2 NEW BREAKTHROUGHS: Wow! Wow! Wow! Sunny... - PBC Foundation

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2 NEW BREAKTHROUGHS

SunnyXXOO profile image
4 Replies

Wow! Wow! Wow! Sunny, these are amazing articles! The human body's amazing ability to heal, in collaboration with the ingenuity of scientists and researchers, is so exciting. You are proof of that, Sunny! You look amazing!

Reach for the stars,

Bev

On Thu, Oct 11, 2018 at 8:17 PM Sunny <medsurgrnurse@yahoo.com> wrote:

On Thursday, October 11, 2018, 7:59 PM, Sunny <medsurgrnurse@yahoo.com> wrote:

Two interesting findings

1#

npr.org/sections/health-sho...

On Thursday, October 11, 2018, 6:24 PM, <medsurgrnurse@yahoo.com> wrote:

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

#2

Antidepressant could be a promising treatment for PBC: The unexpected finding could help thousands of people who do not respond to standard treatment

She soon learned she had Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC), a rare, incurable liver disease, which can be fatal if untreated. PBC is more commonly diagnosed in women, usually between the ages of 40-60. Symptoms can include severe fatigue and itchiness. Wright has responded well to the typical treatment (Ursodeoxycholic acid) but 30 per cent of patients don't respond well. For them, the autoimmune disease can have serious complications that may lead to a liver transplant. PBC is the second leading cause of liver transplant in Canada.

A team of scientists at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) discovered what could be a new option for these hard to treat patients. A drug usually prescribed for depression appears to effectively stop progression of PBC. Dr. Abdel Aziz Shaheen, MD, a gastroenterologist and epidemiologist, was researching the effect of depression on people with PBC and came upon an unexpected finding. While he was combing through the data, he found a sub-group of people with depression that were healthier than the others.

"At first, I thought I must have an error in my coding. As I began to look deeper I realized these patients were all taking the antidepressant mirtazapine, which seemed to be having a positive impact on their liver disease," says Shaheen, an assistant professor in the departments of Community Health Sciences and Medicine and member of the CSM's O'Brien Institute for Public Health. "You don't expect to find people with a chronic illness and depression to be healthier than those patients who don't have depression."

Shaheen was eager to investigate further so he recruited colleagues from the Department of Psychiatry and basic scientists to study what might be happening inside the body that would lead to this result. Dr. Mark Swain, MD, a liver specialist, clinician scientist and member of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases began looking at mouse models to learn how the antidepressant was affecting the liver.

"PBC slowly destroys the small bile ducts of the liver. Once damaged, the liver can "fill up" with materials the body is trying to excrete, damaging the liver and leading to permanent scarring," says Swain, who is head of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the Department of Medicine, and holds the Cal Wenzel Family Foundation Chair in liver disease. "Mirtazapine has significant effects on the immune system which appear to be protective to the liver."

"No one thought that an antidepressant could affect liver immunity," says Swain. "This leads to an entire new line of inquiry, on how antidepressants may be used in the treatment of other chronic diseases."

"This confirms how important collaboration is in the field of medicine. We are very lucky at the University of Calgary to be able to reach out to our colleagues in other institutes and departments to help solve mysteries to improve patient care," says Shaheen. "I couldn't have explained this finding alone."

Take care and be well,

Sunny

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Ktltel profile image
Ktltel

Yes!! Happy dance here!!! These links were posted earlier on this site and also on the yahoo groups site there is a fellow PBCer diagnosed about 20 years ago. She was diagnosed at stage 2/3. "Four years" ago she started taking mirtazipine for sleep. Her doctor took her off another drug and tried this antidepressant drug as a sleeping agent. She said she's been doing quite well and even lost weight this year. She recently had her labs done and a fibroscan too. Her doctor said everything is exactly the same. No progression. She was thrilled when she read those clinical studies and believes her stability is totally because of the mirtazipine. I asked her if she had any adverse side effects and she started with saying everyone reacts differently to drugs. But, she didn't have any adverse effects. She takes 15 mg every night for sleep. She still takes URSO and other things as she has other AI's.

I sent her email and both those links about mirtazipine to my doctors. I've taken URSO for 2 years with no improvement to my LFT'S, Infact this last labs I had done, my ALT was elavated for the first time ever. Scary to me. So, I'm guessing Ocaliva is in my future. Maybe mirtazipine. ❤❤ Here's praying my PBC sisters (and brothers) we have a real hope here!!!

Stella

chrissey7 profile image
chrissey7 in reply to Ktltel

Interesting reading research is so amazing makes you wonder if auto immune conditions will be a thing of the past in future years take care all x

LeanCat profile image
LeanCat

That’s excellent news!....Dr. Swain is my hepatologist...I’m in good hands!

claygi profile image
claygi

Great news and pleased to read this here, after hearing about it from my hepatologist as well. I went for my annual check up to UCLA Fleger Institute and was told about this drug too. I refused it, but will look into its pros and cons. Thanks for posting.

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