Iron binder:            http://www.exjade.com/index.jsp

Yes, excess iron causes serious liver damage, see Hemochromatosis..

http://www.rheumatology.org.nz/nz09010.htm

Salazopyrine / Sulphasalazine by drdoc on-line:

http://www.arthritis.co.za/salazopyrine.html

http://www.crohns.org.uk/Docs/2/Sulphasalazine.html

http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/EContent_HT/drugShowLfts.asp?fname=usp0125.htm&ti
tle=Sulphasalazine&cid=HT

I lifted the following text out of the page last mentioned

Description
Sulfasalazine (sul-fa-SAL-a-zeen) , a sulfa medicine, is used to prevent and
treat inflammatory bowel disease, such as ulcerative colitis. It works
inside the bowel by helping to reduce the inflammation and other symptoms of
the disease. Sulfasalazine is sometimes given with other medicines to treat
inflammatory bowel disease.

Sulfasalazine is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis in patients who
have not been helped by or who cannot tolerate other medicines for
rheumatoid arthritis.

Sulfasalazine is available only with your doctor's prescription, in the
following dosage forms:

Oral
Tablets (U.S. and Canada)
Enteric-coated tablets (U.S. and Canada)
Rectal
Enema (Canada)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before Using This Medicine
In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be
weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor
will make. For sulfasalazine, the following should be considered:

Allergies-Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic
reaction to any of the sulfa medicines, furosemide (e.g., Lasix) or thiazide
diuretics (water pills), oral antidiabetics (diabetes medicine you take by
mouth), glaucoma medicine you take by mouth (for example, acetazolamide
[e.g., Diamox], dichlorphenamide [e.g., Daranide], methazolamide [e.g.,
Neptazane]), or salicylates (for example, aspirin). Also tell your health
care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as
foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy-Sulfasalazine has not been studied in pregnant women. However,
reports on women who took sulfasalazine during pregnancy have not shown that
it causes birth defects or other problems. In addition, sulfasalazine has
not been shown to cause birth defects in studies in rats and rabbits given
doses of up to 6 times the human dose.

Breast-feeding-Sulfa medicines pass into the breast milk in small amounts
and have been shown to cause unwanted effects in nursing babies with
glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. It may be necessary for
you to take another medicine or to stop breast-feeding during treatment. Be
sure you have discussed the risks and benefits of the medicine with your
doctor.

Children-Sulfasalazine should not be used in children up to 2 years of age
because it may cause brain problems. However, sulfasalazine has not been
shown to cause different side effects or problems in children over the age
of 2 years than it does in adults.

Older adults-This medicine has been tested and has not been shown to cause
different side effects or problems in older people than it does in younger
adults.

Other medicines-Although certain medicines should not be used together at
all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an
interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the
dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking
sulfasalazine, it is especially important that your health care professional
know if you are taking any of the following:

Acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol) (with long-term, high-dose use) or
Amiodarone (e.g., Cordarone) or
Anabolic steroids (nandrolone [e.g., Anabolin], oxandrolone [e.g., Anavar],
oxymetholone [e.g., Anadrol], stanozolol [e.g., Winstrol]) or
Androgens (male hormones) or
Carbamazepine (e.g., Tegretol) or
Carmustine (e.g., BiCNU) or
Dantrolene (e.g., Dantrium) or
Daunorubicin (e.g., Cerubidine) or
Disulfiram (e.g., Antabuse) or
Divalproex (e.g., Depakote) or
Estrogens (female hormones) or
Ethionamide (e.g., Trecator-SC) or
Etretinate (e.g., Tegison) or
Fat emulsions, intravenous (e.g., Intralipid) (with prolonged use) or
Fluconazole (e.g., Diflucan) or
Gold salts (medicine for arthritis) or
Inflammation or pain medicine, except narcotics or
Iron (with overdose) or
Labetalol (e.g., Normodyne) or
Lovastatin (e.g., Mevacor) or
Mercaptopurine (e.g., Purinethol) or
Methimazole (e.g., Tapazole) or
Naltrexone (e.g., ReVia) (with long-term, high-dose use) or
Niacin (with high doses, sustained release, and antihyperlipidemic use) or
Nitrofurans or
Other anti-infectives by mouth or by injection (medicine for infection) or
Phenothiazines (acetophenazine [e.g., Tindal], chlorpromazine [e.g.,
Thorazine], fluphenazine [e.g., Prolixin], mesoridazine [e.g., Serentil],
perphenazine [e.g., Trilafon], prochlorperazine [e.g., Compazine], promazine
[e.g., Sparine], promethazine [e.g., Phenergan], thioridazine [e.g.,
Mellaril], trifluoperazine [e.g., Stelazine], triflupromazine [e.g.,
Vesprin], trimeprazine [e.g., Temaril]) or
Plicamycin (e.g., Mithracin) or
Pravastatin (e.g., Pravachol) or
Propylthiouracil (e.g., Propyl-Thyracil) or
Simvastatin (e.g., Zocor) or
Troleandomycin or
Valproic acid (e.g., Depakene) or
Vitamin A (with chronic overdose)-Use of sulfasalazine with these medicines
may increase the chance of side effects affecting the liver
Acetohydroxamic acid (e.g., Lithostat) or
Dapsone or
Furazolidone (e.g., Furoxone) or
Menadiol (e.g., Synkavite) or
Nitrofurantoin (e.g., Furadantin) or
Primaquine or
Procainamide (e.g., Pronestyl) or
Quinidine (e.g., Quinidex) or
Quinine (e.g., Quinamm) or
Sulfoxone (e.g., Diasone)-Use of sulfasalazine with these medicines may
increase the chance of side effects affecting the blood
Anticoagulants (blood thinners) or
Ethotoin (e.g., Peganone) or
Mephenytoin (e.g., Mesantoin)-Use of sulfasalazine with these medicines may
increase the chance of side effects of these medicines
Antidiabetics, oral (diabetes medicine you take by mouth)-Use of oral
antidiabetics with sulfasalazine may increase the chance of side effects
affecting the blood and/or increase the side effects of oral antidiabetics
Methotrexate (e.g., Mexate)-Use of methotrexate with sulfasalazine may
increase the chance of side effects affecting the liver and/or increase the
side effects of methotrexate
Methyldopa (e.g., Aldomet)-Use of methyldopa with sulfasalazine may increase
the chance of side effects affecting the liver and/or the blood
Phenytoin (e.g., Dilantin)-Use of phenytoin with sulfasalazine may increase
the chance of side effects affecting the liver and/or increase the side
effects of phenytoin
Other medical problems-The presence of other medical problems may affect the
use of sulfasalazine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other
medical problems, especially:

Allergies, severe or
Asthma, bronchial-The risk of an allergic reaction to sulfasalazine may be
increased Blood problems or Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency
(lack of G6PD enzyme)-Patients with these problems may have an increase in
side effects affecting the
blood

Intestinal blockage-Sulfasalazine will not reach the site of action in the
bowel

Kidney disease or
Liver disease-Patients with kidney disease or liver disease may have an
increased chance of side effects

Porphyria-Use of sulfasalazine may cause an attack of porphyria
Urinary blockage-Sulfasalazine may not be eliminated properly, causing an
increased risk of side effects

--- 30 ---

hope this opens up discussion.

cactus jammies ================

I have Ulcerative Colitis and I frequent a support group for that. Someone
there posted about this research recently. I found out I have Hep C about 3
years ago but I've been living in denial. But now I know I've got to knuckle
down and do whatever needs to be done.

Anyway, I am extremely interested in this because this drug can potentially
be used to treat both diseases. And if it is successful with the HCV then I
could be a very lucky person. As I see it the colitis is more of a pain in
the a.s (pun intended), but the Hep C is what will more likely be the end of
me, not to be morbid. But hence the need to find an effective treatment for
it.

tx
Jeff N