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."
We've certainly drifted from the topic ... but here are a few links for you to persue on the Old Testament:
http://biblia.com/jesusbible/prophecies.htm
http://www.christadelphia.org/pamphlet/christ.htm
http://www.keyway.ca/htm2000/20000516.htm
http://biblia.com/jesusbible/prophecies.htm#Here%20are%20just%2050
More links:
http://biblia.com/jesusbible/prophecies.htm#Links:
I close with this:
The Jewish Mystery:
It is puzzling to consider why some Jews do not recognize Jesus as the long promised and awaited Messiah, with so many prophecies of the Scriptures fulfilled to the letter in Jesus of Nazareth...
... One reason is that the Scriptures make 300 prophecies of the "First Coming of the Messiah", as the suffering servant of Is.53, but make 500 prophecies about the "Second Coming of the Messiah", the triumphal King of Zach.14... to the point that some rabbis talk about two Messiah, and for most Jews, the "triumphant one" is the Messiah they were expecting...
... The Jews did not kill Jesus, the Roman soldiers did, under the command of a Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate... however the "real killers" of Jesus are you and I, because each time we sin, "we crucify the Son of God for ourselves holding him up to mockery" (Hebrews 6:6)...
... The Jews, and you and I, were expecting a Messiah to bring us the kingdom of this world, but Jesus offers us something infinitely bigger, the Kingdom of Heaven... and for it we shout "crucify him"!... we expected a boss, and Jesus is only a God. We wanted swords, and Jesus gives us palms. We were longing to be bosses, but Jesus orders us to love. We were expecting to be victorious, with honors, and Jesus commands us to forgive and to be humble... and for it, as a criminal of high treason, we shout "crucify him"!...
http://biblia.com/jesusbible/prophecies.htm#The%20Jewish%20Dilema:
Again, it si your choice on what values/beliefs you have.
At the moment, there is no test approved to detect HPV in men. However, there are ways to detect the most common problem caused by HPV in men, genital warts. Genital warts are usually diagnosed by visual inspection. Some health care providers may use a vinegar solution to help identify flat warts, although this test is not specific for warts. That means the test may falsely identify normal skin as a wart.
Also we should be educating young men to the fact that HPV can and does affect them with penile cancer and a anal cancer (the ladder most likely affecting gay or bisexual men). I hope you will be educating your children to the truth about STDS.
The affects of HPV are usually gentile warts in men and women from the various sources I've read. In addition to causing cancer in women it also causes cancer in men. So yes promiscuous sex does spread this nasty STD. You certainly don't get it from kissing.
Hopefully she won't marry a godless atheist such as yourself, someone that will keep himself pure too. : )
This is the only version that counts...
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/tan/index.htmAl
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/index.htm
http://www.tachash.org/texis/vtx/chverse
As to "Jesus"
Try this
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/JewishJesus/toledoth.html
It works great when it is implemented and has full funding.
>>It works great when it is implemented and has full funding.<<
How much funding does it take to stop teens from having sex?
You're absolutely right, I never suggested otherwise.
Another truth, 80% of American women contract the infection by middle age. Obviously the percentage of men is unknown, but it's reasonable to assume it's similar.
Characterize it as a moral failing all you want, but I'm glad a vaccine may be available for those not inhabiting your superior moral plane.
>>That's not how I read the medical literature on this, which generally indicates that HPV is absent (or at least undetectable) in 30-33% of all cervical cancer cases.<<
That's interesting. If you look more closely at this study - women with 100% condom usage had no cervical cancer at all.
The 70% reduction is includes women with condom usage between 5% and 100%
>>In women reporting 100% condom use by partners, no cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions were detected<<
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/STDs/tb/3591
>>anal cancer (the ladder most likely affecting gay or bisexual men<<
That's a seriously painful image.... :)
"The affects of HPV are usually gentile warts in men and women from the various sources I've read."
Gentile warts? (just teasing)
Actually, many men have no visible warts from HPV, and are unaware that they are infected. It's very common.
That's a big part of the problem, and one of the reasons that HPV is so widespread.
From $50.00-$500.00
It should be noted that there are over 100 different viruses in the HPV group...about 30 are said to be linked to cervical cancer. Of these 30 or so, HPV-16 is said to be found in 50 percent of cervical cancers. HPV-18 accounts for another 20 percent. The is good evidence to suggest that the HPV is already integrated into the DNA structure of cervical cancers.
In 1992, two very well respected molecular biologists, Schwartz and Duesberg questioned the common held ideal that HPV caused cancer. Among the various issues raised about the acceptance of HPV as the cause of cervical cancer was their fundamental concern that there was a lack of consistent HPV DNA sequences and consistent HPV gene expression in tumors that were HPV-positive. They instead suggested that "rare spontaneous or chemically induced chromosome abnormalities which are consistently observed in both HPV and HSV DNA-negative and positive cervical cancers induce cervical cancer."
In short, Duesberg and Schwartz were pointing to the possibility that "carcinogens may be primary inducers of abnormal cell proliferation rather than HPV or HSV." And here’s the key point: "Since proliferating cells [cancer cells dividing wildly] would be more susceptible to infection than resting cells, the viruses would just be indicators rather than causes of abnormal proliferation."
Cancer prevention is not as simplistic as taking a vaccine. Maintaining a high level of immune integrity is key.
As with anything....follow the money.....
Yes it is, so let's just get back to a very simple question:
A vaccine is available.
Maybe you think, nah, you know you don't need, maybe no one in your family or anyone you know needs it. Good for you.
Why is there such hand wringing over it being available to others?
>>How much funding does it take to stop teens from having sex?
From $50.00-$500.00
http://www.tpe.com/~altarboy/cbeltfaq.htm<<
Amazing.
I had no idea they had chastity belts designed to go through airport security.
And this was funny
>>No matter what bodily contortions are indulged in, the guard will remain firmly in place.<<
I thought it was funny too. Wow, chasity belts.....all the styles and prices. ;)
I certainly agree. I'm not addressing the efficacy of the drug and know nothing of the side effects, rather the concept that since maintanince of immune integrity is highly effective (to the extent one maintains the integrity of one's spouse), development of this or another effective drug isn't a positive development.
I'm not going to argue what clearly stated in the Bible.
It's there for you to see as well.
No one ever argues anyone into heaven.
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