There are currently more than 250 million people with hepatitis c in the world, four times as many as those having AIDS. As the baby-boomer generation ages, more and more people are now finding out that they have acquired the hepatitis c virus. Many do not know when or how they got the virus, but most people still want sensible and minimally invasive treatments to help them overcome much of the damage caused by the hepatitis c virus.
OOne of the tests recommended by hepatologists is the liver biopsy. A liver biopsy is the taking of a small sample of liver tissue which is extracted usually with a needle and examined under a microscope. For many years, this method has been considered by hepatologists as the gold standard for gauging the extent of liver damage in people with chronic hepatitis.
Of course, liver biopsies are not without complications and many people with hepatitis c are reluctant to undergo the procedure. There can be pain involved; drug users in particular may legitimately fear that they will not get adequate pain medication. In addition, liver biopsies are contra-indicated for some people (for example, people with low platelet counts). Furthermore, biopsy complications can occur, including excessive bleeding and infection. And even under the best of circumstances, biopsies fail to accurately diagnose the stage of liver fibrosis about 20% of the time. Thus, researchers have sought other markers that could signal liver damage without the need for biopsy.
In our first report, we told you about the availability of HCV FIBROSURE, a non-invasive blood test for assessing liver status in hepatitis C virus patients. Developed in France , HCV Fibrosure is only available in the United States through LabCorp. But now, two recent Mayo Clinic studies have found that magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), a new imaging technique invented at Mayo Clinic, is an accurate tool for non-invasive diagnosis of liver diseases.
Here’s how MRE works. The liver responds to many diseases that damage its cells by developing scar tissue or fibrosis. MRE uses a modified form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to accurately measure the hardness or elasticity of the liver. By applying vibrations to the liver, MRE obtains pictures of the mechanical waves passing through the organ. The wave pictures are then processed to generate a quantitative image of tissue stiffness. "Healthy liver tissue is very soft, while a liver with fibrosis is firmer, and a liver with cirrhosis is almost rock-hard," says Richard Ehman, M.D., lead researcher on the MRE project. "If detected early, fibrosis of the liver can be treated, but once the disease has progressed to cirrhosis, the condition is irreversible."
In one study involving MRE examinations of 57 individuals with chronic liver disease and 20 healthy volunteers, the researchers confirmed that MRE accurately detects fibrosis with high sensitivity and specificity.
A second study looked at whether MRE can accurately measure portal hypertension, or high blood pressure in the portal vein that carries blood from the digestive track to the liver, usually as a result of cirrhosis of the liver. This study involved 35 individuals with varying degrees of chronic liver disease and 12 healthy volunteers. Researchers studied MRE examinations of liver and spleen stiffness and found that a highly significant correlation exists between liver and spleen stiffness in patients with portal hypertension. However, the validity of spleen stiffness as a noninvasive measure of portal venous pressure requires further study.
This research was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. Co-authors of these studies include Meng Yin; Roger Grimm; Phillip Rossman; Armando Manduca, Ph.D.; Patrick Kamath, M.D. and Dr. Ehman; all from Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester ; and Anthony Romano, Ph.D., of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington , D.C.
Most of the people who are afraid of the liver biopsy are the same people who shutter at the thought of having to take interferon chemotherapy. Many others have undergone the interferon treatment and have relapsed. Now they are looking for an alternative way with relatively no side-effects, because they swear they will NEVER undergo interferon treatment again.
The Chinese people cannot afford the cost of biopsy or interferon treatment. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. They have, instead, followed a course of herbal therapy that extends well over 5,000 years. Because of the huge amount of time the Chinese have spent treating individuals with herbs, we have to now assume that the Chinese have gotten very good using herbs and herbal treatments.
And so they have. Presently, over 1 million Chinese individuals are taking the Nu-Liver formulation for their hepatitis C liver disease. Science is continuing to evolve and better and safer methods are hopefully just around the corner. But we must be alive in order to receive these new scientific findings. That is our purpose at Samglo Enterprises: to keep you alive, to keep the hepatitis c virus from doing further harm to your liver, so that when science catches up with the virus, you will be there to receive the newer treatments.
We want you ALIVE, and functioning normally until that time comes. We will not accept treatments that are worse than the disease itself, that destroy the host in an attempt to kill the virus. Until there are safer, more practical, economical, and side-effect free western treatments to cure hepatitis c, we believe that NU-LIVER is the best eastern treatment, virtually side-effect free remedy in today’s marketplace. The Chinese must be doing something right. We are thankful to the Chinese Medical Doctor who brought Nu-Liver to the United States.
As always, we wish you the Best of Health.
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