Liver Disease

In an age of long commutes, late sports practices, endless workdays and 24/7 television programming, the image of Mom hanging up her dish towel at 7 p.m. and declaring "the kitchen is closed" seems a quaint relic of an earlier era. It also harks back to a thinner America. And that may be no coincidence. A new study, conducted on mice, hints at an unexpected contributor to the nation's epidemic of obesity - and, if later human studies bear it out, a possible way to have our cake and eat it too, with less risk of weight gain and the diseases that come with it. Just eat your cake - or better yet, an apple - earlier.

More than a quarter of L.A.'s homeless adults are infected with the hepatitis C virus, and nearly half of them don't know it, UCLA researchers reported this week. Almost none of them have been treated for the infection, suggesting that the public health system could face a major financial burden as their infections progress to cirrhosis of the liver and end-stage liver disease. The hepatitis C virus, known as HCV, represents a potentially lethal infection. It is transmitted through the blood, primarily by needles used for injecting drugs.

A homeless man was found lying dead on the sidewalk in downtown San Diego on Tuesday morning. Authorities determined he died of liver disease. The man, who has not yet been identified, apparently made the area of 7th Avenue and Broadway his home. He was found dead at 7:30 a.m., after being recognized by the officers who regularly patrol the region, police spokesman Bill Robinson said. The man's death was not associated with the sudden drop in temperatures the night that he died, Robinson said.

In an age of long commutes, late sports practices, endless workdays and 24/7 television programming, the image of Mom hanging up her dish towel at 7 p.m. and declaring "the kitchen is closed" seems a quaint relic of an earlier era. It also harks back to a thinner America. And that may be no coincidence. A new study, conducted on mice, hints at an unexpected contributor to the nation's epidemic of obesity - and, if later human studies bear it out, a possible way to have our cake and eat it too, with less risk of weight gain and the diseases that come with it. Just eat your cake - or better yet, an apple - earlier.

The spindly, yellow-flowered Bupleurum chinense and some closely related species are key herbs in traditional Chinese medicine prescribed for mood swings and gastrointestinal conditions. The root of the plant is one of the main ingredients in an herbal formula widely known by its Japanese name, Sho-saiko-to -- in Chinese it's known as xiao chai hu tang -- that contains ginseng, licorice, ginger and a handful of other herbs in addition to Bupleurum.

The maker of Liverite dietary supplements is settling federal charges that it falsely claimed its products could work wonders, from preventing such serious liver diseases as cirrhosis and hepatitis to curing hangovers. Liverite Products Inc., based in Tustin, Calif.

Dame Sheila Sherlock, 83, a leading authority on liver disease who established study of the liver as a distinct discipline, died of undisclosed causes Dec. 30 at her home in London. Sherlock studied medicine at Edinburgh University and graduated at the top of her class in 1941. In 1951, at age 33, she became the youngest woman elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

James Earl Ray, the jailed assassin of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was hospitalized again over the weekend with chronic liver disease. Ray was taken to Nashville Memorial Hospital late Saturday in critical condition. His condition was upgraded to serious Sunday evening, hospital spokeswoman Freda Herndon said. Ray's lawyer, William Pepper, said earlier this month that Ray would die within months unless he gets a liver transplant.

In the brightly lit room at New England Medical Center, John already wore faded teal scrubs when I returned from dinner. He had his Docksiders on too. "I remembered what Dad told me," he said wryly. "Keep your shoes." Our father hadn't cared much for hospitals and had tried to slip out once or twice. He died in 1994 from Alzheimer's disease, only months after my brother's diagnosis with primary sclerosing cholangitis, the illness now destroying John's liver. At 6 a.m.

Two years after the supplement SAMe was introduced in the United States as a potential, but never proved, remedy for depression and arthritis, researchers may have found a condition it actually helps--chronic liver disease. Such disease, especially liver disease caused by alcoholism, currently has few effective treatments, so the possibility is generating enthusiasm among researchers and physicians alike.

The W. M. Keck Foundation on Monday will announce a gift of $150 million to boost scientific research at USC's medical school and at two affiliated hospitals, adding to the university's recent success in attracting supersized donations. The gift is the single largest in the 57-year history of the Keck Foundation, which has backed many scientific projects, including the famous Keck Observatory and telescopes in Hawaii. For USC, the money marks the third mega-gift since March, for a total of $460 million, as new President C. L. Max Nikias seeks to build the Los Angeles university's endowment.

Dr. Baruch Blumberg, who received the 1976 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discovering the hepatitis B virus, which causes severe liver disease and cancer, and who later developed the vaccine that protects against it, has died. He was 85. Blumberg died Tuesday after apparently suffering a heart attack after delivering the keynote address at a NASA conference at the agency's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in Mountain View, near San Jose. The isolation of the hepatitis B virus and development of a test for it were the first steps in the elimination of the virus from the U.S. blood supply, and the development of the vaccine led to a sharp decline in the incidence of both infections and liver cancer worldwide.

A 50-year-old with Type 2 diabetes will lose an average of six years of life as a result of the disease, only one less than would be lost by a long-term smoker of the same age, researchers reported Wednesday. He or she is more than twice as likely to die of cardiovascular disease as someone without diabetes and 25% more likely to die of cancer, according to the report, an international study of more than 820,000 people published in the New England Journal of Medicine. People with Type 2 diabetes are also more likely to die from kidney disease, liver disease, pneumonia, infectious diseases and even intentional self-harm, according to the study, which was conducted by the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, based at the University of Cambridge in England.

A 50-year-old with Type 2 diabetes will lose an average of six years of life as a result of the disease, only one less than would be lost by a long-term smoker of the same age, researchers reported Wednesday. He or she is more than twice as likely to die of cardiovascular disease as someone without diabetes and 25% more likely to die of cancer, according to the report, an international study of more than 820,000 people published in the New England Journal of Medicine. People with Type 2 diabetes are also more likely to die from kidney disease, liver disease, pneumonia, infectious diseases and even intentional self-harm, according to the study, which was conducted by the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, based at the University of Cambridge in England.

Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole has been diagnosed with hepatitis C, her publicist said in a statement Wednesday. Hepatitis C is a liver disease spread through contact with infected blood. The statement said the disease was revealed during a routine examination and was likely caused by her drug use years ago. Her physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Dr. Graham Woolf, said Cole, 58, has had a "terrific response to her medication and is now virus negative." He added that this "gives her an increased chance of cure."

It's often said, these days, that we're a nation of fatties. And, not coincidentally, we're also a nation of fatty livers. Increasingly, millions of those livers belong to children -- though most of them don't know it, and neither do their parents and doctors. Usually, no symptoms show up until damage has been done, damage that may ultimately lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer and end-stage liver disease.

The autopsy of a man who collapsed and died after fighting with Los Angeles officers at a Reseda police station revealed that injuries he suffered during the struggle contributed to his death but were not the main cause, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said. Luis Zeledon, 36, of Reseda struggled with police after he tried to choke one officer at the West Valley Division Jail on May 15. Zeledon had been arrested after drinking and fighting with a roommate in a Reseda apartment.

The widow of a 50-year-old Glendora man who died last year of complications from alcoholic liver disease has filed a lawsuit against his employer of 17 years, Miller Brewing Co. in Irwindale, which used to allow employees to drink on the premises.

Re: "Nice stethoscope. Now, Learn to Use It" [Jan. 30]: Yes, the stethoscope is still useful in detecting heart problems, but it is also an important tool for identifying other medical problems. Listening over the lungs may identify asthma or emphysema. Listening over the neck may detect narrowing of the carotid arteries associated with decreased blood flow to the brain. Listening over the abdomen may detect abnormal function of the intestines or accumulation of fluid associated with liver disease.

The spindly, yellow-flowered Bupleurum chinense and some closely related species are key herbs in traditional Chinese medicine prescribed for mood swings and gastrointestinal conditions. The root of the plant is one of the main ingredients in an herbal formula widely known by its Japanese name, Sho-saiko-to -- in Chinese it's known as xiao chai hu tang -- that contains ginseng, licorice, ginger and a handful of other herbs in addition to Bupleurum.