Hepatitis C Surpasses AIDS

[Analog]

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A new study indicates that one in every 33 baby boomers has the Hepatitis C virus, and many don’t even know they have this liver destroying disease.

Federal health officials say Hepatitis C is now killing more people than the AIDS virus, and most are over 45 years of age.
Dr. Robert Bettiker, associate professor of medicine in infectious diseases at Temple University School of Medicine, says that once symptoms appear, the liver is already damaged.
He says the major symptoms include “pain in the right upper quadrant (of your abdomen) that goes on for days or months. Your eyes might turn yellow, you might start bleeding a lot if you get a cut, and the veins in your esophagus can get really big and can rupture.”
Dr. Bettiker says if you had a blood transfusion before 1990 (when routine screening for hepatitis C in donated blood began) or have ever used intravenous drugs, you should tell your doctor. A blood test can determine if you’ve been exposed to the deadly virus, and early treatment could be effective.

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...killer-hitting-baby-boom-generations-hardest/

 

[Texashiker]

So instead of developing a vaccine or a cure for Hep C, scientist work on stuff like chicken pox.

Why dont we have a cure for viral infections? It seems that some parts of modern medicine are stuck in the dark ages.

 

[busydude]

So instead of developing a vaccine or a cure for Hep C, scientist work on stuff like chicken pox.

Why don't you start your own research lab?

 

[Capt Caveman]

So instead of developing a vaccine or a cure for Hep C, scientist work on stuff like chicken pox.

Why dont we have a cure for viral infections? It seems that some parts of modern medicine are stuck in the dark ages.

/facepalm

A little google research would show you there are treatments available and numerous drugs in the pipeline.

 

[Squisher]

Although you can't at present cure Hep C, 15 years ago all they had was interferon and 12% of people treated did have their Hep C subside and stay that way with just that one drug. Now, I imagine the "cure" rate is much higher with the Riboviron cocktail.

 

[Gibsons]

So instead of developing a vaccine or a cure for Hep C, scientist work on stuff like chicken pox.

Why dont we have a cure for viral infections? It seems that some parts of modern medicine are stuck in the dark ages.

And flying cars! Why don't we have those!

 

[Fausto]

So instead of developing a vaccine or a cure for Hep C, scientist work on stuff like chicken pox.

Why dont we have a cure for viral infections? It seems that some parts of modern medicine are stuck in the dark ages.

Jesus christ, go stock your ammo hut or something.

 

[Texashiker]

And flying cars! Why don't we have those!

I want hoverboards.

Jesus christ, go stock your ammo hut or something.

That is a good idea.

 

[polarmystery]

So instead of developing a vaccine or a cure for Hep C, scientist work on stuff like chicken pox.

Why dont we have a cure for viral infections? It seems that some parts of modern medicine are stuck in the dark ages.

You have to know what you're asking, before you understand the solution.

 

[Gibsons]

FYI pubmed search of "hepatitis C" 55k hits
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=hepatitis c

Varicella, herpes zoster and chicken pox all 13k or less.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=varicella

 

[zinfamous]

So instead of developing a vaccine or a cure for Hep C, scientist work on stuff like chicken pox.

Why dont we have a cure for viral infections? It seems that some parts of modern medicine are stuck in the dark ages.

dear jesus, please give me strength to endure this....

 

[OverVolt]

So instead of developing a vaccine or a cure for Hep C, scientist work on stuff like chicken pox.

Why dont we have a cure for viral infections? It seems that some parts of modern medicine are stuck in the dark ages.

Because viruses hijack your own cells machinery to replicate itself so it is hard to come up with a drug that targets the virus without killing the patient.

Its easy with bacteria because they have different cell walls, different metabolisms in some cases, etc.

Most viruses are protein and DNA/RNA etc. If you target DNA/RNA your drug will probably be carcinogenic so you target a particular protein the virus uses but it will also probably attack some random enzyme in you.

Targeting a specific protein is what your immune system does anyway so you might as well go ahead and invent an immune system in a pill. Good luck.

 

[Fausto]

Because viruses hijack your own cells machinery to replicate itself so it is hard to come up with a drug that targets the virus without killing the patient.

Its easy with bacteria because they have different cell walls, different metabolisms in some cases, etc.

Most viruses are protein and DNA/RNA etc. If you target DNA/RNA your drug will probably be carcinogenic so you target a particular protein the virus uses but it will also probably attack some random enzyme in you.

Targeting a specific protein is what your immune system does anyway so you might as well go ahead and invent an immune system in a pill. Good luck.

PRO TIP- Tex does not and will not understand vaccines. Don't waste your e-breath.

 

[Texashiker]

dear jesus, please give me strength to endure this....

We have vaccines for all kinds of stuff like measles, mumps, polio, small pox, chicken pox,,,,,. Some of those are killers and life changers, some are common childhood diseases.

Here is an interesting article from 2003, which was before the chicken pox vaccine was approved.

http://www.all.org/article/index/id/MjUyNg

Death rate of chicken pox is 0.0023%.

Go to the last paragraph, and I paraphrase "scientist developed the chicken pox vaccine so parents will not be inconvenienced with sick children."

Why couldn't we take the time and effort developing vaccines for common childhood diseases, and put that money, effort and time into something worthwhile, such as a vaccine for HIV or Hepatitis C?

Another example - Hand, foot, mouth disease killed 156 children in Vietnam during 2011, and we have no vaccine for it

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health...mouth-disease-kills-156-in-Vietnam/52008354/1

Society has 3 serious health issues on its hands - Cancer, Hep C and HIV.

Why not work on the diseases that kill people, instead of diseases that are mostly an inconvenience?

 

[Capt Caveman]

We have vaccines for all kinds of stuff like measles, mumps, polio, small pox, chicken pox,,,,,. Some of those are killers and life changers, some are common childhood diseases.

Here is an interesting article from 2003, which was before the chicken pox vaccine was approved.

http://www.all.org/article/index/id/MjUyNg

Death rate of chicken pox is 0.0023%.

Go to the last paragraph, and I paraphrase "scientist developed the chicken pox vaccine so parents will not be inconvenienced with sick children."

Why couldn't we take the time and effort developing vaccines for common childhood diseases, and put that money, effort and time into something worthwhile, such as a vaccine for HIV or Hepatitis C?

Another example - Hand, foot, mouth disease killed 156 children in Vietnam during 2011, and we have no vaccine for it

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health...mouth-disease-kills-156-in-Vietnam/52008354/1

Society has 3 serious health issues on its hands - Cancer, Hep C and HIV.

Why not work on the diseases that kill people, instead of diseases that are mostly an inconvenience?

/more facepalm

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Hepatitis-C-deaths-baby-apf-1683000903.html?x=0

Two new drugs — Vertex Pharmaceuticals' telaprevir and Merck & Co.'s boceprevir — are starting to change that pessimism. Research suggests adding one of them to standard therapy can boost cure rates as high as 75 percent.

"Now it's considered a curable disease, that makes all the difference," says Rogg, who was surprised at some longtime patients' test results.

 

[schneiderguy]

dear jesus, please give me strength to endure this....

Jesus doesn't answer the prayers of libruls

 

[shortylickens]

So instead of developing a vaccine or a cure for Hep C, scientist work on stuff like chicken pox.

Why dont we have a cure for viral infections? It seems that some parts of modern medicine are stuck in the dark ages.

I was gonna correct all your errors then realized you made too many. Maybe you need to take Biology 101 and Anatomy 101. Am not calling you dumb. You just need some more background knowledge.

 

[Texashiker]

I was gonna correct all your errors then realized you made too many. Maybe you need to take Biology 101 and Anatomy 101. Am not calling you dumb. You just need some more background knowledge.

How many work hours does it take to preform a task given task?

Lets say with our technology we need to invest 10,000,000 hours of research to find a cure for HIV or Hep C. We do not know that we need to invest X amount of hours, its just a random number I used.

The less time we spend working on the project, the longer its going to take us.

So why not focus on the important issues, make some progress and get the killers out of the way.

 

[shortylickens]

Yup, you REALLY need to go to college.

My bio professor was a molecular biologist who spent plenty of time in crime labs, government institutions, and worked with several food and medicine corporations. I bet he could set you straight.

Go to school, seriously. I'm not kidding. Just take some basic health and bio classes, you dont need a degree.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Yup, you REALLY need to go to college.

My bio professor was a molecular biologist who spent plenty of time in crime labs, government institutions, and worked with several food and medicine corporations. I bet he could set you straight.

Go to school, seriously. I'm not kidding. Just take some basic health and bio classes, you dont need a degree.

He doesn't need to go to school. His lack of a biology background doesn't have anything to do with his blatant ignorance. If he was going to spew mindless crap about resource allocation in research, he should've at least done minimal research (google search) to find that a very high proportion of medical research goes to high priority diseases such as HIV and cancer.

 

[zinfamous]

Jesus doesn't answer the prayers of libruls

that must be why this thread continues to cause me grief?

:thumbsup:

 

[Texashiker]

He doesn't need to go to school. His lack of a biology background doesn't have anything to do with his blatant ignorance. If he was going to spew mindless crap about resource allocation in research, he should've at least done minimal research (google search) to find that a very high proportion of medical research goes to high priority diseases such as HIV and cancer.

So its ok to allocate time for once common childhood diseases, while diseases like HIV run rampant?

I remember hearing about HIV sometime around 1985. 27 years later, and we still do not have a vaccine?

But during that time scientist developed vaccines for HPV and chicken pox?

How much further could we be in Hep C research if scientist would have taken the time, money and effort they put into HPV and Chicken Pox and put it into Hep C research?

We only have X amount of work hours in a year. Why divide that time between diseases that cause few health issues?

 

[zinfamous]

How many work hours does it take to preform a task given task?

Lets say with our technology we need to invest 10,000,000 hours of research to find a cure for HIV or Hep C. We do not know that we need to invest X amount of hours, its just a random number I used.

The less time we spend working on the project, the longer its going to take us.

So why not focus on the important issues, make some progress and get the killers out of the way.

Biology simply does not work like your factory or cubicle job. it can't be portioned out as time = result.

very silly and pedestrian analysis.

 

[busydude]

while diseases like HIV run rampant?

It is nowhere close to rampant.

 

[Texashiker]

Biology simply does not work like your factory or cubicle job. it can't be portioned out as time = result.

Who says it cant?

He doesn't need to go to school. His lack of a biology background doesn't have anything to do with his blatant ignorance.

Asking a question is ignorant?

The only ignorance in this thread is people blindly accepting what they have been told. Learn to think outside of what you have been told, ask the questions you were taught not to ask.