Less sometimes is worth more! Finding the "sweet spot" for taking a drug while minimizing the downside of drug exposure is the goal of many drug researchers. A new multi-continent study has done just.

When women become pregnant, they often focus their energies on making sure their fetus is as healthy as possible. However, by delaying vaccination for hepatitis B (HBV) while pregnant, women may be putting their own health at risk.

Three percent of the world's population are infected with the hepatitis C virus, which is a leading cause of organ transplants, liver cancer and liver-related deaths.

It appears that a major breakthrough has occured in the treatment of a chronic liver disease. Remission looks to be a real possibility when telaprevir (Incivek) is combined with standard treatment for hepatitis C.

Just when researchers were attributing hepatitis C's ability to become chronic was due to its superior ability to avoid the immune system, a new discovery was made. Hepatitis A can linger, too in the body for up to a year.

Along with an emerging mantra of improved health via diet and exercise, another emphasis should now be added: Prevention, in this case, prevention of hepatitis C.

"Coffee intake has been associated with a lower level of liver enzymes, reduced progression of chronic liver disease and reduced incidence of liver cancer," said Neal Freedman, PhD, MPH, of the National Cancer Institute and lead author of this study. "Although we observed an independent association between coffee intake and virologic response to treatment, this association needs replication in other studies." Among non-drinkers, 46 percent had an early virologic response; 26 percent had no detectable serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) ribonucleic acid at week 20; 22 percent had no detectable...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an infectious disease which is 100 times more infectious than HIV. People who inject drugs or engage in unprotected sex account for most people who are infected with hepatitis C.