HEALTH NEWS
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Tattooing Could Be Key Infection Route For Hepatitis C 4-4-1{PRIVATE} 4/8/01 Getting a tattoo could be a key infection route for hepatitis C, the most common chronic viral infection affecting almost 2 percent of the United States population, according to a study by a UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researcher.
Dr. Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology, writes in the March issue of the journal Medicine that tattooing has previously been overlooked as a widespread source of hepatitis C, a potentially fatal disease that attacks the liver, leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer. It affects 2 percent of the U.S. population.
The study found that people who had received a tattoo in a commercial tattoo parlor were nine times more likely to be infected with hepatitis C than people who did not have a tattoo.
Participants in the study were patients of an orthopaedic spinal clinic, a setting that provided a large volume of patients seeing a physician for reasons unrelated to blood-borne infection. Participants unaware of their hepatitis status were examined, interviewed for risk factors and tested for hepatitis C by the study's co-author Dr. Paul Fischer.
Of 626 patients studied, 113, or 18 percent, had a tattoo. Of those with a tattoo, 22 percent were infected with hepatitis C. Of the 52 patients who had acquired their tattoos in commercial tattoo parlors, 33 percent had hepatitis C. In contrast, only 3.5 percent of patients with no tattoos had hepatitis C...
The study found that people who had several tattoos, or complex or large tattoos, had an increased risk of having hepatitis C and that people with white, yellow, orange or red pigments in their tattoos also were more likely to have hepatitis C than those with only black. These characteristics reflect tattoos acquired in commercial tattoo parlors.
The risk of hepatitis C infection was also higher among patients with a history of injection-drug use, hospital custodial workers, and people who drank beer heavily, but the risk was not increased for those who drank only wine or liquor.
"Most importantly, we found that commercially acquired tattoos accounted for more than twice as many hepatitis C infections as injection-drug use," Haley said. "This means that it may have been the largest single contributor to the nationwide epidemic of this form of hepatitis."..
Hepatitis C presently causes as many as 10,000 deaths each year from cirrhosis and liver cancer, and this number is expected to rise. Nearly 4 million Americans are chronically infected with hepatitis C, and about 36,000 more become infected each year.
Doctors say people with any of the risk factors for hepatitis C should consider having a blood test, because treatments are now available to eradicate the virus in many before it causes permanent liver damage or cancer.
Haley is the study's lead author. Fischer is an internal medicine specialist, formerly at the Dallas Spine Group and presently at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. - By Mindy Baxter
Contact Mindy Baxter melinda.baxter@utsouthwestern.edu Copyright © 1995-2001 UniSci. All rights reserved. http://unisci.com/stories/20012/0404013.htm
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Cow's milk diabetes evidence mountsBBC Apr 9,2001 -- Could cow's milk hold a hidden threat of diabetes?` More research suggests that certain children may be vulnerable to diabetes later in life after exposure to cow's milk while very young. Previous research has suggested that children exposed to the insulin which can naturally be contained in cow's milk may develop antibodies to insulin. Insulin is the naturally-produced chemical which helps animals, including humans, reduce excess levels of blood sugar. Diabetics either have lost the ability to produce their own insulin, or have developed bodies on which insulin has too little effect.
High-risk children - It is believed that the body's own immune system suddenly turns on the cells in the pancreas gland which produce the chemical, destroying them, but what makes them decide to attack is unknown. Dr Johanna Paronen from the University of Helsinki looked at "high risk" infants who had been either given formula feed with cow's milk since birth, or given a combination of breast feeding and non-bovine formula. At three months old, those given cow's milk had immune systems which reacted far more strongly to bovine insulin. The levels of immune system antibodies to bovine insulin and human insulin tended to be higher in the group of infants fed only cow's milk.
The researchers wrote: "Our observations raise the issue of whether oral exposure to foreign insulin plays a role in the autoimmune process leading to type I diabetes. It is possible that in some genetically susceptible children, a continuous, even small-dose early exposure to bovine insulin in cow's milk may lead to loss of tolerance to insulin."
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- Cow's milk protein blamed for heart disease worldwide
BBC Apr 9, 2001 - Scientists believe a substance found in cow's milk could be responsible for thousands of cases of heart disease world-wide. They plan to test their theory by examining heart disease among Channel Islanders on Guernsey and Jersey, because Guernsey cows produce milk which does not contain this protein, while those from Jersey do. Dr McLachlan believes his research will show that heart disease is much less common among people from Guernsey than among the population of the neighbouring Channel Island. His theory centres on the protein casein, which is found in four different varieties in milk. He believes that one of the forms of casein, called beta-casein A2 is harmless, but that the other three - most notably A1 - are linked to heart disease.
Dr McLachlan points to the fact that Finland has the highest consumption of A1 (linked to heart disease) in the world - and the highest rate of heart disease. Whereas milk in Japan, where heart disease is relatively rare, has low levels of A1. And then you have the UK, which has relatively high levels of A1 in milk, and again has relatively high level of heart disease. There's also evidence of this from France and Northern Ireland. "The remarkable agreement between mortality and consumption suggests that this factor is worthy of serious consideration as a potential source of cardiovascular disease." Dr McLachlan believes that A1 is more likely to break up in the bloodstream and cause damage to the arteries. He points out that the protein has also been linked to the development of diabetes in children.
As to be expected, results like that do not go over well with the Dairy Council. They issued a statement which said that Dr McLachlan had been "unable to demonstrate demonstrate conclusive evidence of cause and effect".
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South Africa OKs blood substituteTHE WASHINGTON TIMES by Tom Carter - April 11, 2001 - South Africa has become the first country to approve a substitute blood product for use in humans.
Called Hemopure, the solution is created from purified cow blood and is designed to carry oxygen to tissues. It can replace blood in transfusions but has medical limitations and does not eliminate the need for Red Cross blood drives.
"Every unit of blood you get is different, whereas ours is a consistent, reproducible, pharmaceutical-grade product," said Carl Rausch, chief executive officer of Biopure, the Cambridge, Mass., biotechnology company that has developed the blood substitute.
Mr. Rausch, speaking in Johannesburg, did not say how much his company would charge for the product, but indicated that wealthier countries could expect to pay more than poorer nations. South Africa's Medicines Control Council approved Hemopure's use Monday, becoming the first country to permit its use in humans.
U.S. medical specialists said the product is an important breakthrough but will not replace the need for blood donors...
"[Hemopure] is fairly safe. It wouldn't surprise me to see it approved in the United States within two years," said Dr. Barbara Alving, a hematologist and director of blood diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
The Jehovah's Witnesses, which has a religious prohibition against using blood for transfusions — even if it is used to save a life — last year approved Hemopure for its members to use in emergencies.
Hemopure is made using hemoglobin from cow's blood, taken at a Pennsylvania abattoir. The cows, which are raised and monitored from birth in controlled conditions, are raised for food. At the slaughterhouse, the animals are butchered for hamburgers and steaks, while the blood is removed to make Hemopure.
The raw blood is stripped of all its proteins and then purified. The process eliminates the possibility of passing diseases like bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans, Hazel Forney of Biopure said yesterday. BSE, also called mad cow disease, is caused by a mutated protein.
Biopure will file an application by the end of this year to sell and use Hemopure in the United States and anticipates selling the product for worldwide use, Miss Forney said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had no comment on Hemopure yesterday.
Dr. Alving said the product has been "extensively studied," undergoing at least nine human trials in the United States. She said it has been approved for study in non-cardiac surgeries and in trials for elective orthopedic surgeries in the United States...
"According to Biopure company literature, Hemopure can be used by patients with any blood type. Biopure claims the product eliminates the risk of transmitting infectious diseases, like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, in blood transfusions. While blood collected at Red Cross drives has a shelf life of just 42 days, Hemopure can be stored at room temperature for two years.
But Dr. Alving said a solution such as Hemopure that carries oxygen costs five times what normal blood costs and has a half-life of just 20 hours, which means that after it is infused in the body, half of it is gone within 20 hours.
- Those who receive Hemopure transfusions are at a slightly increased risk of nausea, stomach pain, jaundice and hypertension, but no greater than with normal blood transfusions, its makers say.
- • This article is based in part on wire service reports.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/default-2001411223914.htm
______________________________________________- Company Announces Birth of Transgenic Cloned Pigs
LONDON (Reuters Health) 4/11/01 - The company that created Dolly the cloned sheep announced Wednesday it has produced the world's first transgenic cloned piglets.
Scottish biotechnology firm PPL Therapeutics said each of the five piglets--born in the United States--has a foreign marker gene in its DNA structure. This marks a major step towards the production of genetically engineered pig organs for use in human transplants, according to the company.
Although the firm cloned its first pigs last year, they were not transgenically modified. This modification is a vital element in the development of technology to stop the human immune system from rejecting transplanted pig organs as foreign.
In a statement, PPL said the pigs' birth demonstrates the feasibility of producing so-called ``knock-out'' pigs, in which the alpha 1-3 gal transferase gene is inactivated. When active, this gene would cause the human immune system to reject a transplanted pig organ.
Alan Colman, PPL's research director, said the company now has the ability to produce a pig that could become the industry standard for xenotransplantation, or transplantation from a non-human donor.
``This exciting world first again demonstrates PPL's ability to apply its technical expertise to unmet medical needs such as the worldwide organ shortage crisis,'' he added in a statement.
The firm announced the cloning success just one day after it was forced to drop plans to raise 45 million pounds ($64.5 million US) because of market conditions. PPL is now considering other ways of raising money.
Recent reports have been skeptical about the chances of success with xenotransplantation, which carries the risk that animals viruses could be transmitted to humans. However a company spokesman told Reuters Health: ``The viral threat is not considered significant''.
- Most of PPL's work on xenografts is done by the company's US staff in Blacksburg, Virginica, and is supported by the US government's National Institute of Standards and Technology.
- http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010411/hl/pigs_1.html
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Scientists create 'smart' pill to diagnose cancerApril 15 2001 SCOTLAND - A "SMART" pill capable of diagnosing cancer and ulcers when inside the human stomach has been developed by scientists at Glasgow University. The battery-powered silicon capsule has been created using nanotechnology to fabricate tiny components which send radio signals to an electronic receiver. It contains sensors, no wider than a human hair, which analyse temperature, acidity and oxygen levels inside the stomach and gut. Scientists say the technology, which could eliminate the need for painful exploratory surgery, makes science fiction a reality.
They have likened it to the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage in which Donald Pleasence and Raquel Welch were transported inside a miniature submarine through the bloodstream of a human body. The development of the pill has already received the backing of the Unilever and Kodak companies. The capsule takes 24 hours to travel through the body, powered by the patient's natural metabolism. Measuring just 20mm by 7mm, it also contains a tiny battery which creates the three-volt charge necessary to run the sensors. A microscopic transmitter radio set inside the pill relays signals from these sensors to a larger radio receiver. Signals are processed through a computer where results can be analysed by a GP.
"The pill would be swallowed to do an internal chemical investigation of the stomach," said Professor Jonathan Cooper, of Glasgow University's electronics and electrical engineering department, who is leading the research. "These are basic sensors which could be readily converted into more elaborate sensors for the determination of metabolites or antigens related to particular diseases, such as Crohn's disease and stomach cancer. "This has not been done before and the importance of measuring pH and temperature in real time should not be ignored. It is something that people could ultimately do at home. For example, somebody with Crohn's disease could use it to check if the acidity balance in their gut is correct."
Cooper claims that a prototype should be available within a year and the pill should be on the market within five years. This sort of bioelectronics is turning Walt Disney images of sailing through the blood stream into reality. http://www.sunday- times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/04/15/stiscosco01003.html via: isml@yahoogroups.comBACK