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Nanoparticle Completely Eradicates Hepatitis C Virus
Diggester writes "While Americans worry every year about getting a flu shot or preventing HIV/AIDS, the deadlier silent killer is actually Hepatitis C, killing over 15,000 people yearly in the U.S. since 2007 — and the numbers continue to increase as the carriers increase in age. While there is no vaccine, there is hope in nanoparticle technology. The breakthrough came from a group of researchers at the University of Florida, creating a 'nanozyme' that eliminates the Hep C 100% of the time; before now, the six-month treatment would only work about half the time. The particles are coated with two biological agents, the identifier and the destroyer; the identifier recognizes the virus and sends the destroyer off to eliminate the mRNA which allows Hep C to replicate." Reader Joiseybill adds a link to coverage in the IEEE Spectrum, and points out that the 100 percent success rate, while encouraging, is so far only in the lab.
"While Americans worry every year about getting a flu shot or preventing HIV/AIDS, the deadlier silent killer is actually Hepatitis C, killing over 15,000 ..."
The flu kills each year an average number of 25000-36000 people in the US, depending on the statistics.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm
So take everyone to the lab for treatment. Duh.
would have been nice for mice to be mentioned in the summary since it appears only to apply to them. lucky dogs
work in progress
Well, there are more than a hundred discoveries like these that demonstrated effectiveness of curing the uncurables in the past decade. Of those which went through the testing in man, well, maybe 2 or 3...
Back then, avastin, glivec and so on were expected to be magical cures for cancers.. now they exist only as expensive life-prolonging (with or without quality) therapy and only for those who are rich.
That is a cynical idea, ok drug companies might prefer long term treatments to cures. But for insurance companies and nationalised health care systems cost is more important.
luckily the FDA can only rule on drugs for Americans in the USA. In Ireland I got prescribed a drug treatment here that was approved eventually by the FDA. I'm very happy for it being available to me sooner rather than later, and i am sure Americans are now seeing the benefits now they can have it too.
Blarney Quality Restaurant, Plants
Duh. The test on rats so far showed no side-effects which makes it better than radiation or incinerating the rats to kill the virus.
But it uses the word "nano" so it must work.
The previous treatment with ribavirin and interferon for one year had a 50% success rate. The newer six month treatment with the addition of Incivek for three months has over 75% rate. Since Incivek has only been on the market for about a year, that success rate is not as precise as it will be.
The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to be plausible.
I wish people would get that chemistry != nanotechnology.
Our world is filled with nanoscale molecules, including many that we designed and created, but the word "nanotechnology" was specifically coined to describe building things by the manipulation of individual atoms.
Add "on the internet" and they can patent it with no questions asked.
Hepatitis C++? Hepatitis C#?
Objective Hepatitis C. *shudders*
Dress up like a horse and go to a vet and you can get gene therapy and stem cells treatments.
Which is why if you really want first class medical treatment you don't get it in the USA. Even routine things such as stitches at the hospital can easily run you $500 without insurance in the US at even a bottom-barrel hospital. Go to Mexico at a top-tier, first class hospital and you can get your hand stitched up for under $50 without insurance.
Not to mention that nearly every other country (even including those in Europe!) have more access to cutting edge treatments.
Unfortunately, most Americans won't think to really look abroad because they think that the US is the most advanced nation in the world and that they can really get the best care there.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
I wish people would get that chemistry != nanotechnology.
Our world is filled with nanoscale molecules, including many that we designed and created, but the word "nanotechnology" was specifically coined to describe building things by the manipulation of individual atoms.
Unless you count crystals like diamond as one big molecule... I am pretty sure every molecule is nanoscale. Even .
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Same here in Canada. We're taught from an early age that we have the best health care system in the world, and everyone here believes it.
I'll keep this short, but we had a baby here in Canada and then we had our second child in Mexico, both were Cesarean. The care we received in Mexico was 100 times better than what we got in Canada. No waiting, no crappy attitude from nurses and doctors.. We had complications here in Canada but not in Mexico, and I believe that's due to a better doctor doing a more careful job. Not to mention the hospital was like a 5 star hotel, with a private room, big screen tv, etc.
You pay for the service there, but it's a real eye opener to realize how crappy our health care system is back home in comparison. So much for 1st world vs 3rd world.
Maybe health insurance companies should start buying pharma companies? That might change a few things.
I really shouldn't have used someone else's email address for this account.
I read an article that said the worst thing that ever happened to Canadian health care was for us to be situated next to the USA. Our system is leaps and bounds ahead of theirs, but because that's the metric by which we compare everything, we end up with a lousier system than somewhere like Mexico, or what they have in Scandinavia.
A friend of mine went to Holland to visit family. For her to get an ultrasound booked (because her family can't be back in Canada for the birth) was faster and cheaper in Holland--where she doesn't have insurance--than it would be here. AND when they found out that she was in from Canada, they threw in some freebie scans. Just like that.
I appreciate our system, I really do. It's taken care of me in some bad accidents, and when my family has had trouble (cancer, old age, heart disease) they've gotten really good care, without the rest of the family worrying about how we're going to live while paying for treatment. But being better than a place that has so many demonstrable, objective deficiencies doesn't make our system the best.