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liver tests/news item
Caffeine Breath Test Measures Liver Function
Mon 11 October, 2004 18:18
By Marilyn Bitomsky
BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters Health) - Forget the liver biopsy. Now it's possible to detect advanced fibrosis -- a complication of many liver diseases including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, fatty liver disease and hemochromatosis -- by means of a simple breath test.
An Australian research team has developed the test, which involves drinking a small quantity of caffeine tagged with a short-lived isotope of carbon, and then blowing into a test tube one hour later.
The test can be conducted in an outpatient setting, so patients don't need to take time off work for a long procedure.
Describing the test at Australian Gastroenterology Week 2004, Dr. Gordon Park, a gastroenterologist at Concord Hospital in Sydney, said the test is "a promising method of assessing the severity of liver disease and monitoring a patient's response to treatment."
Caffeine was selected for the test because it is metabolized exclusively through the liver, he said. "An enzyme in the liver breaks it down, and the ability of that enzyme to break it down is intimately related to overall liver function."
The carbon isotope incorporated into the caffeine is eventually expelled in the breath as carbon dioxide. Because the isotope is slightly radioactive, the amount of it can be easily measured
"If the liver is not functioning well, metabolism of caffeine is impaired," Parks explained, and the amount of carbon isotope in the breath is reduced.
Cigarette smoking is a major confounder of the test in that it increases the activity of the liver enzyme, Park commented. Smokers generally have double the normal activity of nonsmokers.
"We can factor that into the analysis, and we have already done studies looking specifically at smokers," Park said. "We have now formulated a reference range for smokers and for nonsmokers."
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=6469558&src=rss/uk/healthNews§ion=news
Mon 11 October, 2004 18:18
By Marilyn Bitomsky
BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters Health) - Forget the liver biopsy. Now it's possible to detect advanced fibrosis -- a complication of many liver diseases including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, fatty liver disease and hemochromatosis -- by means of a simple breath test.
An Australian research team has developed the test, which involves drinking a small quantity of caffeine tagged with a short-lived isotope of carbon, and then blowing into a test tube one hour later.
The test can be conducted in an outpatient setting, so patients don't need to take time off work for a long procedure.
Describing the test at Australian Gastroenterology Week 2004, Dr. Gordon Park, a gastroenterologist at Concord Hospital in Sydney, said the test is "a promising method of assessing the severity of liver disease and monitoring a patient's response to treatment."
Caffeine was selected for the test because it is metabolized exclusively through the liver, he said. "An enzyme in the liver breaks it down, and the ability of that enzyme to break it down is intimately related to overall liver function."
The carbon isotope incorporated into the caffeine is eventually expelled in the breath as carbon dioxide. Because the isotope is slightly radioactive, the amount of it can be easily measured
"If the liver is not functioning well, metabolism of caffeine is impaired," Parks explained, and the amount of carbon isotope in the breath is reduced.
Cigarette smoking is a major confounder of the test in that it increases the activity of the liver enzyme, Park commented. Smokers generally have double the normal activity of nonsmokers.
"We can factor that into the analysis, and we have already done studies looking specifically at smokers," Park said. "We have now formulated a reference range for smokers and for nonsmokers."
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=6469558&src=rss/uk/healthNews§ion=news
you guys are very very sweet...thanks for the birthday wishes and blessings...i'm only "91" in hep tx years that is...
if i'm off the tx by next oct. perhaps i'll return to the normal age of 44...no i think i'll skip this tx year and be 43 next year like i was suppose to be this year!
gosh i feel olllllllld...
if i'm off the tx by next oct. perhaps i'll return to the normal age of 44...no i think i'll skip this tx year and be 43 next year like i was suppose to be this year!
gosh i feel olllllllld...
Happy Birthday, Sandi, and many happy returns. Hope you're all clear byt the next one.
About coffee, etc. It seems to me it's always a matter of balance and moderation... the best diet, for example, is balanced with a large variety of foods from all food groups, and not leaning too much in any one direction, such as all meat or all fruit... and most things we do in everyday life don't hurt us too much if we do them in moderation...
uhoh, I think I just stepped into something... Please don't all attack me at once! But a little bit of coffee may be good for some things, like a little bit of exercise is good every day; a little bit of stress may motivate us to achieve more... and a little bit of a "sinful" pleasure may not condemn us, but make us more... happy? and happyness is great medicine.
Gimme another piece of chocolate! And one for the Birthday Girl.
Maj Neni
About coffee, etc. It seems to me it's always a matter of balance and moderation... the best diet, for example, is balanced with a large variety of foods from all food groups, and not leaning too much in any one direction, such as all meat or all fruit... and most things we do in everyday life don't hurt us too much if we do them in moderation...
uhoh, I think I just stepped into something... Please don't all attack me at once! But a little bit of coffee may be good for some things, like a little bit of exercise is good every day; a little bit of stress may motivate us to achieve more... and a little bit of a "sinful" pleasure may not condemn us, but make us more... happy? and happyness is great medicine.
Gimme another piece of chocolate! And one for the Birthday Girl.
Maj Neni
Sandi::::::HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...............
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...............
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR SANDI........
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU......
AND MANY MORE............. :>)
Honey::::::How are you doing???????????? Just wanted to say "hi,ya!"
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...............
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR SANDI........
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU......
AND MANY MORE............. :>)
Honey::::::How are you doing???????????? Just wanted to say "hi,ya!"
happy birthday !!! it's also somebody else's birthday, btw, I was her former neighbour, she is ninety. :-)))
and... wasn't there somebody who had mentioned an article about the GOOD qualities of caffein, recently ? I don't remember well, it was something having to do with liver, though.
I remember having had a caffein withdrawal some years ago. doctors told me to limit caffein because of a fibrocystic breast and I chose to completely stop with it for a while. It was no fun at all.
now, I've taken it back (mostly green tea) but in small doses. and I can feel myself more nervous and snappy when I have coffee. (I think there might be some combined effect with the steroids, don't know).
a nice day to all
anna
and... wasn't there somebody who had mentioned an article about the GOOD qualities of caffein, recently ? I don't remember well, it was something having to do with liver, though.
I remember having had a caffein withdrawal some years ago. doctors told me to limit caffein because of a fibrocystic breast and I chose to completely stop with it for a while. It was no fun at all.
now, I've taken it back (mostly green tea) but in small doses. and I can feel myself more nervous and snappy when I have coffee. (I think there might be some combined effect with the steroids, don't know).
a nice day to all
anna
The best reason yet to kick the caffine habit. Its withdrawal can mimic mental illness. It overworks the liver while creating an unhealthy physical addiction, artifically stimulates the central nevervous system, and can cause mental illness.
Now that's what I call a drug!! artifically changing one's central nevrvous system by an addicting drug that causes painful withdrawal and potential mental illness. Caffine. our friend or foe?
Now that's what I call a drug!! artifically changing one's central nevrvous system by an addicting drug that causes painful withdrawal and potential mental illness. Caffine. our friend or foe?
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