The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an alert concerning reports of liver injury in patients taking Prezista. The FDA said Prezista (darunavir), an anti-retroviral drug used to treat for the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, is suspected of contributing to several hepatic events, including liver failure, destruction of liver tissue, cirrhosis, hepatitis and jaundice.
Read article at physorg.com
Comment: All anti-retroviral drugs are toxic.
Showing posts with label cirrhosis of the liver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cirrhosis of the liver. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Sunday, 24 February 2008
Alcohol is damaging the health of Britain's children
Drink sends 1,000 children a year to hospital
Extract from the Sunday Telegraph:
"Doctors said that without urgent action the spread of drinking among Britain's children would "destroy a generation". In England alone last year, 1,340 under-14s were admitted to hospitals because of alcohol problems.
Extract from the Sunday Telegraph:
"Doctors said that without urgent action the spread of drinking among Britain's children would "destroy a generation". In England alone last year, 1,340 under-14s were admitted to hospitals because of alcohol problems.
Dr Rajiv Jalan, a liver expert from the Institute of Hepatology, said that doctors fear five years of childhood drinking could do as much damage as two decades in adulthood. He said that alcohol had a massive effect on a growing child, preventing the proper growth of all the organs, including the brain.
"We are now seeing children as young as 10 and 11 drinking," he said. "We are already seeing 20-year-olds with cirrhosis of the liver and it is only a matter of time before we see that in teenagers.
"We need to act now, because if we wait 20 years we will destroy a generation. It usually takes about 10 or 20 years of drinking above safe limits to cause irreparable damage in adults, but we think it could be as little as five in children.""
Sunday, 17 June 2007
What to do if you have problems with your liver...
What can I do if I have cirrhosis of the liver? - Observer
There are suggestions from a reformed alcoholic, a nutritionist and a medical expert. - Here is my own suggestion: - avoid eating salt and salty food. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html
There are suggestions from a reformed alcoholic, a nutritionist and a medical expert. - Here is my own suggestion: - avoid eating salt and salty food. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html
Sunday, 27 May 2007
Fanta, Pepsi Max and some other soft drinks may be damaging your health because they contain E211 (sodium benzoate).
Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health - Independent on Sunday
Extract:
"A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.
The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.
The findings could have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also intensify the controversy about food additives, which have been linked to hyperactivity in children.
Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces.
Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.
Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.
He told The Independent on Sunday: "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether."
As far as cirrhosis of the liver and many other degenerative diseases are concerned, the best way to reduce the risk of developing them is to stop eating salt and salty food. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Extract:
"A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.
The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.
The findings could have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also intensify the controversy about food additives, which have been linked to hyperactivity in children.
Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces.
Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.
Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.
He told The Independent on Sunday: "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether."
As far as cirrhosis of the liver and many other degenerative diseases are concerned, the best way to reduce the risk of developing them is to stop eating salt and salty food. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Monday, 2 April 2007
Liver disease: the silent epidemic caused mainly by fluid retention and salt sensitivity
Liver disease: the silent epidemic - New Scientist
I'm afraid I have to disagree fundamentally with the main assertion in this New Scientist article. My comments will follow after the following extract from the article:
"There's more than one way to destroy your liver - and excessive eating is fast becoming the number one culprit
PETE had a truly awful Christmas. A few weeks earlier he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and the news was still sinking in while all around him the alcohol-fuelled festivities were in full swing. "I don't even drink," he told the specialist incredulously when given the diagnosis. Surely only hardened alcoholics get cirrhosis?
In November, feeling tired and washed-out, he had gone to see his doctor. Apart from being overweight he seemed to be in good health. Yet blood tests indicated he was anaemic and an endoscopy revealed a burst blood vessel in his gullet, a sign of cirrhosis, the final stage of liver disease. Weeks later Pete's abdomen swelled alarmingly as it filled with fluid - another sign - and a liver biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. He was only 35. "
It is, of course, correct that cirrhosis of the liver does not develop only in hardened alcoholics, though that is the impression we tend to get because that is mostly what is conveyed to us by health professionals. This article suggests that the cause is overeating. - It isn't. - The main and often exclusive cause is fluid retention and the salt sensitivity that results in the fluid retention. - The fluid retention causes obesity, which could also be said to be the cause of the liver disease. - But obesity is NOT caused by overeating. - That is the point.
The way to protect the liver from this grave illness is to avoid dieting and to minimise salt/sodium intake because this minimises the fluid retention and results in swift, safe weight reduction as some of the excess fluid is excreted from the body.
The liver is also damaged by having to metabolise medications, so it is best to avoid taking prescribed or over the counter drugs if they are not really necessary.
Obesity is not caused by overeating. It is caused by fluid retention, which in turn is usually caused by sodium retention. The blood vessels become distended with extra sodium and the water it attracts to itself. There is no evidence to support the calorie theory about obesity. - And reducing calories does not reduce obesity. - Reducing salt intake DOES reduce obesity because it reduces the fluid retention by enabling the body to excrete excess salt and water in the urine.
Calorie counting and advice about increasing exercise and reducing fat and carbohydrate intake to reduce obesity are ineffective, counter-productive and often damaging. - See the article in the British Medical Journal of November 2003 BMJ article for actual research on what happens when this advice is followed! - Over 800 obese adults were put on energy deficit diets, given diet sheets and plenty of instruction and help from trained staff, and apparently, visited fortnightly for a year, at the end of which they had GAINED weight! This mirrors the real experience of obese people, viz. - dieting makes you fat.
It is commonly accepted now, except by the 'experts', that less than 5% of dieters actually lose weight, and most gain weight as a result of dieting. - Even the ones who manage to lose weight do not usually improve their health. - See Guardian article for a report in The Guardian of Monday, June 27th 2005. It is about a huge research study of nearly 3000 people over a period of 18 years. The study found that overweight people who diet to reach a healthier weight are more likely to die young than those who remain fat. It also found that dieting causes physiological damage that in the long term can outweigh the benefits of the weight loss.
See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html for the many health problems that will be ameliorated by salt reduction.
I'm afraid I have to disagree fundamentally with the main assertion in this New Scientist article. My comments will follow after the following extract from the article:
"There's more than one way to destroy your liver - and excessive eating is fast becoming the number one culprit
PETE had a truly awful Christmas. A few weeks earlier he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and the news was still sinking in while all around him the alcohol-fuelled festivities were in full swing. "I don't even drink," he told the specialist incredulously when given the diagnosis. Surely only hardened alcoholics get cirrhosis?
In November, feeling tired and washed-out, he had gone to see his doctor. Apart from being overweight he seemed to be in good health. Yet blood tests indicated he was anaemic and an endoscopy revealed a burst blood vessel in his gullet, a sign of cirrhosis, the final stage of liver disease. Weeks later Pete's abdomen swelled alarmingly as it filled with fluid - another sign - and a liver biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. He was only 35. "
It is, of course, correct that cirrhosis of the liver does not develop only in hardened alcoholics, though that is the impression we tend to get because that is mostly what is conveyed to us by health professionals. This article suggests that the cause is overeating. - It isn't. - The main and often exclusive cause is fluid retention and the salt sensitivity that results in the fluid retention. - The fluid retention causes obesity, which could also be said to be the cause of the liver disease. - But obesity is NOT caused by overeating. - That is the point.
The way to protect the liver from this grave illness is to avoid dieting and to minimise salt/sodium intake because this minimises the fluid retention and results in swift, safe weight reduction as some of the excess fluid is excreted from the body.
The liver is also damaged by having to metabolise medications, so it is best to avoid taking prescribed or over the counter drugs if they are not really necessary.
Obesity is not caused by overeating. It is caused by fluid retention, which in turn is usually caused by sodium retention. The blood vessels become distended with extra sodium and the water it attracts to itself. There is no evidence to support the calorie theory about obesity. - And reducing calories does not reduce obesity. - Reducing salt intake DOES reduce obesity because it reduces the fluid retention by enabling the body to excrete excess salt and water in the urine.
Calorie counting and advice about increasing exercise and reducing fat and carbohydrate intake to reduce obesity are ineffective, counter-productive and often damaging. - See the article in the British Medical Journal of November 2003 BMJ article for actual research on what happens when this advice is followed! - Over 800 obese adults were put on energy deficit diets, given diet sheets and plenty of instruction and help from trained staff, and apparently, visited fortnightly for a year, at the end of which they had GAINED weight! This mirrors the real experience of obese people, viz. - dieting makes you fat.
It is commonly accepted now, except by the 'experts', that less than 5% of dieters actually lose weight, and most gain weight as a result of dieting. - Even the ones who manage to lose weight do not usually improve their health. - See Guardian article for a report in The Guardian of Monday, June 27th 2005. It is about a huge research study of nearly 3000 people over a period of 18 years. The study found that overweight people who diet to reach a healthier weight are more likely to die young than those who remain fat. It also found that dieting causes physiological damage that in the long term can outweigh the benefits of the weight loss.
See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html for the many health problems that will be ameliorated by salt reduction.
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Addendum 1:
The first 'Anonymous' has added a comment below this post, saying "I consume more salt than any other person I know, I occationally just pour some in my hand and eat it. I weight 145lbs @ 5'10 and depending on the day can be at body fat percentage that is just below the healthy minimum. Explain that." - Well I am not able to add a comment myself because of a technical problem, but the answer to Anonymous is that only people who are sensitive to salt become overweight/obese and suffer from fluid retention, so obviously Anonymous is not sensitive to salt and that is why he is slim and can eat lots of salt without gaining weight. He has good strong healthy veins that are strong enough to resist becoming swollen with excess salt and the water attendant on it.
Slim people are slim because they have healthy veins and kidneys and are not sensitive to salt.
Addendum 2:
The second 'Anonymous' comment asks if there is something other than salt in the diet that is causing the weak veins and the salt sensitivity and the answer is that there are many prescribed pharmaceutical drugs that cause weak veins and salt sensitivity. If Japanese people take fewer prescribed pharmaceutical drugs than people in the western world then they are much less likely to become obese. Pharmaceutical drugs are a major cause of obesity, especially of morbid obesity, so people who value their health would be wise to avoid taking prescribed pharmaceuticals unless there is very good reason to do so. See my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
Monday, 12 March 2007
The British Liver Trust gives obesity and cirrhosis warning.
British Liver Trust gives obesity and cirrhosis warning
Extract:
"Recent research in the US and Europe has shown that obesity is linked with the progression of liver disease from fatty liver through to fibrosis, cirrhosis and ultimately liver cancer. Obesity is responsible for 9,000 premature deaths each year in the UK. In just over two years it is predicted that one in three adults and a fifth of all children – a total of 13 million people – will be obese.
According to Professor Chris Day, a member of the Trust’s Medical Advisory Committee and a specialist in this area: “It is rare to treat someone with alcoholic liver disease who is not overweight or obese.”"
While alcohol is plainly bad for the liver, the fact that liver disease is almost always associated with overweight means that being overweight is the main cause of this liver disease. - The most effective and safest way to lose excess weight is to eat less salt.
Obesity is not caused by overeating. It is caused by fluid retention, frequently because of taking prescribed medications, especially steroids such as prednisolone, prednisone and HRT, and anti-depressants such as amitriptyline. People should be warned not to eat salt or salty food while taking any of these drugs.
Obesity can be easily reduced by seriously reducing your salt/sodium intake and eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. - It is important not to restrict calories. - 'Slimming' is unnecessary, ineffective and often harmful.
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Extract:
"Recent research in the US and Europe has shown that obesity is linked with the progression of liver disease from fatty liver through to fibrosis, cirrhosis and ultimately liver cancer. Obesity is responsible for 9,000 premature deaths each year in the UK. In just over two years it is predicted that one in three adults and a fifth of all children – a total of 13 million people – will be obese.
According to Professor Chris Day, a member of the Trust’s Medical Advisory Committee and a specialist in this area: “It is rare to treat someone with alcoholic liver disease who is not overweight or obese.”"
While alcohol is plainly bad for the liver, the fact that liver disease is almost always associated with overweight means that being overweight is the main cause of this liver disease. - The most effective and safest way to lose excess weight is to eat less salt.
Obesity is not caused by overeating. It is caused by fluid retention, frequently because of taking prescribed medications, especially steroids such as prednisolone, prednisone and HRT, and anti-depressants such as amitriptyline. People should be warned not to eat salt or salty food while taking any of these drugs.
Obesity can be easily reduced by seriously reducing your salt/sodium intake and eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. - It is important not to restrict calories. - 'Slimming' is unnecessary, ineffective and often harmful.
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Friday, 23 February 2007
Number of drink deaths in Britain doubles in 13 years
Number of drink deaths doubles in 13 years
Extract:
"Britain is in the grip of an alcohol crisis, according to official figures which show the number of people drinking themselves to death has almost doubled.
In 2004 there were 8,221 alcohol-related deaths, such as cirrhosis of the liver, in the UK, almost double the total of 4,144 in 1991. Of those 5,465 were men and 2,915 women.
Men and women in Scotland are twice as likely to die an alcohol-related death as people in the UK as a whole."
What is seldom, if ever, stated, is that salt sensitivity plays a large part in cirrhosis of the liver and so cutting down significantly on salt/sodium intake can lessen your chances of developing cirrhosis of the liver or can reduce its severity.
See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html for many other health problems that can be prevented or reduced by eating less salt/sodium.
Extract:
"Britain is in the grip of an alcohol crisis, according to official figures which show the number of people drinking themselves to death has almost doubled.
In 2004 there were 8,221 alcohol-related deaths, such as cirrhosis of the liver, in the UK, almost double the total of 4,144 in 1991. Of those 5,465 were men and 2,915 women.
Men and women in Scotland are twice as likely to die an alcohol-related death as people in the UK as a whole."
What is seldom, if ever, stated, is that salt sensitivity plays a large part in cirrhosis of the liver and so cutting down significantly on salt/sodium intake can lessen your chances of developing cirrhosis of the liver or can reduce its severity.
See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html for many other health problems that can be prevented or reduced by eating less salt/sodium.
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