INDIANA'S 6th ANNUAL HEPFEST FESTIVAL

THIS IS TO INFORM EVERYONE ABOUT THIS YEARS HEPFEST FESTIVAL. IT WILL BE HELD AT THE SAME PARK AS LAST YEARS. AND WE ARE WORKING ON SOME GREAT NAMED BANDS. WHOOO HOOOOO  WE WILL HAVE TO FAMOUS KIDZONE ALSO. THE EVENT WILL BE A COMBINATION OF FUN FUN FUN, LIVE MUSIC, LOTS OF INFORMATION, SPEAKERS EVEN THE STATE SENATOR WILL BE THERE, WE WILL HAVE FOOD, FUN, GAMES, WE WILL ALSO ONCE AGAIN HAVE THE FREE RAFFLE TICKETS ( WHERE EVERYONE COMING IN THE DOOR WILL GET 5 FREE RAFFLE TICKETS AND RECEIVE ALOT OF FREE STUFF DONATED BY THE BUSINESSES IN OUR COMMUNITY AND STUFF AUTOGRAPHED FROM JOHN MELLENCAMP. SO PUT YOUR COMFY CLOTHES ON AND KICK BACK AND ENJOY THE DAY!!!! IT IS FOR YOU!!! 
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CALL OR EMAIL ME WITH ANY QUESTION'S.
Christie Soaper
260-927-8180 home
260-515-5130 cell
ladytruckr@mchsi.com
ladytruckr1962@mediacombb.net 

Hugs to you all. Hope to see you soon!

S.A. doctors find faster, better way to beat hepatitis C

Two local In California  physicians who studied therapies for liver-damaging hepatitis C have found that a new drug combination wipes out the virus quicker and without the harmful side effects of the current treatment.

Their study found that the new drug cocktail boosted the rate of curing certain types of patients from 70 percent to 95 percent in a quarter of the time, said Dr. Fred Poordad, the study's lead author.

Poordad and Dr. Eric Lawitz, liver specialists and professors at the University of Texas Health Science Center, authored the study with several other physicians. It was published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Abbott Laboratories created the two investigational drugs, preliminarily called ABT-450 and ABT-333, and funded the study of 50 South Texas patients, Poordad said.

Hepatitis C is the most common blood-borne infection in the United States, with about 3.2 million people chronically infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can cause liver disease, liver cancer and death.

People can get the virus from contact with infected blood, often through contaminated needles. Some got it from blood transfusions before the U.S. began screening for it in 1992, according to the CDC.

There are several types of hepatitis C, and Poordad's study tackled genotype 1, which he said is the most common and most difficult to cure. None of the study subjects had cirrhosis, a common consequence of hepatitis C.

The current 48-week treatment includes an injection of interferon, which stimulates part of the immune system to fight the virus but depresses other parts, producing side effects, Poordad said. Interferon is administered through a weekly injection, accompanied by other drugs taken daily in pill form.

“Interferon has a tremendous number of side effects, particularly flu-like symptoms,” including headaches, nausea, depression and thyroid gland damage, Poordad said. “Many people actually never got treated because they'd heard so many horror stories about the interferon side effects.”

So researchers have been hunting for less-toxic drugs. ABT-450 and ABT-333 are antiviral agents that stop the virus from replicating, he said.

In the South Texas study, those who had not been previously treated for the virus fared better.

For 12 weeks, researchers gave patients pills containing the two investigational drugs, plus the currently used antiviral drug ribavirin and the drug ritonavir.

Between 93 and 95 percent of patients who had not already been treated were considered cured of hepatitis C when evaluated after treatment. Of those who had been unsuccessfully treated before, 47 percent were considered cured.

The side effects were largely mild but included fatigue, nausea, headache, dizziness, insomnia, itching, rash and vomiting, according to the study.

Judith Hyland, 54, of San Antonio said she was one of the study's lucky patients who had been treated before but who found success with the new drugs anyway.

She said she discovered she had hepatitis C decades ago when a blood bank screened blood she had donated. Hyland believes she contracted the disease from her ex-husband, an intravenous drug user who passed away last year from hepatitis C complications.

“I couldn't work. Many times, I couldn't eat,” she said, calling her prior interferon treatment “debilitating.”

During the study, she had a three-day period where she felt ill, fainted and lacked energy, but said she felt fine afterward.

Then, in May, she learned the good news — the drugs had scrubbed the virus from her bloodstream and liver.

“I got my letter of clearance in May and was like, 'Oh, my God,'” she said. “I wanted to bronze it and put it up on the wall.”

Baby boomers such as Hyland have particularly high rates of the virus, which often has no symptoms. This year, the CDC recommended those born between 1945 and 1965 get tested.

“This cohort is the group we're really worried about because they're advancing to cirrhosis of the liver and getting liver cancer and needing transplants,” Poordad said. “We want to be able to find viable cures for these individuals so they don't develop all of these complications.”

The new drugs are still a couple years away from coming to the market, he said. The next step is to examine the drug's effects on a broader population of patients.

jlloyd@express-news.net

Twitter: @jlloydster

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/article/S-A-doctors-find-faster-better-way-to-beat-4173633.php#ixzz2HOeymmAP

Patients receiving opioid maintenance treatment in primary care: successful chronic hepatitis C care in a real world setting

Published on: 2013-01-08

Injection drug users (IDUs) represent a significant proportion of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). The low treatment uptake among these patients results in a low treatment effectiveness and a limited public health impact.

We hypothesised that a general practitioner (GP) providing an opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) for addicted patients can achieve CHC treatment and sustained virological response rates (SVR) comparable to patients without drug dependency.

Methods: Retrospective patient record analysis of 85 CHC patients who received OMT for more than 3 months in a single-handed general practice in Zurich from January 1, 2002 through May 31, 2008. CHC treatment was based on a combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

Treatment uptake and SVR (undetectable HCV RNA 6 months after end of treatment) were assessed. The association between treatment uptake and patient characteristics was investigated by multiple logistic regression.

Results: In 35 out of 85 CHC patients (52 males) with a median (IQR) age of 38.8 (35.0-44.4) years, antiviral therapy was started (41.2%).

Median duration (IQR) of OMT in the treatment group was 55.0 (35.0-110.1) months compared to the group without therapy 24.0 (9.8-46.3) months) (p<0.001). OMT duration remained a significant determinant for treatment uptake when controlled for potential confounding.
SVR was achieved in 25 out of 35 patients (71%).

Conclusion: In addicted patients a high CHC treatment and viral eradication rate in a primary care setting in Switzerland is feasible. Opioid substitution seems a beneficial framework for CHC care in this "difficult to treat"population.

Author: André SeidenbergThomas RosemannOliver Senn

Credits/Source: BMC Infectious Diseases 2013, 13:9

Source

Just an important update!!

     I will say again!! I say this over and over to everyone I talk to. Do not let Hepatitis C get you down! You need to get a good support system around you! You need your family and friends. You need to also reach out to a local support group and if there isn't one in your area start one. That is what I did 8 years ago and we started with just two people but once the word got out we grew like crazy, almost 100. I am so blessed! I pray the people I have and do talk to are just as blessed. I really have my heart into bringing the awareness to my community and more. Heck I have people even outside of my community that I am making aware. That's a blessing too!
     See Hepatitis C is changing alot in the next 5 years. They are finally realizing that the facts. Hepatitis C is taking America! Please know that facts!!! Hepatitis C, lets see the CDC and A.L.F. , both say that for every 1 case of AIDS being reported in America that there is 5 to 6 cases being reported!! It is very very important for everyone to reach out and stop being shy or scared of the Stigma. Stigma. Who invited that word or action anyway? I think that word should be erased from the dictionary. Period..... If You have been in the service, had a blood transfusion before 1992 or any type of blood to blood type of things before 1992, if you use drugs in anyway. Snorting drugs is just as dangerous as IV use. See IV is bad yes and the worst in the drug world, but snorting behind someone is becoming just as scary. Because snorting any drug can cause your nose to bleed inside and just one drop of blood with the Hepatitis C Virus in it can live outside the body for 30 plus days! So the tool you use to snort behind someone is very full of disease. If you are in the medical field and have ever been stuck then yes you need to get tested and tested regularly I would say. The new word out is that all baby boomers get tested now. There is also those who are getting Body Piercing's or Tattoo's in a shop that doesn't have this very very expensive, that cleans the tools they use. This is the main form of transmission right now in America! And I am not putting Tattoo's or piercings down, I am just saying be safe. Hepatitis C is in this world bad! So check your Tattoo shops for Sterilizing machine's? Please check them they have to show it to you if you ask. So please be sure to ask!!! Well the treatment for Hepatitis C is going crazy right now, with the spread being worse then AIDS in America! Please please get tested. Two ways to do it without any insurance is. 1. Go to your local Health Department and ask for the Hepatitis C test. And. 2. Donate your blood. These are two free ways of being tested. So you should never have a reason not to get tested. If you are sitting thinking well what about that time? Then get tested!! What you have doesn't make you who you are. You are a person with or without Hepatitis C. Please if you are a Negative person (do not have Hepatitis C) Please do not shoo away someone who is Positive. Open your heart then your minds and get educated!!
     Okay as far as the home base here well things are crazy but good. God is very active in our hearts and my family. Thank you God is something i was singing when I found out that I didn't have to have Valve Replacement in my heart. That was alot of prayer. I thank all of you who have been praying. It really means alot to have the support system that I do! I have one awesome circle of family and friends. Thank you!! I am sorry I do not get post in regularly But alot is going on! And I am still new to the whole idea. After all being a trucker most of my life has really made me and the whole clerical side of me. Well lets just say it is slow. So I apologize. I am also in the running to make this year's HepFest Festival an awesome year. And really it is alot of work when I am sick alot. Just moving my stomach around or soreness of my Liver it makes me just want to sit in one spot and not move. But I am trying! Fighting for everyday. And grateful when I wake up in the morning with most of my body moving. The 3 Strokes really have scared me. Since I am having them in my sleep!! Very scary to wake up and not be able to move a body part and your mind not all the way like it was when I went to sleep the night before. It is a very lonely world that I live in but I am very loved by many and God has blessed me with the drive to find a cure for Hepatitis C. I love all of you who are supportive for my family and me!!! Hugssss to everyone!!!!
     Remember to smile at everyone you see! In hopes that they will pass it on!!!

God Bless you very much!!
Christie