It was announced across the country today that singer and daughter of the late Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Her drug use is suspected for causing the disease. Ms. Cole told reporters that even though she had conquered her past, she was still going to the effects of bad choices years ago. She has started a regime of treatment that has been prescribed by her physician.
Weil wrote, "Because illness can be such a powerful stimulus to change, perhaps the only thing that can force some people to resolve their deepest conflicts, successful patients often come to regard it as the greatest opportunity they have ever had for personal growth and development - truly a gift." I re-read that sentence throughout my treatment and it became my rallying cry for a period in my life that I refer to as Revolution
Rein and colleagues from the University of Chicago published in the Feb. 21 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine results of a study using a computer model to estimate how screening the Baby Boomer age group would reduce deaths significantly. The projected estimated cost shrinks to 50 percent less with utilization of this new method for screening and early treatment.
It has been suggested that, besides being a very limited study of only three patients, the real reason the study has never been published in the states is due to the fact that liver transplants are highly profitable for mainstreams medicine, costing over $300,000 in the first three months alone, plus many thousands of dollars afterwards for anti-rejection drugs and aftercare.
If you're 18, it's easier to paint on a tattoo, such as henna, so that by the time you're 50 or 70, you have had the chance to change the look of the art or wash it off when your skin tone changes. Otherwise that 1/2 inch rose on your skin will soon droop, or that piercing in your nose or ears will stretch out with time and gravity. When it comes to tattoos, what looks good at 17 won't just when you want to look good at 50 and better.
I got Hepatitis C from the birth of my oldest daughter. This happened back in 1980. Back then, so little was known about the different strains of Hep C, the doctors were not able to diagnose it as such. I got the initial jaundice, vomiting and fever. The doctors told me it was Hepatitis, but it was Hepatitis A. No big deal they said.
Phase 2 will be a trial involving at-risk patients, to determine whether the immune response is actually effective against the virus. Hepatitis C can go unnoticed for years, and cause severe liver damage in the interim, making this disease one for which a vaccine would be particularly valuable. The World Health Organization estimates the number of cases worldwide could be as high as 170 million. The virus is transmitted through blood-to-blood contact, commonly with tainted needles. Infections can be controlled with antiviral drugs once they are diagnosed.
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