Posted on 06/23/2006 7:21:19 AM PDT by veronica
An Israeli-born doctor stands at the head of team from pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. who announced this week the FDA approval of the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer
Senior director of Clinical Research, Merck Research Laboratories Dr. Eliav Barr, originally from Haifa, said about bout the genetically engineered vaccine Gardasil, "This is the first time we have been able to state that administration of the vaccine is going to have an effect on cervical cancer."
In the United States, almost 10,000 women develop cervical cancer each year, leading to 3,000 deaths. In the developing world, the problem is far worse, probably because women are less likely to get screenings that can catch unusual growths before they become cancerous. Worldwide, cervical cancer kills 300,000 women a year.
Almost all the cases of cervical cancer are caused by infection with the human papilloma virus, or HPV, which causes normal cells to multiply out of control. Some strains of HPV lead to cancer (two strains account for 70% of cervical cancers), and others cause genital warts.
Because cervical cancer does not occur in women who have not contracted HPV, Merck, under Barr's guidance, has developed what is essentially the world's first cancer vaccine.
Public health experts called the Gardasil vaccine a major advance against the disease. "This vaccine is a significant advance in the protection of women's health in that it strikes at the infections that are the root cause of many cervical cancers," acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach told Reuters.
Given in three doses over six months, Gardasil targets four HPV types believed to cause more than 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts. The vaccine was approved for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26, Merck said.
Barr started his medical career as a cardiologist. So it was quite a shift in the mid-1990s when his employer, Merck, asked Barr to join a team that was developing an HPV vaccine.
"I had to go look up what HPV meant," Barr, 42, told The Intelligencer. "This is about as far as you can get from medicine."
Barr said he's overwhelmed by the feeling that he's helped develop something that will save millions of lives.
"It's very difficult to describe," Barr said. "One gets very emotional. It's really a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing."
The biggest challenge for Gardasil comes because of the target market: adolescent girls. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, and some 20 million American men and women have it. To prevent women from getting cervical cancer, women must be inoculated before they become sexually active. But for some parents and religious groups, that might be a touchy question.
Merck's Barr says that won't be a problem. "You have to understand what's at stake here," he told Forbes. "Regardless of your background, as a parent, you want to be able to protect your child against cancer."
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Actually you cannot compare the urge to steal and the sexual urge...
The sexual urge has been programmed in us by 2 million years of evolution...
"Those with proper values and beliefs don't have this issue you keep pushing - "they're going to have sex anyway".
"
Some don't. Some do. You know that's true. Predicting which ones will resist the temptation and which ones will not is not very accurate, generally.
I'm not pushing anything. I think that teenagers should refrain from intercourse. It's the best plan, but like all good plans, things tend to happen.
Some of the very kids you know and who you think have "proper values and beliefs" will no doubt fail to remain chaste until marriage. It's human nature. It is always possible for any human to fail to resist temptation.
I'm not giving permission. I'm saying what I have observed, and what most people with their eyes open have observed.
You can reject what I say. That's fine with me.
"Actually you cannot compare the urge to steal and the sexual urge...
The sexual urge has been programmed in us by 2 million years of evolution..."
LOL!
From an atheist, I'd expect "evolution".
There's nothing wrong with sex. What a gift that is!!!
However like anything else there is a RIGHT time and a WRONG time for it. Some of us have values/beliefs which guide us on the right and wrong things to do in life. This is simply one of those times.
These "urges" you speak of - sex, stealing whatever are all CHOICES. "Urges" shouldn't have the last say in what you do! That's where you and I part ways - "urges" don't control me. I have values/beliefs that over ride WRONG "urges".
Did I say I was an atheist? I just said I am not Christian...
What I am requiring is that ALL kids NOT be lumped into the same category!
People here are INSISTING that, they'll have sex, they'll do this, they'll do that ... . They are positively hostile to the idea that some kids are firmly grounded in what's right and wrong and behave accordingly. So next they try to nit pick you to death to make their WRONG point.
Oh well!
>>I don't wish cancer on anyone but it seems to me or money would be better spent on educating our children, especially our young women on the real dangers of having sexual intercourse outside of marriage.<<
How's that working?
"Did I say I was an atheist? I just said I am not Christian..."
Call this bias on my part but if you don't believe in Christ, there is no other legitimate God.
what about Jewish? legit God, not legit God?
You have just spoiled it...I wanted to catch her on it...
Hand/genital transmission is unusual, but possible. Intercourse is the most common route. However there are studies that show transmission with oral sex, touching genitals etc. HPV is associated not only with cervical cancer, but penile cancer, vulvar cancer, anal cancer, oral cancer (particularly tonsil cancer), and squamous cell skin cancer of the fingers. In fact, a study of patients with both cervical and finger skin cancers showed the same strain of HPV at both sites, suggesting genital to finger transmission. There is much we don't know about the transmission of this virus. Contamination of environmental surfaces (toilet seats) with HPV has been reported in a study of genitourinary clinics in the UK. Does this mean you can pick up the virus from toilet seats? Probably not, but do we really know?
Smoking is a facilitating factor in the development of HPV related malignancies in that it impairs the immune response toward HPV, particularly the "local" immunity in the skin and mucous membrane cells. Smokers with HPV infections have the highest risk of any of the above listed cancers.
Yes it it. And according to the CDC by age 50 over 3/4 of American women have been exposed to HPC. Vaginally. Statistically it's reasonable to assume there's a Christian or two in that sample.
Smoking is the instigator of many diseases. It weakens your immune system and opens the door for all sorts of problems.
It's a publication designed to promote Israeli developments in health and technology. It's perfectly reasonable they'd identify him as an Israeli.
Sorry dear... The New Testament was written by men not by God. Contrarily to the Torah.. And there are no hints of the coming of Christ there... And contrarily to you, I can read it in the original...
Slip over to the New Testament.Do some reading there.
If you wish, stay in the Old Testament and notice the plurals in the Hebrew and the hints of Christ coming since man was incapable of satisfying His requirements.
Jews don't believe in Christ. That is a requirement.
How very funny. And just a few posts ago you were whining
BTW, the thread is about cervical cancer
because a poster dared mention HPV can be transmitted by non sexual means.
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