new treatment?

[mbn]

I saw this while looking for info on channel 4 Dallas. Trihepguy, others might want to look into it.        
                                                            LOCAL RESEARCHERS MAY HAVE HELP FOR HEP-C PATIENTS

People suffering from hepatitis-C may have a new weapon against the disease. Researchers at Southwestern Medical Center have begun testing how well drugs used to fight AIDS would do against hepatitis-C. The hepatits virus infiltrates the liver, makes itself at home and starts killing one liver cell at a time. So far, patients are seeing good results from the testing. Researchers say the drugs can cause viral levels to lower about 99-percent within just one week of therapy. And it doesn't matter how long a patient has had the disease.

Dr. Michael Gale of Southwestern Medical Center said, "In a patient who has not previously been exposed to the drug, regardless of how long they've been infected, the response rate would be predicted to be the same." Researchers say the drugs may ultimately be used in therapy as a cocktail as is done with treatments for HIV.

[cuteus]

well said and TY for the milk thistle info, I have been suspicious of its effect while on tx.  it is not worth taking the chance otf interference with tx. Now I am wondering if that is why I did not clear at 12 wks.

[Califia]

I'm new to this very wonderful group but not, unfortunately, to HCV:  I was diagnosed and treated w/ monotherapy in 1990 and started the combo in late June.   I've been a research compulsive for 14 years, so I was more than a little distressed to see you recommending to someone here (and probably to your agency's clients as well) that milk thistle be taken during treatment w/ interferon and ribavirin.    Yikes!     A google search on "milk thistle drug interaction" will  bring up multiple warnings that silymarin might well share the same CPY450 enzyme pathway utlilized by interferon.   (One such report is posted at hcvadvocate.org .)  Until this possibility is disproven absolutely, it'd be more than prudent to avoid milk thistle while undergoing treatment.   Ditto St. John's Wort, by the way.    (There are, however, many other appropriate herbs that can be used during combo.   I myself am using a Chinese herbal protocol [see http://www.docmisha.com]  to stabilize red and white blood cell production.  So far it's working.)  

I have to say I'm also a bit amazed at your report about the rarity of sx during treatment.   In my little world _some_ people have been able to shrug off the experience, but most of us are on a grand tour of at least one circle of hell.   I've come to this place daily for uplift and reality checks since I started treatment 6 shots ago. No telling where I'd be without the abudant grace, good humor, accurate information and gleeful kvetching I've found here.   Profound thanks to one and all.

[hippiemom]

I promise that tomorrow I will bring home the print out of clinical trials going on right now and the drug companies and the drugs.  They are on my desk at the HIV/HCV agency I work for.

[hippiemom]

As promised, here are some websites to check out.  This is only a partial list, with more to follow, I'll start posting some drug companies for you people to check into about new meds and clinical trials, also:
www.liverfoundation.org
www.hepccalifornia.org
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis.c.index.htm
www.hcvglobal.org
www.hepc-connection.org
www.hcvadvocate.org (excellent site, great info,good newsletters)
www.hepatitis-central.org
www.hepfi.org
www.hivandhepatitis.com
www.lola-national.org
www.medscape.com/medscape/features/resourcecenter/hepc/public/rc-index-hepc.html
www.health.medscape.com/hepatitiscenter
www.nccam.nih.gov/fcp/factsheets/hepatitisc/hepatitisc.html
http://medlineplus.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hepatitisc.html
www.va.gov/hepatitisc

[gonagetbetr]

Thanks so much for this post I live about 20 miles from this hospital. My Dr told me today that if I get much worse he would send me to one of his colleagues there. I will have to try and get more info on this and if I do will add to your post. This is potentially great news for us if it works.
Dottie

[hippiemom]

Not true:  There are clinical trials going on all over the country right now.  Check out the HCVADVOCATE website for a list of current clinical trials.

[TnHepGuy_]

Thanks a lot for posting that story. It's alwasy great to read about anything that is having success against this dread disease. Hopefully we'll be reading more good news about this particular line of research in the not-too-distant future.


TnHepGuy

[hippiemom]

We are already taking drugs used to fight HIV...antiretrovirals such as ribiviran.  More info will be posted when I bring home some interesting web sites from my agency: we help people with HIV/HCV.  Please know that a lot of things you hear on the news or read in magazines is already old info, like a year or more.  The news doesn't keep up too well with the medical community or the pharmecuetical companies unless it's to say something negative.  Many companies are working hard right now, with many clinical trials going on all over the country on new HCV drugs. For so long, there was so little known about this disease, but now we are all learning

[mbn]

Trihepguy, we must have posted near same time or I would have put this in with yours. Sorry for taking a post. M