September
2001
Thank you www.sacmall.net and Geno Bartley. The good work you do
hosting and maintaining our website really makes a difference!
Dr. Neville Pimstone -- Sept 19

Chief of Hepatology, UC Davis; named by the American Liver Foundation the 1999 Physician of the Year for contributions to research, teaching and clinical service in hepatology
Location: SCC Conf. Rm 3&4 (see "Our Meetings" below right)

Meeting Agenda:
6:30 p.m. (sharp) - Theme Song: I Will Survive
6:35 - 6:45 announcements
6:45 - 8:00 Dr. Pimstone
8:00 - 8:30 (or earlier) questions/answers 'til we adjourn
Upcoming Agendas:


Oct 17 - Note room change SGH Conf. Rm B&C, TBA
Nov 21 - SCC Classrm 3&4, Daniel MacKenzie, biomeridain therapy
Dec 19 - SCC Classrm 3&4, To Be Announced
More News
Our Meetings: 3rd Wednesday of every month at SCC (Sutter Cancer Center), 2800 L St (kitty corner across from the 2-story parking structure that is located at 28th & L Streets which is across 28th Street from Sutter Hospital).
Contact Us: Phone number: (916) 491-4942
Our Web Site> www.sacmall.net/transplant/hepc.html
Email: dck@innercite.com (include "I Will Survive" in subject line or your message might be delected before being read).

* Time to Renew your subscription to I Will Survive. Members who could not contribute last year want to thank those of you whose paid subscriptions made it possible for them to receive our newsletter. Hopefully, some more of you will be able to provide support for 2001.

If you want to be included on our mailing/emailing list and you can afford to include a check, make it to Eve Cragen, Treasurer I Will Survive, P.O. Bx 2180, Loomis, CA 95650, for:
$24 if you want the Newsletter by U.S. mail
$15 if you get the Newsletter from the website (if you wish, each month we'll email a link to you)
$ 0 if, right now, you can't afford to pay dues. In which case "I Will Survive" will mail monthly Newsletters to you. Please contribute to the "Donations" Box at the meetings as you are able.

From the August 2001 HCV Advocate:

..Researchers from Johns Hopkins Univ. report that HCV patients who are age 40+ are nearly 4x more likely to have Type 2 diabetes than those without HCV. No association was found for patients less than 40 yrs old and there is no association between HCV and Type 1 diabetes nor between HBV and either of the types of diabetes. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic found that the rate of diabetes was about 10x higher in patients with cirrhosis related to HCV or alcoholism than in those with liver failure due to bile duct blockage liver disease.
..The FDA has approved 2 qualitative tests (Amplicor HCV and Cobalt Amplicor HCV) designed to directly detect the heaptitis C virus in patients that are HCV antibody positive. These are added to the previously approved PCR, branched Chain DNA and TMA methods.
..A new treatment called TheraSphere is available for treatment of inoperable liver cancer. Millions of radioactive microscopic beads are released into the hepatic artery which delivers them directly into the tumor where they remain active for a long period of time (half life = 64 hours).

From the Jul/August Hepatitis:

..A national study estimates that 30% to 40% of the nation's prison population is infected with HCV. Besides having no idea that they are infected, the majority of ex-inmates rely on public health after their release. The National Hepatitis C Prison Coalition advocates for improved education, testing, diagnosis and treatment for this problem. ..To answer the question: Viral counts--do we need them? the author states that
1) the correlation of viral count to the amount of liver damage is weak at best,
2) HCV-RNA viral counts only measure at a single point time time,
3) there has not been a standard method used for quantifying HCV-RNA (the World Health Organization has developed a new standard that overcomes this historic problem)
4) although a low viral count is associated with improved response to treatment with interferon, genotype is a far more reliable predictor. He concludes that a viral count may be useful in the research setting but it has little use in thegeneral practice setting.
If you have no money or insurance call:
Sacramento Clinical Trials
Schering's Commitment to Care 1-800-521-7157
Infergen's Safety Net Program 1-888-508-8088
Roche's Patient Assistance 1-800-443-6676
Dr. Gish, et al, call: Pacific Hepatology, (916) 443-0503
Dr. Pimstone UCD Med Center, (916) 734-1557
Dr. Rossaro UCD Med Cntr, call: Katherine Suggett (916) 734-8696



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