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New approach will finally kill herpes
The Times of India ^ | 4 Jul 2008, 0254 hrs IST | REUTERS

Posted on 07/04/2008 9:57:35 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick

WASHINGTON: US researchers reported that they may have found a way to flush out herpes viruses from hiding — offering a potential way to cure pesky and painful conditions from cold sores to shingles.

They discovered that a mysterious gene carried by the herpes simplex-1 virus — the one that causes cold sores — allows the virus to lay low in the nerves it infects.

It does so via microRNAs, little pieces of genetic material that regulate the activity of many viruses, the researchers report in the journal Nature.

It may be possible to "wake up" the virus and then kill it with standard antiviral drugs such as acyclovir, said Jennifer Lin Umbach of Duke University in North Carolina, who worked on the study. "We are trying to go into animal trials," Umbach said.

The Duke team is discussing a potential collaboration with Regulus Therapeutics LLC, a joint venture between Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc that specializes in microRNAs. Herpes viruses cause permanent infections. They head straight to nerve cells, where they stay latent for the life of an animal or person, often causing periodic outbreaks.

Herpes simplex 1 or HSV-1 causes cold sores, HSV-2 causes genital herpes, while varicella causes chicken pox and returns in middle or old age as herpes zoster to cause shingles.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: health; healthcare; herpes; medical; pathogen; virus
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1 posted on 07/04/2008 9:57:36 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
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To: CarrotAndStick

Or, stop having sex outside of marriage.


2 posted on 07/04/2008 10:01:22 AM PDT by donna (I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth. - Barack Hussein Obama)
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To: CarrotAndStick

Good news for Bill Clinton.


3 posted on 07/04/2008 10:01:36 AM PDT by mkjessup (Jimmy Carter is the Skidmark in the panties of American history.)
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To: donna
Or, stop having sex outside of marriage.

Or learn how to read articles before posting.

4 posted on 07/04/2008 10:02:56 AM PDT by Gondring (I'll give up my right to die when hell freezes over my dead body!)
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To: mkjessup

Bill Clinton and every Media/Hollywood slut will be excited for this news..... but they’ll still have to worry about HIV/AIDS for awhile longer......


5 posted on 07/04/2008 10:06:53 AM PDT by Enchante (OBAMA: "That's not the fraudulent birth certificate I knew!")
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To: donna

I have had shingles before & it is incredibly painful. Shingles has nothing to do with having sex outside of marriage.


6 posted on 07/04/2008 10:08:02 AM PDT by alicewonders (I'm a conservative, and I'm hated by the GOP & the Dems - I must be doing something right!)
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To: Gondring

I hit a nerve, LOL.


7 posted on 07/04/2008 10:08:05 AM PDT by donna ("Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.")
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To: alicewonders

Do you really think I said it does?


8 posted on 07/04/2008 10:09:19 AM PDT by donna ("Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.")
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To: donna
My mom had shingles. She suffered terribly for almost a decade and is left with horrible scarring.

I had a friend who developed a terrible case of cold sores. They went up her nose, into her sinuses and ended up in her eye.

I also knew a man who's wife brought herpes into the marriage. Should he suffer for the rest of his life because of a lying woman?

Not every ill person did something to deserve it.

9 posted on 07/04/2008 10:10:53 AM PDT by Marie (Why is it that some people believe everything that happens is the will of G-d - except Israel?)
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To: donna

I don’t mean to attack you, but you made a blanket statement. I understand what you are talking about, but a lot of people have the misconception that all herpes is sexually transmitted, and that just isn’t true.


10 posted on 07/04/2008 10:13:02 AM PDT by alicewonders (I'm a conservative, and I'm hated by the GOP & the Dems - I must be doing something right!)
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To: Marie
Should he suffer for the rest of his life because of a lying woman?

No, but he will, won't he - because his wife had sex outside of marriage.

Not every ill person did something to deserve it.

Can we apply some logic here.

I never said anything about shingles because shingles is not caused by sex outside of marriage.

I did not insult you or you mother.

11 posted on 07/04/2008 10:17:19 AM PDT by donna ("Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.")
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To: donna
Or, stop having sex outside of marriage.

You've obviously never had shingles... I wouldn't wish it on Michael Moore or Jimmy Carter! 5 years later, I still suffer from the after-effects of it (neuropathy). And I went through the pain of shingles for nearly 6 months.

And you don't get it through sex. If you've had chicken pox, you COULD wind up with shingles. It's the same virus. When chicken pox goes away, the virus goes dormant in the fibers surrounding the nerves in your body. At some point that virus could "wake up," and when it does, congratulations, you've got shingles. Interestingly enough, it's highly contagious, but one can't catch shingles. In the early stages, there are blisters, and the fluid is filled with the virus. And those who haven't had chicken pox can catch it (chicken pox, not shingles) from you.

It's about the most intense pain I've ever experienced, and nothing, short of heavy doses of narcotic pain killers help much.

Mark

12 posted on 07/04/2008 10:17:28 AM PDT by MarkL (Al Gore: The Greenhouse Gasbag! (heard on Bob Brinker's Money Talk))
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To: MarkL

I did not say shingles is caused by sex outside of marriage because it is not.

It is not logical to believe I said anything untrue.


13 posted on 07/04/2008 10:19:06 AM PDT by donna ("Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.")
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To: donna
oh, donna.
14 posted on 07/04/2008 10:22:35 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: alicewonders
I don’t mean to attack you, but you made a blanket statement.

Yes you did. I did not make a blanket statement because the article, which I read, clearly states:

"while varicella causes chicken pox and returns in middle or old age as herpes zoster to cause shingles."

It can't be any clearer than that.

15 posted on 07/04/2008 10:23:25 AM PDT by donna ("Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.")
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To: donna
Can we apply some logic here.

I never said anything about shingles because shingles is not caused by sex outside of marriage.

I did not insult you or you mother.

The article refers to a possible cure for 3 different types of the herpes virus: Only 1 of the 3 is spread by sexual contact. The other 2 are spread by causal contact. So, in addition to genital herpes, they're talking about finding a possible cure for herpes simplex 1, which causes cold sores, and for chicken pox, which can later return as shingles. If they're able to cure chicken pox, thereby killing the herpes virus that causes it, there will be no outbreaks of shingles.

You're the one that brought up sex, even though only a fraction (1/3) of the diseases mentioned here is spread through sexual contact, and through no fault of their own. So of course you've pissed a bunch of people off. Don't be surprised if you get flamed for this sort of overgeneralized response.

Mark

16 posted on 07/04/2008 10:25:37 AM PDT by MarkL (Al Gore: The Greenhouse Gasbag! (heard on Bob Brinker's Money Talk))
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To: donna
I hit a nerve, LOL.

Yes...FReepers who don't read articles and then make inane irrelevant comments like yours are a pet peeve of mine, because they make people think that FR is full of ignorant fools.

17 posted on 07/04/2008 10:25:57 AM PDT by Gondring (I'll give up my right to die when hell freezes over my dead body!)
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To: Zuben Elgenubi

You know, Ritchie Valens died in that plane crash. Maybe I caused it.


18 posted on 07/04/2008 10:27:18 AM PDT by donna ("Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.")
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To: Gondring

You’re a name calling example to the liberals of the world.


19 posted on 07/04/2008 10:28:10 AM PDT by donna ("Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.")
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To: donna

You give him the herpes that affected his eyesight in the airplane???


20 posted on 07/04/2008 10:28:42 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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