Cirrhosis News and Research

Latest Cirrhosis News and Research

Women more vulnerable to effects of alcohol use

Although women consume less alcohol than men, they are more susceptible to some of the negative medical consequences of alcohol use, such as cirrhosis of the liver, cardiac disease, and cognitive impairments.

6 Jan 2006

Liver cirrhosis in Britain worst in Europe

Britain has had the steepest increase in death rates from liver cirrhosis in western Europe since the 1950s, according to a study in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

6 Jan 2006

New pathways linking liver disease to changes in the central nervous system

Liver disease is often associated with "sickness behaviors," such as malaise, listlessness, anorexia, difficulty concentrating, and fatigue. In cholestatic liver diseases (where bile production is impaired) such as primary biliary cirrhosis, fatigue occurs in up to 86 percent of patients.

5 Jan 2006

Gulf War Syndrome more prevalent in first Persian Gulf War veterans

Comparing veterans deployed in the first Persian Gulf War and veterans deployed elsewhere at the same time has revealed veterans who served in the Persian Gulf have nearly twice the prevalence of chronic multi-symptom illness (CMI), a cluster of symptoms similar to a set of conditions often called Gulf War Syndrome.

5 Jan 2006

Binge drinking amongst young Brit's on the rise

According to experts in the UK, hospitals are being forced to treat record numbers of young people admitted to hospital for drink-related diseases.

28 Dec 2005

Experts unsurprised by level of alcohol abuse

In response to figures on alcohol abuse released this week, Dr Peter Rice, a leading consultant psychiatrist with the NHS Tayside Alcohol Problem Service, said he is not surprised as alcohol-related problems were having a detrimental effect on the lives of too many people across Tayside and Scotland.

21 Dec 2005

Liver transplants may not be suitable for all cystic fibrosis patients

A new study on patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) who have had abnormal bleeding from ruptured blood vessels in the esophagus (variceal hemorrhage) as a result of liver disease found that transplant may not be indicated if there are no other indications of advanced liver disease.

5 Dec 2005

Drinking lots of coffee and tea can reduce the risk of chronic liver disease

A study published in the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) journal Gastroenterology found that people at high risk for liver injury may be able to reduce their risk for developing chronic liver disease significantly by drinking more than two cups of coffee or tea daily.

2 Dec 2005

Largest hepatitis-C U.S. study defines optimal therapy

Final results of the WIN-R trial,[1] the largest hepatitis C study conducted in U.S. patients, showed that weight-based REBETOL (ribavirin, USP) in combination therapy with PEG-INTRON (peginterferon alfa-2b) achieved significantly higher rates of sustained virologic response (SVR)[2] and lower rates of relapse compared to the combination therapy using a flat dose of ribavirin.

14 Nov 2005

Largest study to date on risk factors associated with primary biliary cirrhosis

A case-control study of more than 2000 people has identified a number of factors that may induce primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) in genetically susceptible individuals. These include a history of urinary tract infections, hormone replacement therapy, tobacco use, and nail polish use.

3 Nov 2005

Accumulation of fat in the liver linked to hypertension

The accumulation of fat in the liver, or "fatty liver," resulting from accumulation of central body fat, and perhaps not alcohol consumption, may represent an important underlying mechanism for the association between liver enzymes and hypertension.

3 Nov 2005

New hormone discovery has implications for liver diseases

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered that the small intestine communicates with the liver to control the production of bile acids - a finding that has great medical implications in treating people at risk for certain types of liver disease.

11 Oct 2005

20 percent of people with chronic hepatitis C who receive a liver transplant will develop advanced cirrhosis

A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine may have found a way to identify those at greatest risk, thereby allowing doctors to decide who should receive treatment that could save the transplanted organ. The new findings appear in the October issue of the journal Liver Transplantation.

9 Oct 2005

Discovery of mechanisms causing portal hypertension

A physician-scientist at UT Southwestern Medical Center and his research team have identified mechanisms causing a potentially deadly type of hypertension that results from liver damage – findings that could lead to its prevention.

3 Oct 2005

Potential biomarker that could be used to predict who might develop hepatic fibrosis

Two new studies on Hepatitis C (HCV) patients who underwent liver transplants examined a potential biomarker that could be used to predict who might develop hepatic fibrosis, a formation of scar-like tissue that can lead to cirrhosis.

3 Oct 2005

Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in children

The Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) Clinical Research Network has launched its second clinical trial to study NASH, a liver disease that resembles alcoholic liver disease but occurs in patients who drink little or no alcohol. The first trial, launched in January of this year, focuses on adults, while the second trial studies the disease in children.

27 Sep 2005

Spouses in a poor marriage are more likely to be stressed during the workday

...a finding that could mean a greater likelihood of strokes and heart disease for both husband and wife, according to researchers at Brandeis University and University College London.

26 Sep 2005

Combining radiation, chemotherapy and liver transplantation increases survival in bile duct cancer patients

A new treatment for patients with a type of bile duct cancer promises a greater chance at survival by combining radiation, chemotherapy and liver transplantation, Mayo Clinic physicians report in the September issue of the Annals of Surgery.

12 Sep 2005

Study suggests cirrhosis and liver disease nearly inevitable for people with hep C

Nearly 80 percent of chronic hepatitis C sufferers who have the disease for several decades will develop cirrhosis or end-stage liver disease later in life, according to a study published today in the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

1 Sep 2005