Scientists Blame Kidney, Liver Problems On Contaminated Food

SCIENTISTS, under the aegis of Mycotoxicology Society of Nigeria (MSN), have blamed increasing cases of kidney and liver failures on consumption of fungal contaminated food. 

   They also revealed that about 25 per cent of foods produced across the world are affected by Mycotoxin.     

   Speaking on the theme: "Mycotoxin Hazards, Management and its Regulation in Nigeria", at the just concluded 8th Annual Conference and Workshop, held at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, the President of the association, Dr. Olusegun Atanda, attributed the increase in fungal contaminated foods to poor storage methods used in many African nations where there are lots of moisture.    

  He pointed out that Africa is prone to a lot of hazards from Mycotoxin, because food items, like yams, tomatoes, potatoes and many others, are easily exposed to contamination when stored in moisturised places, which make them get moulds and other fungi.      

   The hazard of eating food contaminated with Mycotoxin, according to him, includes damage to kidney, liver and immune suppressions.    

   He urged the general public to always avoid eating yams, tomatoes, potatoes, all tubers, and other foods that are often stored until they get contaminated with Mycotoxin. He warned that even cooking them would not prevent kidney and or liver disorders.

  According to Atanda, Mycotoxins are secondary metabolite of fungi produced on agricultural produce during processing and storage up to when they are consumed. 

   He said the association has been working hard to create awareness on Mycotoxins and their effects on food security and human health since it was founded in 2006.

   Atanda urged the United Nations to declare a 'World Mycotoxins Day' because of the danger it poses to humans and animals. He noted that this would allow more people to know about the danger and how to prevent it.

The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Mrs. Theresa Akande, in her address, said: "In total ignorance, we ordinarily mistook the greenish patches on food, e.g. maize, sweet and Irish potatoes to be bad or immature portions, which many do not care to remove because it is not known that they are infestation by germs that could not be killed by burning or cooking for an appreciable period of time."   

 The Ekiti State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Babajide Arowosafe, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abegunde, said hosting the 8th conference was timely because the state government is carrying out its 8-Point Agenda, which includes modern agriculture.    He advised members of the Mycotoxicology Society to continue to carry out more researches on Mycotoxin and come out with solutions that will help improve agricultural products

Bengal to get India's first transplant hospital

KOLKATA: Bengal is set to get India's first hospital exclusively dedicated to organ transplant by 2015. The Rs200-crore hospital with 150 beds will have two air-ambulances and digital operating theatres and will come up at Andal inBurdwan.

However, there's a catch. The fate of the hospital depends on the completion of a 650-acre airport inAndal, which is expected to be done by the year-end.

"We will start our construction as soon as the first flight takes off. It's imperative to have an airport close to the hospital. The financial aspects and design are already in place. This will be the first hospital exclusively for transplant in India and we have shortlisted doctors from the US and UK," said Dr Satyajit Bose, chairman of Mission Hospital in Durgapur.

He added that at the initial stage, the hospital will have facilities for liver, kidney, bone marrow and pancreas transplant.

Surgeons who will join the hospital will be offered a share in the hospital. "They'll be owners too, and will be highly motivated in their involvement. Life is precious. I just returned from Tuscanyon Sunday. Over there, I saw an OPD for animals. I doubt we have any OPD of such high standard here. I've been to Newcastle where there's an institute for transplant. I found a Bengali surgeon there too. who was involved in transplant as well.

So why can't we replicate the model in Bengal," questioned the doctor on Monday.

"Seven people can benefit from one cadaver. Suppose a rural youth, who is married and has children, has renal failure and needs kidney transplant, is it possible for him to commute back and forth from Kolkata for his treatment?" asked Bose.

A transplant-only hospital was earlier slated to come up at Rajarhat but the plan was later scrapped.

According to Brojo Roy, chief of Ganadarpan, an organization that is dedicated to motivating individuals to donate their bodies after death, a medical unit exclusively dedicated to organ transplant is unlikely to be sustainable.

"Since 2010 in Bengal, there have been only five instances of organ transplant - one liver transplant and four kidney transplants. This rate can hardly keep a hospital afloat. In Tamil Nadu, there are roughly 100 transplants every year. Even that figure doesn't seem enough to sustain a business. This is probably why there have been no such hospitals in the country," said Roy.

Bose responded: "There is lack of awareness. A vast segment is skeptical, fearful even, when it comes to transplant. I'm confident that as the hospital grows, so will the numbers," he said.

Facilities on offer

150 beds

Two air ambulances

Digital operation theatres

Doctors from US, UK

Liver, kidney, bone marrow and pancreas transplants at the initial stage

Surgeons who join the hospital to be offered shares

The FLS (Fatty liver Shionogi) mouse reveals local expressions of lipocalin-2, CXCL1 and CXCL9 in the liver with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) encompasses a wide spectrum of diseases, ranging from simple steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which carries a significant risk of progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Since NASH is a progressive but reversible condition, it is desirable to distinguish NASH from simple steatosis, and to treat NASH patients at an early stage.

To establish appropriate diagnosis and therapy, the pathological mechanisms of the disease should be elucidated; however, these have not been fully clarified for both NASH and simple steatosis. This study aims to reveal the differences between simple steatosis and NASH. 

Methods: This study used fatty liver Shionogi (FLS) mice as a NASH model, for comparison with dd Shionogi (DS) mice as a model of simple steatosis.

Genome-wide gene expression analysis was performed using Affymetrix GeneChip Mouse Genome 430 2.0 Array, which contains 45101 probe sets for known and predicted genes. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry were used to investigate gene expression changes and protein localizations. 

Results: DNA microarray analysis of the liver transcriptomes and qRT-PCR of both types of mice revealed that LCN2, CXCL1 and CXCL9 mRNAs were overexpressed in FLS mouse livers.

Immunohistochemistry showed that CXCL1 protein was mainly localized to steatotic hepatocytes. CXCL9 protein-expressing hepatocytes and sinusoidal endothelium were localized in some areas of inflammatory cell infiltration.

Most interestingly, hepatocytes expressing LCN2, a kind of adipokine, were localized around almost all inflammatory cell clusters. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the number of LCN2-positive hepatocytes in the specimen and the number of inflammatory foci. 

Hepatic Cells Can be Used for Cure of Terminal Liver Diseases

A study has been carried out by a group of researchers from the Second Military Medical University. As per the study, hepatic stem cells can prove beneficial when it comes to the cure of last stage liver diseases.

Hepatic stem cells are produced by patient's own cells. The study, which has been published in the Cell Stem Cell Journal, has found if hepatic cells are repopulated in patient's body then terminal stage of patient can be cured.

The study titled as Reprogramming Fibroblasts into Bipotential Hepatic Stem Cells by Defined Factors has also unveiled there are a number of liver diseases that can be treated through the same manner.

The study was funded by the Chinese government. Lead researcher Prof. Hu Yiping was of the view that was in 1990s that they started carrying out research on hepatic stem cells.

Prof. Yiping said his main aim of carrying out the study was to know more about the link between the cells and liver diseases. While carrying out the study, he realized that hepatic cells can be used as a novel treatment for terminal stage liver illnesses.

The realization was then experiment on mice and the study continued for four years.

Stevie Wright of the Easybeats Battling Health Problems

Stevie Wright, the lead singer of the Australian band the Easybeats who scored the hit Friday on My Mind in 1967, is currently hospitalized for a myriad of problems.

According to the Sydney Telegraph, Wright was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital last week for a seizure but it has since been discovered that he has problems with his liver, lungs, kidneys and stomach. Wright told the paper "I'm having procedures. I had a cough, so specialists started with my lungs, then my groin was giving me trouble ... They are also looking at an infection in my throat and stomach. And then there are the liver and kidney issues."

Wright, who recently had a section of intestine removed, is a survivor of both alcohol and drug addiction.

Engineered liver tissue developed at MIT could help scientists test new drugs, vaccines for malaria

Although malaria has been eradicated in many countries, including the United States, it still infects more than 200 million people worldwide, killing nearly a million every year. In regions where malaria is endemic, people rely on preventive measures such as mosquito netting and insecticides. Existing drugs can help, but the malaria parasite is becoming resistant to many of them.

Scientists working to develop new drugs and vaccines hope to target the parasite in the earliest stages of an infection, when it quietly reproduces itself in the human liver.

In a major step toward that goal, a team led by MIT researchers has now developed a way to grow liver tissue that can support the liver stage of the life cycle of the two most common species of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. This system could be used to test drugs and vaccines against both species, says Sangeeta Bhatia, the John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.

Bhatia is the senior author of a paper describing the liver-tissue system in the July 17 issue of the journal Cell Host & Microbe. The paper's lead author is Sandra March, a research scientist in Bhatia's lab, and scientists from the Broad Institute, Sanaria Inc. and the University of Lisbon also contributed to the research.

Reproducing infection

The malaria life cycle has several stages. Once the parasite infects a human victim, through a mosquito bite, it takes up residence in the liver. The parasite spends about a week in the liver, producing tens of thousands of copies that eventually burst free to infect blood cells. After this initial infection, P. vivax can lurk for weeks, months or even years, reactivating to cause another malaria bout.

So far, researchers have been able to grow P. falciparum in human blood and, to a certain extent, in its liver stages, but they have not been able to reliably grow P. vivaxin either stage. P. falciparum has the highest malaria mortality rate, but P. vivax can cause debilitating, long-term infections. To eradicate malaria, drugs and vaccines that target both species will probably be needed, Bhatia says.

Bhatia - who is also a senior associate member of the Broad Institute and a member of MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Institute for Medical Engineering and Science - has previously created micropatterned surfaces on which liver tissue can be grown, surrounded by supportive cells. These engineered cells survive for up to six weeks and mimic most of the functions of liver cells in the body, including drugmetabolism and production of liver proteins.

Using unique, frozen samples of P. falciparum obtained in collaboration with Stephen L. Hoffman and his team at Sanaria, the researchers infected healthy liver cells and observed the development of liver-stage parasites using an automated imaging system designed in collaboration with Anne Carpenter's group at the Broad Institute. This system allows them to quickly evaluate not only how much infection has occurred, but also the effects of potential drugs. They can also measure how weakened forms of the parasites, which could be used as vaccines, perform in the liver.

To test the system's usefulness, the researchers studied a P. falciparum vaccine that is now in clinical trials. For a weakened, or attenuated, parasite to succeed as a vaccine, it must infect the liver and progress enough to raise an immune response, but then arrest and not reach the blood stage. The researchers showed that the vaccine now in trials does follow that trajectory.

The new system could also be used for larger-scale drug studies than previously possible, Bhatia says. Researchers now use liver cancer cells grown in the lab to studyP. falciparum infection, but those cells have deficient drug metabolism and keep growing instead of providing a quiet home for the parasite to persist.

Obtaining enough P. vivax samples to test the system took several years, but the team eventually acquired samples, flown in from Thailand, India and South America. Using these samples, they were able to grow P. vivax in liver tissue and show that it produces small persistent parasites that appear to be dormant forms called hypnozoites.

"We don't want to call them hypnozoites yet, because nobody has a gold-standard marker for them, but we have persistent small forms that live for three weeks. So we are optimistic and doing more to wake them up again. Reactivation would be the ultimate confirmation," Bhatia says.

The researchers are now working on confirming that the P. vivax they grew in the liver tissue really did create hypnozoites. Once this is confirmed, they plan to start testing some candidate drugs, now in development, against P. vivax.

Splitting donated liver shown to be safe, allowing doctors to save 2 lives from single organ

BOSTON, July 17, 2013 -- Donor organ allocation policy could be changed to nearly eliminate waitlist mortality for children —without additional risk to adult recipients.

BOSTON, July 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Split liver transplantation carries no increased risk of failure in either recipient, allowing surgeons to safely save two lives from a single donated organ (graft), according to new research from Boston Children's Hospital published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.  

Due to their regenerative nature, livers donated by a deceased adult or adolescent can be surgically split into two unequally sized portions; the smaller segment is allocated to a young child awaiting transplant and the larger portion to an adult.

"Infants waiting for a donor liver have the highest waitlist mortality of all liver transplant candidates, and dozens of children die each year waiting for size-appropriate organs to become available," says Heung Bae Kim, MD, director of Boston Children's Hospital's Pediatric Transplant Center and lead author on the study. "If we can increase the number of split livers to just 200 a year, which would still affect less than four percent of the total number of livers transplanted each year, it would save virtually every small child waiting for a new liver."

Based on his recent findings, (which includes research on how well children function with split livers) Kim is advocating for changes in how donor livers are allocated—automatically placing infants and small children at the top of the liver waitlist, thereby giving pediatric transplant surgeons the option to split the first graft to become available. Once the liver has been split, the smaller portion is transplanted into a child and the larger portion is transplanted into the next appropriate adult on the list.

Analyzing United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) records, Boston Children's researchers looked at data compiled over a fifteen year period (1995-2010), studying the graft survival rates of 62,190 first-time adult deceased-donor liver transplant recipients, 889 of whom received partial grafts from a split liver transplant. The research shows that from 2002 forward the vast majority of adults who received a split graft experienced a risk of graft failure comparable to those who received a whole graft.

"After an extensive review of the data, it's clear that in the current era, with the exception of a small, very sick population of patients, adults who receive a split graft can expect to fare as well as those who received a whole organ," says Ryan Cauley, MD, MPH, first author on the paper. "Because risks once associated with this technique are now negligible, if a center has a patient waiting for a liver and it has access to a split graft, there's no reason not to accept it."

In addition to saving young patients, Kim's proposed amendments to the allocation process could take place without sweeping change, affecting only an extremely small portion of available grafts. "There are around 500 to 600 pediatric liver transplants done each year in the United States, with split liver transplant only accounting for 120 of the total number," Kim says. "By splitting just 80 more livers a year, it would make grafts available to virtually every small child on the waitlist. Given the current national debate on maximizing access to organs for children, it's my hope that implementing changes that would benefit children without harming adults would be considered favorably."

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/17/5573325/splitting-donated-livers-shown.html#storylink=cpy

Gut Bacteria May Cause Cancer in Obese Individuals

For reasons that have remained unclear, obese people are at a much higher risk for developing cancer compared to their thinner friends. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that around 85,000 new cancer cases each year are a direct result of obesity. While not yet up to the 171,000 or so new cases of lung cancer caused by smoking, obesity-related cancers are catching up. And as the number of smokers go down and the number of obese people go up, there may come a time in the future when obesity-related cancers are the most preventable ones.

Ideally, we would want to prevent these cancers by having obese people lose weight (but we've seen how successful this has been so far.)

Another way to reduce these numbers might be to figure out how obesity causes cancer. If we can do that, then maybe we can block the process and keep these cancers from forming in the first place. People can have their cake and eat it too!

A new study out in Nature is a first step on this path (at least in mice). In this study, Yoshimoto and coworkers show that obesity by itself does not cause cancer in mice. Instead, bacteria specific to the gut of obese mice make certain cells more susceptible to getting cancer when exposed to carcinogens. Obesity makes the mice less able to deal with environmental insults.

The researchers first showed that in a protected environment, mice fed a high-fat diet were not at a higher risk for cancer compared to mice fed a low-fat diet. Both had about the same rates of cancer. So obesity itself does not directly cause cancer in these mice.

This chemical, DCA, makes liver tumors more likely in mice. It is produced by the bacteria in the gut of obese mice. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The situation is very different if these two groups of mice are exposed to a carcinogen (DMBA) while still in the womb. In that case, only around 5% of the mice fed the low-fat diet ended up with cancer while 100% of the mice fed the high-fat diet did. And the two groups ended up with different cancers—the thinner mice got lung cancer while the obese ones got liver cancer. Clearly something about obesity was making the livers of obese mice much more susceptible to the effects of the carcinogen.

That something turned out to be bacteria specific to the guts of the obese mice. When the mice that were fed the high-fat diet were also given a cocktail of antibiotics, their number of liver tumors was reduced around fourfold. These mice were less likely to get cancer because the bacteria in their gut were changed.

A little more investigative work pointed to a chemical that a subset of these bacteria made called DCA. This chemical caused parts of the liver to look and behave older than they were—the cells had become senescent. When the researchers gave DCA to mice fed a low-fat diet, these mice developed liver cancer. And when the researchers decreased the number of older cells in the livers of obese mice, they developed less cancer.

Taken together, these data strongly suggest that one way that obesity causes cancer in mice is through some obese-specific gut bacteria. And if we get a similar result in people, then there may be some relatively simple ways to reduce cancers in obese people.

Maybe obese people could be given a set of antibiotics that prunes away harmful gut bacteria. Or what might be even better is if obese people underwent a fecal transplant from thinner people. This might swap out the bacteria of the thin with the bacteria of the obese and so decrease obese people's cancer risk.

While gross, this last idea has the advantage of not increasing antibiotic use (which is already a big problem.) It also wouldn't make it so we had to fine tune the cocktail of antibiotics. We wouldn't need to know all the beneficial or harmful bacteria–we'd simply swap thin for obese. This last idea also has the advantage that it is just creepy enough that it might spur people to lose weight. Better a bit of exercise and the occasional salad as opposed to a fecal transplant!

Surendranagar doc wins laurels for his path breaking drugs on HIV AIDS

Path-breaking healthcare drugs of a doctor from Surendranagar, a small town in Saurashtra, have earned patents from the United States Patents and Trademark office for three bioactive drugs. 

Dr Mukesh Shukla — who prefers to be called a research scientist — has developed three drugs from plant-based extracts or from bio-active compositions. The drugs are for HIV+ AIDS, liver dysfunction jaundice, ischemic heart disease-anti-oxidant for patients suffering from high cholesterol. 

While the US Patent has been granted for liver dysfunction jaundice and anti oxidant on April 30, the anti-HIV drug was granted patent on April 2, said Shukla. 

The doctor achieved success in developing the drugs following a hard work of around eight years, clinical trials on mice and 81 human clinical trials and investment of Rs 1.27 crore. Speaking todna, he has developed bioactive composition from Curcurmin-principal curcuminoid of Indian spice turmeric, Cyprus Rotus, Solanum nigrum, Tulsi or Ocinum acid to manufacture various drugs. 

While the drugs boost immunity in HIV-positive patients, it removes cholesterol from heart artery and blockage, said Shukla. 

"I have always believed that millions of people in the world suffer from these diseases and effective drugs should be easily available and at affordable rates. Since 1981, 25 million people have died of AIDS-related illness and 65 million have been infected with HIV worldwide," said Shukla. 

"In 2006 alone, 4.3 million new infections were recorded, alongside 2.9 million AIDS-related deaths, more than in any previous year. Also, there are limited therapies available for the disease. And, this is one of the reasons I chose to work for the development of effective drugs for such diseases," said Shukla, an alumnus of Sheth CN Vidyalaya in Ahmedabad. 

The doctor has also filed patents for an anti-malaria drug in India and the publication of which was accepted by the Government of India. He has assigned the rights for the manufacturing of the patented drugs for HIV-AIDS to one company and is looking for more company partners to launch other drugs for the benefit of the patients. 

Shukla shifted his base to the US as he was encouraged to pursue research to invent effective drugs for diseases like HIV+ and others. He, however, returned to India about 15 years ago and kept shuttling between India and the US to complete his research.

Pak legend Hanif Mohammad vows to beat cancer for grandchildren's sake

Pakistani cricket legend Hanif Mohammad, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, has said that he wants to live for his grandchildren.

According to The Nation, Mohammad's son Shahzeb revealed that his father is very close to his grandchildren, and has vowed to fight a strong battle against cancer not for himself, but for them.

Stating that people become scared as soon as they hear the word 'cancer', Shahzeb said that although his family was shocked initially after he broke the news to them, but his father took the news sportingly.

Explaining why he preferred to travel to UK for surgery instead of getting operated in the Imran Khan-owned cancer hospital in Pakistan, Mohammad, who is arguably the first 'Little Master' of the game, said that he came to UK as his son Shahzeb knew a few specialists in the country.

Stating that Mohammad has responded well to the treatment, surgeon Dr Robert Hutchins said that the legendary player has been moved from the ICU and will be allowed to go home next week.

According to Hutchins, who specializes in liver, biliary and pancreatic surgeries, Mohammad is not his first cricketer patient as he has treated few other cricketers as well, adding that he had heard about Mohammad's cricketing abilities as he has seen Imran Khan and Javed Miandad playing when he was young.

Quest Diagnostics Partners with CDC to Improve Hepatitis C Public Health Research to Promote Early Detection and Medical Intervention

Collaboration aims to improve health outcomes for the estimated 3.2 million Americans infected with hepatitis C    

MADISON, N.J., July 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), the world's leading provider of diagnostic information services, today announced a collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve public health analysis of hepatitis C screening, diagnosis and treatment, based on analysis of the company's national hepatitis C virus diagnostic information.

The collaboration aims to enhance screening, diagnosis and medical intervention for the approximately 3.2 million Americans infected with hepatitis C, promoting favorable health outcomes. The organizations will primarily focus on individuals born during 1945 through 1965. Individuals in this "baby boomer" generation are five times more likely than other adults to be infected, and one-time testing, as recommended by the CDC in 2012, could prevent more than 120,000 deaths in this age group.

In June 2013, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended one-time hepatitis C screening for all adults born between 1945 and 1965.

"Deaths from hepatitis C infection have nearly doubled over the past decade to now more than 15,000 a year. Early detection and treatment of hepatitis C saves lives, but most people who are infected don't know it or are not being effectively treated," said Jay Wohlgemuth, M.D., senior vice president, science and innovation, Quest Diagnostics. "Our collaboration with the CDC underscores the importance of using diagnostic information to derive useful insights enabling effective prevention, detection and management programs for diseases with a significant impact on public health."

Under an agreement, medical experts, scientists and health informatics experts from Quest Diagnostics and the CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis will share access to de-identified hepatitis C test results, in a HIPAA compliant manner, from the Quest Diagnostics Health Trends(TM) national clinical laboratory database, which represents every state and the District of Columbia. The de-identified data, with names and personally identifying information removed, will include results of screening and confirmatory diagnostic tests as well as genotyping and viral load tests used by clinicians to manage treatment.

Data will be evaluated to identify and track epidemiological trends in hepatitis C virus infection, testing and treatment, and evaluate how those trends differ based on gender, age, geography and clinical management. The organizations may jointly publish results of their research, such as in peer reviewed publications and scientific conferences.

"With 3 million Americans living with hepatitis C and up to 3 out of 4 who don't know they are infected, increased testing is critical to ensure that those who are infected receive life-saving care and treatment," said John W. Ward, M.D., director of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis. "Because these individuals are at serious risk for liver cancer, disease and death, I am excited about this innovative collaboration with Quest Diagnostics and believe it will help improve our understanding of how people access hepatitis C testing and care across the nation."

"This collaboration is an important step forward to producing actionable insights to aid public and clinical disease detection and management of hepatitis C," said Rick Pesano, M.D., Ph.D., medical director, infectious diseases. "Working with the CDC, Quest Diagnostics will lead the way for other providers to improve diagnosis and management of this disease, which in turn will help more people lead healthier lives."

Hepatitis C virus infection is the most common chronic bloodborne infection in the United States. The disease can cause liver damage and cancer and is a leading cause of liver transplants. Hepatitis C often does not manifest symptoms for decades. Early diagnosis, through laboratory blood tests, and treatment can help prevent liver damage, cirrhosis, liver cancer and death.

Alby's fight with liver cancer continues

ALBY Schultz, 74, was diagnosed in May with inoperable liver and oesophageal cancer. It came just two months after doctors told him he had prostate cancer.

The political veteran, who spent 10 years in State Parliament before standing for Hume in 1998, did not let illness stop him delivering his valedictory speech in Canberra recently.

"I had leave from the Parliament for three weeks (due to the after effects of treatment) but both sides of politics wanted me to do the speech."

"I didn't realise how energy sapping the treatment was because at the end of it, I was absolutely exhausted." The past five months have been a rollercoaster for Mr Schultz, wife Gloria, and their family.

It was during a regular heart check that doctors ordered a blood test and picked up on the prostate cancer.

Due to his defibrillator, a cardiologist advised against surgery and Mr Schultz underwent a hormone- like treatment before doctors embarked on brachytherapy.

He received massive radiation doses via 18 inserted rods in his body, which, after removal, left him immobile for three days until regaining movement in his legs.

A follow-up blood test revealed abnormalities in the liver. Two weeks ago a biopsy confirmed three tumours in the liver and another in the oesophagus, which were inoperable.

Mr Schultz's medical team has advised against chemotherapy. They will try a tablet trial over the coming months but depending on results, may need to complement it with chemotherapy. The MP says he's not physically sick but suffers bouts of nausea and "aches and pains," hence his three weeks' leave from parliament.

"It's inoperable and all they can do now is give treatment to slow or stop its growth," Mr Schultz said.

"I'm a realist, a positive thinker and I see it as a challenge as with my eye and heart and I'm tackling it full on with the medical profession.

"We may play politics with health in this country but one thing you can't say is that doctors don't put the care and concerns of their patients first. They are first class."

Despite the setback, Mr Schultz is still working, at the same time clearing the decks for retirement. He's using his experience to advise all males over 40 to have regular cancer tests, especially prostate. In two months he had gone from having prostate cancer and no other sign of the disease in his body, to inoperable cancer in two areas.

"I can assure you, if you leave it too long, it is too late," he said.

"...Because if you think this challenge is going to beat me, you have another thing coming," he said."Mr Schultz told Parliament he looked forward to seeing Liberal Hume candidate Angus Taylor being elected.

Lottie Bryon-Edmond to be UK Transplant Week lorry poster girl

The face of a girl thought to be the youngest person to have survived a liver transplant is appearing on a fleet of lorries to highlight National Transplant Week.

The image of Lottie Bryon-Edmond, from Torquay, will be on Gregory's Distribution trucks across the UK.

She underwent the transplant in August 2011 when she was five weeks old after a nationwide hunt for a suitable organ.

She celebrated her second birthday at the weekend.

Lottie underwent the transplant after developing neonatal haemochromatosis, which causes toxic levels of iron to build up in the liver.

Doctors warned she could have died at any time before the procedure and she was top of the UK's urgent transplant list for 14 days.

She is the face of the iLIVEiGIVE campaign, which encourages organ donation.

According to the NHS, one donor can save or transform up to nine lives and help others through tissue donation.

National Transplant Week runs until next Sunday.

PML-N govt to develop indigenous drug industry

THE PML-N government's representative in Punjab has expressed resolve to develop indigenous industry for drug manufacturing but remained cautious to give a commitment to support the project of local manufacturing of Interferon for cost-effective treatment of Hepatitis patients in the country.

 

During a table talk on "Importance of Hepatitis Awareness - Prevention and Treatment" in connection with World Hepatitis Day 2013 organised by Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Memorial Society (Jang Group of Newspapers) at a local hotel on Saturday, Punjab Health Minister Khalil Tahir Sindhu avoided to comment on a query in this regard due to lack of knowledge on the subject, but an unelected representative of PML-N Khawaja Salman Rafiq quickly jumped into the affair to rescue the minister and expressed, on behalf of the PML-N government, to develop local drug manufacturing industry. He gave a cautious response to support the Interferon project, saying that the government needs to avoid the fiasco of drug reactions earlier seen in cases of PIC drug scandal and syrup deaths during previous regime of PML-N in Punjab. "The Drug Regulatory Authority will examine the efficacy of the medicine to allow its application on the patients," he added.

 

The local scientists led by Prof Sheikh Riazuddin and Prof Javed Akram had achieved a major breakthrough to develop injection Interferon locally a few years ago, but the 'controversial project' could not take off due to vested interests and lack of political will of the last PPP-led coalition government in the centre. It was a major blow for the poor patients in Pakistan as the drug was far cheaper and ready for application on patients after clearance certificates from international laboratories.

 

Kh Salman Rafiq said that PML-N government had no vested interests, saying that the government would run such projects under the guidance of professionals. However, he said that the prices of Interferon medicine supplied by local and multinational companies have also come down substantially.

 

Earlier, Punjab Health Minister Khalil Tahir Sindhu emphasised government's resolve to curb the menace of quackery, which was major source of spreading diseases, including Hepatitis B & C among the patients. He said media was replete with advertisements of quacks, adding that it was our collective responsibility to discourage quackery, but again failed to give commitment to make legislation to stop such unauthorised advertisements. Former Chairman/Dean Shaikh Zayed Hospital Prof Anwaar A Khan, while emphasising on prevention, said that Hepatitis A & E were water-borne diseases, which could be prevented simply with provision of clean drinking water to the people. Although everyone may have already contracted Hepatitis A & E yet, he said, these are self-limiting viruses and fortunately do not recur in a lifetime. He advised people to use boiled water for drinking purposes. However, he said that Hepatitis B, C & D, which are blood-borne diseases, are more dangerous and need serious efforts both at government and individual levels to prevent them. He said that Hepatitis B & D could be prevented through vaccination (because Hepatitis D only occurs to Hepatitis B patients). "If any one gets Hepatitis D, then it becomes very difficult to treat it because of its complications," he said and added that the medical professionals were extremely worried about the spread of Hepatitis C among patients in Pakistan, whose vaccination could not be developed despite hectic research around the world. "The good news, however, is that Hepatitis B & C are treatable if diagnosed at an early stage," he said, adding that the recovery rate among patients in early diagnosis goes up to 80 to 85 percent. "Test and treat" is our slogan to defeat Hepatitis viruses," he said, while stressing the need to conduct regular blood screening.

 

He said there was no culture of a regular blood screening, saying that the Hepatitis B & C were usually detected by chance either during a surgery or at the time of blood donations. He said that the effects of Hepatitis C emerged after 25 years of its contracting in the body, which by then had badly affected the liver as it either became difficult to cure it or needed immediate liver transplantation. He stressed greater coverage of Hepatitis B vaccination through Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI), the benefits would be shown after 15 years as the new generation would have much less ratio of Hepatitis B than the one experiencing it presently.

 

A gastroenterologist from Lahore General Hospital Prof Ghias-un-Nabi Tayyab said the symptoms of Hepatitis B & C were not very visible, saying that if one found symptoms like unusual fatigue, low-grade fever, pain under ribs, etc, then he must get his blood test done to rule out the possibility of presence of Hepatitis virus in the body. He also advised against getting treatment from quacks and roadside dentists with used instruments, stressed on disposable blades by the barbers and avoid unnecessary contact with blood or blood products.

 

He also stressed on prevention and early diagnosis, saying that the Hepatitis treatment and ultimately liver transplantation were very expensive and the government would need to allocate up to Rs 2.4 million per patient for liver transplantation in the country.

 

MKRMS Chairman Wasif Nagi conducted the table talk, while Ali Imran and Shahzad Rauf assisted him.

Liver News on July 7 2013

Scientists create human liver from stem cells The Borneo Post LONDON: Scientists have for the first time created a functional human liver from stem cells derived from skin and blood and say their success points to a future where much-needed livers and other transplant organs could be made in a laboratory. While ... See all stories on this topic »

Organ donation: the gift of life South Cotswolds Gazette "On the Thursday, I was told my liver was failing and I was one of three people in the country classed as 'super urgent' on the transplant waiting list. On the Saturday afternoon, I had my new liver." Only afterwards did everything really sink in. "It ... See all stories on this topic »

'BB15' spoilers: America's choice for Have-Nots, more photos from live feeds Examiner.com Elissa, Helen, Andy and Candice will have liver and lima beans available for their dining pleasure this week. View slideshow: 'BB15' spoilers: America's choice for Have-Nots, more photos from live feeds. After the "Big Brother 15" houseguests found out ... See all stories on this topic »

'Take whatever organs you want of my dead son if they can save others' Bangalore Mirror Even in his profound grief, Dr Gunapal P L, a senior ayurveda doctor, willingly donated his son's kidneys, heart valves, liver and corneas – a heart-wrenching moment that moved the hospital staff as well as the coordinators of Zonal Coordination ... See all stories on this topic »

8 facts about gallstones Jamaica Observer Bile is a fluid made in the liver. It contains waste products like cholesterol and substances that help to digest fat. It is stored in a sac under the liver, the gallbladder, waiting to be released after meals. Gallstones are formed when the substances ... See all stories on this topic »

Chicken liver can cause food poisoning

OVER 90% of cases of a common form of food poisoning seen this year were due to people eating undercooked chicken liver pate, often at weddings, infection experts have said. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) analysed 18 outbreaks of Campylobacter in 2011 across England. In all, 443 people became unwell and one had to be hospitalised.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has reminded caterers to cook poultry livers to prevent infection.
Campylobacter is the most common cause of bacterial food poisoning in Britain - there were estimated to have been more than 600,000 cases in 2010 in England and Wales.
Symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach pains and cramps, fever, and generally feeling unwell. Most people are only ill for a few days.

In 2008 there were just three outbreaks linked to undercooked chicken liver pate, but that rose to nine in 2009 and 14 in 2010.

“It’s really important that chefs cook livers thoroughly to kill any bacteria, even if recipes call for them to be seared and left pink in the middle.”

Poultry livers carry a particularly high risk of Campylobacter as the bacteria can be present throughout the liver, not just the surface as is the case for other poultry meat, and may remain a source of infection if they are not cooked sufficiently. Of the 18 outbreaks, 14 occurred in catering venues, and 13 of these were linked to chicken or duck liver pate.

 Seven were linked to wedding receptions at hotels, banqueting venues or public houses and six were associated with catering at other functions such as hotels, clubs and restaurants. The HPA found that livers used to make the parfait or pate were undercooked allowing the liver to remain pink in the centre. It said caterers can reduce the risk of their people becoming infected by ensuring that Campylobacter is killed through proper cooking and by avoiding cross-contamination to other foods.
 Dr Christine Little, an expert in gastrointestinal infections at the HPA, said: “The increase in outbreaks which are due to the consumption of chicken liver pate has been steadily increasing over the last few years. “Not only is this dish popular in food recipe magazines, it is being served in a variety of different catering venues. “Illness occurs because the livers are only cooked until they are pink, and inadequate cooking will not be sufficient to kill the bacteria.

“Both the public and the catering industry need to be aware that undercooking this product can result in food poisoning.” She said anyone planning a wedding, or other special event, should be aware of the risks if they were having chicken liver pate to prevent people becoming unwell.
 The FSA issued updated advice to caterers on the safe handling and cooking of livers twice in 2010, but Campylobacter outbreaks associated with the consumption of chicken liver pate have continued to occur.

 Bob Martin, head of foodborne disease strategy at the FSA, said: “Unfortunately, levels of Campylobacter in most raw chicken are high, so it’s really important that chefs cook livers thoroughly to kill any bacteria, even if recipes call for them to be seared and left pink in the middle. “Caterers should also follow good general hygiene practices when cooking and handling poultry livers, to avoid cross contamination with Campylobacter.”

Scientists grow working 'baby' liver from stem cells - NBC News.com

Scientists grow working 'baby' liver from stem cells - NBC News.com Japanese researchers have generated functioning human liver "buds" using a type of stem cell called an iPS cell. They grew these rudimentary livers in lab ... www.nbcnews.com/.../scientists-grow-working-baby-liver-ste...

Scientists create human liver from stem cells Alex Jones' Infowars ... Reuters July 3, 2013. Scientists have for the first time created a functional human liver from stem cells derived from skin and blood and say their success points ... www.infowars.com/scientists-create-human-liver-from-stem-ce...

Liver News on July 6 2013

Scientists score stem - cell victory with lab - grown liver tissue FierceBiotech When a mixture of induced pluripotent stem cells matured into liver buds, which represent the organ in an early state, the Japanese scientists were totally "gobsmacked" by the unexpected result, a lead scientist told reporters from the BBC and other ... See all stories on this topic »

Mixture of three cell types self-assembles into a liver bud and used to create ... Next Big Future The researchers found that a mixture of human liver precursor cells and two other cell types can spontaneously form three-dimensional structures dubbed “liver buds.” In the mice, these liver buds formed functional connections with natural blood vessels ... See all stories on this topic »

Growing Human Liver Tissue from iPS Cells Family Research Council (blog) Japanese scientists have succeeded in growing chunks of functional human liver tissue in mice. The research, published in the journal Nature, constructed the human liver tissue using a combination of three cell types: induced pluripotent stem cells ... See all stories on this topic »

Researchers Create Tiny Human Livers French Tribune A panel of Japanese scientists has grown stem cell livers this time in laboratory. The study, published in the journal Nature, was carried out on a group of mice. The researchers said that they were completely astounded when they saw the successful, ... See all stories on this topic »

Amazing science: Stem cell research results in a human liver Examiner.com Researchers in Japan have finally reached a pinnacle in stem cell research. According to a July 3 report on Yahoo News, they have managed to create a functional human liver from stem cells. While they are around 10 years from transplanting man-made ... See all stories on this topic »

Scientists Grow Livers in Mice Valley News Tokyo — A Japanese group has generated functional human livers by creating liver precursor cells in the laboratory and then transplanting them into mice to complete the developmental process. Their ultimate goal is to transplant the precursor cells ... See all stories on this topic »

Scientists Create Tiny Human Livers From Stem PSFK With a shortage of organ donors when it comes to treating end-stage organ failure, scientists have been in search of a way to produce organs using human stem cells. Researchers in Japan have recently had great success creating tiny human livers ... See all stories on this topic »

Mud Run raises $35000 for St. Cloud Police seargent with stage 4 liver cancer Osceola News-Gazette It took the combined efforts of the St. Cloud community and police department, but Sgt. Boyd Graham and his wife can now pay their medical bills a little more comfortably. The Sgt. Robo Mud Run, held by the St. Cloud Police Department last Saturday ... See all stories on this topic »

Scientists produce functional human livers from stem cells Yahoo! News Canada (blog) For the very first time, scientists have succeeded in creating a functional, three-dimensional humanliver from stem cells, bringing medicine one step closer towards having 'off-the-shelf' transplant organs. The scientists created tiny liver 'buds ... See all stories on this topic »

Researchers create functioning livers from stem cells allvoices The researchers, who published their work in the journal Nature, used a combination of stem cells and cells taken from the umbilical cord to create tiny functioning livers, which, when transplanted into mice, began to function as normal as actual livers. See all stories on this topic »

Living for 2: 'Nightline' Returns to Mayo Clinic Organ Transplant Unit ABC News Before we could even check our camera mics, we got word that another plane had just landed carrying a red cooler containing a liver for 60-year-old Gordon Karels. It's the moment more than 100,000 people in the United States are waiting for. Eighteen ... See all stories on this topic »

Number Of 'Altruistic' Organ Donors Rising Key 103 Manchester It is becoming more common for living donors to give a kidney or part of the liver to a relative, but health officials say they need more people to donate to anyone who needs help. Diana Warwick, chair of the Human Tissue Authority, said: "Giving ... See all stories on this topic »

Would you eat a human liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti? Newstalk 106-108 fm (blog) It's been popularised in modern culture by the infamous Dr Hannibal Lecter, a six fingered, cannibalistic, serial-killing maniac created by Thomas Harris in his 1981 novel Red Dragon, but what do we know about the reasons people are driven to consume ... See all stories on this topic »

Liver Diseases - Pipeline Review, H1 2013 - New Report Available SBWire (press release) Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/05/2013 -- Global Markets Direct's, 'Liver Diseases - Pipeline Review, H2 2013', provides an overview of the indication's therapeutic pipeline. This report provides information on the therapeutic development for Liver ... See all stories on this topic »

Nanobiotix secures €9m funding from bpifrance to advance NBTXR3 development Pharmaceutical Business Review Liver cancer is a major health problem that causes one of the greatest number of deaths each year worldwide, 695,000 deaths per annum. This grant supports the launch of Nano Innovation for Cancer (NICE), which is the first Medicen Paris Region ... See all stories on this topic »

Cancer survivor helps others Ocala Logan Barth, 5, left, a liver cancer and transplant survivor, and twin Hunter Barth were both crowned as the Blueberry Princess during the Blueberry Festival to benefit Sheltering Hands, held at the Ramada Inn in Ocala, Fla., on Sunday, June 3, 2012. See all stories on this topic »

Cheques presented in memory of Laura Kirriemuir Herald Back from left: Malcolm Brown, Angus Foodbank; John Vannet accepting the cheque on behalf of Children's Liver Disease Foundation; Forbes Inglis and Sarah Niven, Angus RDA and in front Audrey Forbes, Laura's mMum and Euan Gow accepting the ... See all stories on this topic »

Wesley Clutterbuck gives the gift of life to others Rochdale Online Wesley's mother has revealed that part of his liver went to a 20-month-old boy who has had a livercondition from birth. The boy is said to be doing well. The other half of Wesley's liver went to a 50-year-old woman who was close to dying - she is also ... See all stories on this topic »

Stem Cells to Help Create Livers for Organ Recipients Parent Herald Takanori Takebe of the Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine along with colleagues were responsible for mixing a cocktail of induced stem cells made from adult tissue in an attempt to grow buds of human liver. These induced stem cells ... See all stories on this topic »

A best-kept secret from the St. Joseph parish picnic Daily Journal Online Add three eggs, pureed liver, onion, celery and spices to a large blender, preferably one that can be fitted with a dough hook. Puree the mixture until it is smooth. Add enough flour until you have a sticky dough. Boatright says it will look a bit like ... See all stories on this topic »

Gene expression profiling reveals underlying molecular mechanism of ... 7thSpace Interactive (press release) Methods: The hepatoprotective activity of Phyllanthus niruri (PN) was evaluated against livercirrhosis induced by thioacetamide (TAA) in male Sprague Dawley rats. Rats received intraperitoneal injections of thioacetamide (TAA, 200 mg/kg, b.w. three ... See all stories on this topic »

Myths Surrounding High Cholesterol Living Green Magazine The liver works as a filtration organ, removing toxins and excessive elements such as cholesterol from the body. While some people's livers work perfectly, more often than not the liver is ineffective on some level. If the liver is only working ... See all stories on this topic »

Jammu accident victim's body organs give lease of life to three Hindustan Times "Retrieval of organs i.e. liver, kidneys and blood vessels was done after declaring the patient brain dead as per the law," the release said, adding the organs have been transplanted to the needy which could give a new lease of life to three patients. See all stories on this topic »

Smithfield Township bride's special flower girl Pocono Record Josie will be serving as Moyer's flower girl, and is alive today because she received a liver transplant from Moyer's brother, Ethan Moyer, who was killed by a drunken driver on the morning of Nov. 2, 2010.Keith R. Stevenson/Pocono Record. of 3 clicks ... See all stories on this topic »

'Nightline' Features Northland Woman for Second Time WDIO-TV More than 18 months ago, Jessica Danielson was living at the Mayo Clinic and waiting for a new heart and liver. She was also celebrating her 30th birthday. "At the time they actually told me that I had about three years, but it's been 10 so I've ... See all stories on this topic »