May 15th 2007
Hepatitis C infections among Massachusetts adolescents and young adults rose dramatically from 2001 to 2005, new data shows.

Hepatitis A and Hepatitis C Attack Same Protein to Block Immune Defenses
Posted on April 27th 2007
According to researchers these two otherwise unrelated liver viruses have one important thing in common: a trick for avoiding destruction by the immune system.

Gene Activates Liver Repair
Posted on April 19th 2007
Researchers may have identified a master switch that activates the liver's ability to heal itself.

FDA Licenses Product to Prevent Hepatitis B Reinfection
Posted on April 19th 2007
The Food and Drug Administration has announced the approval of HepaGam B for the prevention of hepatitis B reinfection in certain liver transplant patients.

Hepatitis C virus can block other hepatitis C variants from infecting the same cell
Posted on April 19th 2007
New research from Rockefeller University shows that the hepatitis C virus, can block other hepatitis C variants from infecting the same cell, preventing superinfection.

Outcomes for patients with hepatitis B who need liver transplants
Posted on March 7th 2007
A new study looks at the survival rates of hepatitis B patients requiring liver transplant.