At the time of the second biopsy, 50% of patients had normal GPT, 41% had negative HCV RNA, and 36% had normal GPT and negative HCV RNA. Each of these changes was associated with a statistically significant improvement in Knodell index score compared with continued abnormal GPT or positive HCV RNA. Read more…
Several studies reaffirmed the benefits of longer-term IFN therapy on sustained response rates and liver histology.
Bellobuono and colleagues (Milan, Italy) compared six and twelve months of IFN alfa-2b therapy in men with an unknown serum HCV RNA after one month of treatment. One hundred thirty patients with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis C without cirrhosis received IFN alfa-2b 5-8 MU TIW (genotype 1 a or 1b) or 3-5 MU TIW (genotype 2a or 3a) for 1 month. Read more…
Greg Spitz, M.D., a general and vascular surgeon in Aurora, Ill., has developed one of the newest ideas in varicose vein removal.
The TriVex system, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999, requires just three to four 3-millimeter incisions along the affected vein. The doctor threads a instrument under the vein that illuminates it and injects it with fluid and a mild anesthetic. Read more…
An estrogen alternative for women may prevent thinning of bones without increasing the risk of cancer. It’s called raloxifene (brand name: Evista).
Many women take estrogen to help prevent osteoporosis and heart disease. Read more…
Sharon,
This week I was pretty much on track. One client dinner was difficult, but overall, I still ate much less than the old days. I did workout twice this week. I need to do a better job on the workouts. I have not been taking any vitamins. Are they critical?
Once Dr. Judi Lee Chervenak started to learn the about the practice of obstetrics and gynecology during her training at UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School, “I knew that there was nothing else I could possibly want to do,” she said.
Most of all, she was inspired by mentors at the medical school who had a spirit of excellence, integrity and progress in women’s healthcare. She went on to do a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at New York University and a fellowship at New Jersey Medical School in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Read more…
The answer is probably not. Writing in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Consumer Magazine, Jane E. Henney, M.D., commissioner of the FDA, points out that the new genes and the proteins they make have no apparent effect on the people eating them. The genes are DNA, present in all foods, easily digested and not associated with human illness. The new proteins that have been FDA approved are nontoxic, are rapidly digestible and do not have the characteristics of proteins known to cause allergies. If they do, they must be labeled as such. Read more…
Food allergy can occur when the immune system recognizes and responds to certain proteins in food. Although as many as 40 percent of the U.S. population believe they have had digestive problems attributable to food allergy, only approximately 1 percent of them will have this diagnosis borne out with definitive testing. Read more…
Write out the answers to the following questions posed by Meryl Moritz, a coach with Leadership Strategies in Princeton, N.J.
What outcome do I want to see? Read more…
Art elements (line, shape, form, color, texture) relate to each other in many interesting ways. When we think of the relationship of one part to another, and each part to the whole, we’re dealing with proportion. An elephant’s ears — on an elephant — are in proportion to the awesome creature’s body size. Just imagine how similarly large ears would look on a cat, or a cow, or us! Read more…