Prevention key to target HBV

[Guest guest]

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=ODMyNzY1MDU3

Prevention key to target HBV

Published Date: December 29, 2008

By Dana Khraiche, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Raising awareness about Hepatitis B, the most common and serious form of

liver infection, helps reduce the number of people affected by eliminating the

cultural stigma that makes those infected feel isolated and afraid of the

treatment itself, said Dr Tarek Hasanein, Professor of Medicine and Surgery and

Director of Clinical Trials Center at the University of California, San Diego.

Bristol-Myers Squibb sponsored a media roundtable for Hasanein to discuss the

latest research and treatment of Hepatit

is B yesterday at the Courtyard Hotel.

We have new treatment for early discovery of Hepatitis B infections and we can

control the virus completely and prevent it from reaching the extent of liver

cancer, " Hasanein said.

He also said that liver cancer is the worst case for a liver because the only

way to treat it would be through liver transplant. However, if Hepatitis B was

found early on, new treatment can help the liver regenerate and prevent the

worst case scenarios.

According to Dr Hasanein, prevention is the key to target Hepatitis B virus

(HBV). Prevention is established through regular, annual checkups and educating

people about the infection, eliminating any misconceptions.

Research shows that people with HBV cannot transmit the disease through physical

contact or sexual intercourse, " Hasanein said during his presentation. He also

said that he received many patients, especially from the Middle East, who

claimed their daughters cannot get married because of HBV infection, which is

one of the reasons Dr Hasanein encourages raising awareness about the subject.

HBV can be transmitted through the transfer of blood or body fluids from mother

to child during pregnancy or through direct contact via infected blood products

such as razors or nail clippers; tools that might have blood traces on them.

Patients sometimes wait to be treated because they do not want people to know

about their problem, but the more you wait, the worse the problem gets and the

more expensive the treatment is, " said Hasanein, who also assures that

prevention is cheaper for communities with limited resources. " The more people

we treat early on, the less liver transplant surgeries we perform.

Another way of prevention is having more medical supervision in Middle Eastern

hospitals. Dirty needles and multiple uses of one needle can contribute to

spreading HBV.

The troublesome aspect of HBV is that the symptoms are undetectable unless it

has reached the worst phase which would require transplantation surgery.

Therefore, screenings should be performed every two years. Because symptoms are

usually not noticed, the disease is often called the " silent killer.

Even if the mother carrying the virus is pregnant, there are ways to help her

baby so that they are not born with it. Children who are born with it have a 5

percent chance of fighting it, " Hasanein said.

Non-treatment usually leads to death; however, with early treatment, this number

can definitely go down, Hasanein said. " One tablet a day can reduce HBV to the

point of completely curing it, and the good news is that side effects for such a

medication is minimum to zero. HBV is a piece of cake! " Hasanein said.

The new medication doesn't cause problems if other medications are taken with

it. The problem of HBV also lies in the lack of healthy liver contributors. " No

country in the world has been able to overcome the problem of the small number

of contributors. I have hundreds of patients waiting for a liver transplant but

it is difficult to find someone with a healthy liver, " Hasanein said, reminding

the audience that early treatment was the best choice.

The disease has spread mostly through immigration and travel, and it is mostly

spread in Africa and Asia. Infection in the Middle East is partly blamed on

certain foods consumed in the region that are high in calories and high in fat,

which increases fat clusters on the liver. " When you lose weight, many problems

associated with weight-gain go away such as blood pressure, heart disease and

HBV, " Hasanein said.

He ended the roundtable by reminding the audience of the benefits of early

treatments and by stressing on the idea of public awareness about the disease.

" We need to eliminate the stigma surrounding this disease so people can get

treatment, live normal lives, and eliminate liver cancer.

Later in the evening, Dr Hasanein, along with Professor Fuad Ahmad, Dean of

Faculty of Medicine and head of the GIT Departmemt at Mubarak Hospital, held a

lecture titled 'Resistence Data.' The liver is the most important organ in a

human's body, performing over 500 tasks to maintain a healthy and clean body.

[Guest guest]

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=ODMyNzY1MDU3

Prevention key to target HBV

Published Date: December 29, 2008

By Dana Khraiche, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Raising awareness about Hepatitis B, the most common and serious form of

liver infection, helps reduce the number of people affected by eliminating the

cultural stigma that makes those infected feel isolated and afraid of the

treatment itself, said Dr Tarek Hasanein, Professor of Medicine and Surgery and

Director of Clinical Trials Center at the University of California, San Diego.

Bristol-Myers Squibb sponsored a media roundtable for Hasanein to discuss the

latest research and treatment of Hepatit

is B yesterday at the Courtyard Hotel.

We have new treatment for early discovery of Hepatitis B infections and we can

control the virus completely and prevent it from reaching the extent of liver

cancer, " Hasanein said.

He also said that liver cancer is the worst case for a liver because the only

way to treat it would be through liver transplant. However, if Hepatitis B was

found early on, new treatment can help the liver regenerate and prevent the

worst case scenarios.

According to Dr Hasanein, prevention is the key to target Hepatitis B virus

(HBV). Prevention is established through regular, annual checkups and educating

people about the infection, eliminating any misconceptions.

Research shows that people with HBV cannot transmit the disease through physical

contact or sexual intercourse, " Hasanein said during his presentation. He also

said that he received many patients, especially from the Middle East, who

claimed their daughters cannot get married because of HBV infection, which is

one of the reasons Dr Hasanein encourages raising awareness about the subject.

HBV can be transmitted through the transfer of blood or body fluids from mother

to child during pregnancy or through direct contact via infected blood products

such as razors or nail clippers; tools that might have blood traces on them.

Patients sometimes wait to be treated because they do not want people to know

about their problem, but the more you wait, the worse the problem gets and the

more expensive the treatment is, " said Hasanein, who also assures that

prevention is cheaper for communities with limited resources. " The more people

we treat early on, the less liver transplant surgeries we perform.

Another way of prevention is having more medical supervision in Middle Eastern

hospitals. Dirty needles and multiple uses of one needle can contribute to

spreading HBV.

The troublesome aspect of HBV is that the symptoms are undetectable unless it

has reached the worst phase which would require transplantation surgery.

Therefore, screenings should be performed every two years. Because symptoms are

usually not noticed, the disease is often called the " silent killer.

Even if the mother carrying the virus is pregnant, there are ways to help her

baby so that they are not born with it. Children who are born with it have a 5

percent chance of fighting it, " Hasanein said.

Non-treatment usually leads to death; however, with early treatment, this number

can definitely go down, Hasanein said. " One tablet a day can reduce HBV to the

point of completely curing it, and the good news is that side effects for such a

medication is minimum to zero. HBV is a piece of cake! " Hasanein said.

The new medication doesn't cause problems if other medications are taken with

it. The problem of HBV also lies in the lack of healthy liver contributors. " No

country in the world has been able to overcome the problem of the small number

of contributors. I have hundreds of patients waiting for a liver transplant but

it is difficult to find someone with a healthy liver, " Hasanein said, reminding

the audience that early treatment was the best choice.

The disease has spread mostly through immigration and travel, and it is mostly

spread in Africa and Asia. Infection in the Middle East is partly blamed on

certain foods consumed in the region that are high in calories and high in fat,

which increases fat clusters on the liver. " When you lose weight, many problems

associated with weight-gain go away such as blood pressure, heart disease and

HBV, " Hasanein said.

He ended the roundtable by reminding the audience of the benefits of early

treatments and by stressing on the idea of public awareness about the disease.

" We need to eliminate the stigma surrounding this disease so people can get

treatment, live normal lives, and eliminate liver cancer.

Later in the evening, Dr Hasanein, along with Professor Fuad Ahmad, Dean of

Faculty of Medicine and head of the GIT Departmemt at Mubarak Hospital, held a

lecture titled 'Resistence Data.' The liver is the most important organ in a

human's body, performing over 500 tasks to maintain a healthy and clean body.