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A novel type of therapy, known as ANGPTL3 inhibitor therapy, was effective in lowering triglycerides in certain types of patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG) who had a prior episode(s) of acute pancreatitis. sHTG is a well-established risk factor for recurrent episodes of acute pancreatitis. This ANGPTL3 inhibitor therapy, the intravenous drug evicanumab-dgnb, inhibits two important regulators of lipoprotein metabolism. The research found that evinacumab reduced triglycerides by as much as 70% in people with sHTG who had at least some lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity, the key enzyme in triglyceride metabolism. However, in one of the three groups of sHTG patients...

Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas often associated with long-term alcohol consumption. Recurrent attacks of acute pancreatitis results in chronic pancreatitis, causing weight loss, pain, diabetes, and even pancreatic cancer. Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with 40–70% of pancreatitis cases. With repeated episodes of binge drinking the pancreas eventually builds up scar tissues with persistent inflammation, weakening its endocrine and exocrine functions needed to digest food and regulate blood sugar levels. This chronic insult to the organ can cause excruciating pain, malnutrition, diabetes, and death. Accumulating scientific evidence suggests that continued alcohol consumption with established alcoholic pancreatitis instigates irreversible pancreatic...

Early aggressive fluid resuscitation results in a higher incidence of fluid overload and does not improve clinical outcomes for patients presenting with acute pancreatitis, according to a study. Enrique de-Madaria, M.D., Ph.D. and colleagues randomly assigned 249 patients at 18 centers who presented with acute pancreatitis to receive goal-directed aggressive or moderate resuscitation with lactated Ringer's solution. Patients were assessed at 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours; fluid resuscitation was adjusted based on the patient's clinical status. The trial was halted due to between-group differences in the safety outcomes, with no significant difference in the incidence of moderately severe or...

[Subtitle: “I hope that my story will help you understand the methods of Russian operatives in Washington and how they use U.S. enablers to achieve major foreign policy goals without disclosing those interests,” Browder writes.]The financier Bill Browder has emerged as an unlikely central player in the ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Sergei Magnitsky, an attorney Browder hired to investigate official corruption, died in Russian custody in 2009. Congress subsequently imposed sanctions on the officials it held responsible for his death, passing the Magnitsky Act in 2012. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government retaliated, among other ways,...

More than three years after he died in prison, whistle-blowing Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was found guilty of tax evasion by a Moscow court Wednesday. The posthumous trial of Magnitsky was a macabre chapter in a case that ignited a high-emotion dispute between Russia and Washington that has included U.S. sanctions against Russians deemed to be human rights violators, a ban on the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens and calls for the closure of Russian non-governmental organizations receiving American funding. Magnitsky was a lawyer for U.S.-born British investor William Browder when he alleged in 2008 that organized criminals...

A Russian opposition leader is in intensive care in a Moscow hospital, and a lack of clarity about the cause of his sudden illness has raised fears of foul play. The First City Hospital said 33-year-old Vladimir Kara-Murza remained in grave condition Thursday, two days after he was admitted. The Interfax news agency, citing the hospital’s chief doctor, said he appeared to be suffering from pancreatitis and double pneumonia. …

Just when the controversy over the banned FourLoko has died down, a beverage company has come out with straight Scotch in a can, just like soda pop. Though there’s been no uproar so far, as was the case with the alcohol-caffeine combo FourLoko, Scottish Spirits’ “Scotch in a Can” is being marketed as a “distilled and matured in Scotland for a minimum of 3 years in oak casks.” It has notes of “honey, vanilla, butterscotch, apples and pears,” and a “hint of peat and smoke in the background,” as described on their site. Each can contains about eight shots or...

Scientists at the University of Granada have shown that oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol –present in a particularly high concentration in virgin olive oil– and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids –found in fish– relieve the symptoms of pancreatitis. The researchers evaluated the role of Mediterranean diet ingredients in the prevention and mitigation of cell damage. Oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol –present in a particularly high concentration in virgin olive oil– and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids –found in fish– affect the cellular mechanisms involved in the development of acute pancreatitis, a disease of oxidative-inflammatory etiology. Therefore, oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol can be considered...

New evidence shows that the drug makers Merck and Schering-Plough have conducted several studies of their popular cholesterol medicine Zetia that raise questions about its risks to the liver, but the companies have never published those results. Partial results of the studies, alluded to in documents on the Food and Drug Administration’s Web site, raise questions about whether Zetia can cause liver damage when used long term with other cholesterol drugs called statins. Most of the millions of people who use Zetia take it along with a statin like Lipitor, Crestor or Zocor. Or they take it in a single...

Two surgeries, two hospitals and more than two weeks later, Gov. Pataki finally went home yesterday. "It's great to feel the fresh air and the sunshine," a pale and thin-looking governor said as he stepped out of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center with his wife, Libby, by his side. "I'm not 100%, but I'm a lot better than I was a few days ago," he said. His surgeon, Dr. Spencer Amory, predicted that it will take the governor six more weeks before he's fully recovered after suffering complications from an emergency appendectomy. "He'll still require some intravenous antibiotics at home," Amory...

Gov. George Pataki, showing no improvement five days after surgeons removed his appendix, was transferred Tuesday to a New York City hospital and underwent another operation. Doctors operated to alleviate a blockage in Pataki's digestive system, said his spokesman, David Catalfamo. Afterward, the governor was "awake, alert and resting comfortably," ... A blockage following abdominal surgery is relatively rare, said Daniel Herron, an assistant professor of surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan.

Gov. George Pataki remained hospitalized Monday nearly a week after undergoing a surgery to correct a postoperative complication related to an emergency appendectomy. Pataki, 60, continued eating some food Monday but also remained on intravenous nutrition and antibiotics to reduce the risk of an abscess... `The governor's doctors have indicated that there has been a slow return of normal digestive function because of the ruptured appendix,'' ... Pataki was originally to be released two days after the Feb. 16 appendectomy. ``The governor continues to be in good spirits and is reading, walking around and conducting state business,'' ...

NEW YORK, Feb. 28 - Two Republican governors are both recovering in the hospital from complications of gastrointestinal surgery that led to surprisingly lengthy stays. New York Governor George Pataki had rare complications after surgery for a perforated appendix. Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher developed pancreatitis along with a potentially life-threatening E. coli infection after surgery to remove a gallstone and a diseased gallbladder. Doctors at St. Joseph East hospital in Lexington said Gov. Fletcher, himself a physician, may be released tomorrow to recuperate at home. No date has been set for Gov. Pataki's discharge. He told the New York Times...

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. (May 23, 2005) -- Angelo “A.J.” Circo, a nine-year-old boy from Brookfield, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, likes to eat pizza. He sports a slight build, fiery auburn hair and wire-rimmed glasses that make him look like a young Harry Potter. His favorite music is heavy metal and he loves bright blue colors. He does well in school and loves his family. Just as it should be, but not quite. He suffers from Crohn’s disease, diabetes and hereditary pancreatitis. He’s been in and out of hospitals and spends an awful lot of time...

Mar 14, 2004 Attorney General Discharged From Hospital The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General John Ashcroft was released from the hospital Sunday, five days after surgery to remove his gallbladder. Ashcroft, 61, will stay in his Washington home for some "quiet rest" as he continues to recuperate, Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said. Deputy Attorney General James Comey will continue to run the department until Ashcroft returns. Ashcroft was admitted March 4 to George Washington University Hospital, suffering from a severe case of gallstone pancreatitis. The gallbladder was removed to prevent a recurrence of the sometimes-fatal illness.