Liver Disease News and Research

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The liver is one of the largest solid organs of the body. It is located in the upper right part of the abdomen. Most of the organ lies under cover of the rib cage.

Enrollment complete in Ocera Therapeutics' ASTUTE Phase 2B trial for mild hepatic encephalopathy

Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the ASTUTE Study (AST-120 Used to Treat Hepatic Encephalopathy) has completed enrollment for its Phase 2B study ahead of schedule, with data expected mid 2010.

24 Feb 2010

FDA Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee supports approval of XIFAXAN 550 mg for management of HE

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. today reported that the Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA has recommended by a vote of 14 to 4 in favor of the approval of XIFAXAN® (rifaximin) Tablets, 550 mg for the maintenance of remission of hepatic encephalopathy (HE).

23 Feb 2010

HealthYes! expands life-saving mobile screening services to Oklahoma

HealthYes!®, a leading preventive medical screening company, is bringing its life-saving mobile screening services to Oklahoma. Leveraging the most medically advanced, state-of-the-art equipment and techniques in the industry, HealthYes! screens its clients for life-threatening medical conditions and diseases including: heart disease, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral artery disease, diabetes and liver disease along with osteoporosis.

18 Feb 2010

Childhood obesity: Strongest predictor of premature death

In a study now being published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Associate Professor Paul Franks of Umeå University in Sweden, in collaboration with researchers in the US, shows how childhood obesity, together with other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, affects premature death.

16 Feb 2010

Mayo Clinic Health Letter features comprehensive coverage of the liver

The liver, the largest internal organ, is the body's ultimate multitasker. While the liver is not glamorous or sentimental -- there are no love songs about a broken liver -- it simultaneously plays a key role in the body's metabolic, digestive and regulatory systems.

12 Feb 2010

New screening system developed to discover molecules that block HCV life cycle

A newly designed system of identifying molecules for treating hepatitis C should enable scientists to discover novel and effective therapies for the dangerous and difficult-to-cure disease of the liver, says Zhilei Chen, a Texas A&M University assistant professor of chemical engineering who helped develop the screening system.

12 Feb 2010

$NovaShunt initiates study to evaluate AFS for refractory ascites patients$

NovaShunt initiates study to evaluate AFS for refractory ascites patients

NovaShunt today announced the initiation of its pivotal multi- center clinical study named PIONEER, a Prospective, multi-center, open label, non-randomized study to Investigate the safety and perfOrmance of the Automated Fluid ShuNt in patiEnts with ascitEs and diuretic Resistance.

11 Feb 2010

Drug used to treat parasites in animals may offer new treatment for river blindness, study finds

"Closantel, an older drug used to treat a parasitic liver disease in animals, may prove effective at combating river blindness in humans, a major cause of infection-related blindness, U.S. researchers said on Monday," Reuters reports (Steenhuysen, 2/8).

10 Feb 2010

HealthYes! brings mobile screening services to Colorado

HealthYes!®, a leading preventive medical screening company, is bringing its life-saving mobile screening services to Colorado. Leveraging the most medically advanced, state-of-the-art equipment and techniques in the industry, HealthYes! screens its clients for life-threatening medical conditions and diseases including: heart disease, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral artery disease, diabetes and liver disease along with osteoporosis.

10 Feb 2010

IgM/IgG ratio is useful in diagnosing primary biliary cirrhosis

Previous studies have shown that assessment of immunoglobulin subclasses in plasma cells by immunohistochemistry (IHC) may be useful in the histopathologic evaluation of autoimmune liver diseases. However, further studies are necessary in order to validate the diagnostic utility of IgM and IgG immunohistochemistry in this specific scenario.

10 Feb 2010

Geisinger Health System and TGen sign research agreement

Geisinger Health System and the Translational Genomics Research Institute today announced the signing of a strategic research agreement that provides a focused look at the gaps in clinical medicine where biomedical research can make a difference.

4 Feb 2010

TGen, Geisinger Health System sign strategic research agreement

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Geisinger Health System today announced the signing of a strategic research agreement that provides for a focused look at the gaps in clinical medicine where biomedical research can make a difference.

4 Feb 2010

Minimally invasive living donor liver retrieval for pediatric transplant

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is the only medical center in the United States to offer minimally invasive liver donation for pediatric transplantation. Surgeons use a laparoscopic technique to remove a section of liver from a living donor for implantation in a pediatric patient -- typically a parent donating to their child. The innovative approach promises dramatically improved recovery for the donor.

2 Feb 2010

Obesity related health complications more dangerous than risks associated with bariatric surgery

Bariatric weight-loss surgery may sound dangerous and complicated, but a Geisinger physician warns that the real danger may be a life of obesity.

30 Jan 2010

Most Britons not aware of the dangers of alcohol misuse

A government-funded advertising campaign launching today, backed by Cancer Research UK and other major health charities, aims to raise awareness of the unseen health damage caused by regular alcohol misuse.

28 Jan 2010

Transplant tourism: Ethical issues

A recent case study by doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York examined the ethical issues posed by transplant tourism, an offshoot of medical tourism, which focuses solely on transplantation surgery. Many American transplant professionals frown on the practice of transplant tourism where patients travel to countries such as China, India, and the Philippines for their transplantation.

28 Jan 2010

Patients with NAFLD have higher overall mortality rate, say researchers

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute determined that patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have a higher overall mortality rate compared with the general population.

28 Jan 2010

TE can be accurately performed in majority of NAFLD patients to exclude advanced fibrosis

Researchers from France and Hong Kong determined that transient elastography (TE), a noninvasive, ultrasonic imaging modality, can be accurately performed in the majority of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to exclude advanced fibrosis. Full findings of this study, funded by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, appear in the February issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

27 Jan 2010

WellWorld Science officially launches Livea in the U.S.

After more than 30 years of research and an extensive open-label weight loss study, WellWorld Science® announces the official U.S. launch of Livea®, a doctor-developed, non-prescription, patent-pending appetite-control supplement that is unlike any other dietary supplement on the market.

27 Jan 2010

The American Journal of Pathology: Highlights from February 2010 issue

A group led by Dr. Peter Lloyd Jones at the University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland; the University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO; and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA has demonstrated that tenascin-C affects proto-oncogene function in breast cancer. Their report can be found in the February 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

22 Jan 2010