Pharmaceutical industry front group AVAC is blowing the usual trumpet for PrEP because some recent trial results have been encouraging. They said predictably little about results which were not so encouraging.The problem with PrEP still remains: no high prevalence country has managed to put all HIV positive people on antiretrovirals, not even all those who are at the stage of disease progression where it is a serious threat to their health. Why does anyone think they can roll out a drug for people who are not infected with HIV on the grounds that it might give them 'up to' 73% protection?If 20% of sexually active people are infected with HIV and most of the other 80% are considered to be at risk of infection, will they all be given PrEP? Think of the cost, the logistics, the high levels of resistance, the side effects, things instititutions like AVAC and UNAIDS don't seem to be willing to discuss sensibly.It also seems like a humiliating climbdown for UNAIDS and all the others who maintained that HIV is almost always spread through unsafe heterosexual sex in African countries (though hardly ever in non-African countries, however unintuitive that may sound). Are all 'risk reduction' strategies now to cease?Will we instead just give out drugs and ignore the things we appeared to deplore for the last thirty years, promiscuous men, survival sex, commercial sex work, exploitation, early and unplanned pregnancies, early marriage, concurrent relationships, large numbers of partners, low use of condoms, lack of family planning and whatever other issues we have spent so long bemoaning?Warren Mitchell from AVAC remembered to thank the trial volunteers, presumably mostly guinea pigs who, if they are African, will never be able to afford the drugs and for whom the money to pay for them may never be raised. I don't suppose he was being ironic, either.Another move which looks suspiciously like a way to vastly increase the volume of ARV drug sales, and thereby increase dependency on drugs and funding, is a strategy called test and treat (or various other names). This involves testing the whole population of a country regularly, perhaps every year, and putting everyone found positive on treatment.Testing even a reasonable percentage of people in a population once has remained elusive, let alone the whole population or the whole population every year. But even testing once a year is not thought to be enough, so test and treat is still just a theory. And it is well known that early treatment carries a lot of risks that have not yet been adequately explored.It is to be wondered if people will be obliged to take the drugs by law or if they will face stigma if they refuse. UNAIDS has many years of experience in the use of stigma as a weapon with which to threaten people and punish them for being African so perhaps they have some plans in this area. No disease has ever been beaten by drugs alone so it seems hard to believe that HIV will be the first. But it is great news for the pharmaceutical industry.[For more about PrEP and HIV issues in Africa, see my other blog, HIV in Kenya.]Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) involves putting HIV negative people on antiretroviral drugs (ARV) with the aim of protecting them from Hiv Infection. read more..
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Pharmaceutical Industry-African Countries-Hiv Infection-Avac-HIV
A Giant 'Little Step' In Cancer Treatment-Parallel Dimension-Treatment Options
A new study heralds a new horizon in the fight against Cancer, opening up a parallel dimension to existing treatment options. The data demonstrate that by combining two drugs that had already been used on a patient in the past but had stopped working, they boost each other’s efficacy and at the same time manage to break down the patient’s resistance to each of them individually, presenting a third potential treatment option for clinically advanced metastatic tumors. While this may not initially appear to be an innovation, given that combined treatments are used in cancer as a matter of course, it actually represents a radical change in the use of the existing therapeutic weaponry, an extremely practical solution and a source of hope for many patients. read more..
Conference On Retroviruses-Retroviruses Conference-Treatment News
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AIDS Treatment News set up Twitter account cure4 for communication at the 18th Conference on Retroviruses (formerly called CROI), February 27 - March 2 in Boston.Main purpose: to let activists and writers at the conference know about important events before they happen. We also tweet conference and related news. We already have 58 tweets there, 3 days before CROI begins.Anyone can read our tweets; you do NOT need a Twitter account. Just visit twitter.com/cure4. Or see the latest announcements on this page, in the right-hand column.Alternatively, you can follow cure4 on almost any mobile phone (even without a Twitter account). Just send the text message:follow cure4to 40404 (Twitter's U.S. short code -- see Twitter support for more info). To turn off the tweets, send:unfollow cure4Note that capitalization does not matter.If you do have a Twitter account and want us to retweet conference-related events and news, then include the hashtag #cure4 in your tweet, so we can find it quickly. read more..
Tanzania-Risk-HIV
[Citizen] Moshi - It is estimated that between 70,000 and 80,000 newborns in Tanzania are at Risk of acquiring HIV every year during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding, according to a report by the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric Aids Foundation (EGPAF) Tanzania. read more..
Art Class Inspiration-Healthy Fruits-Veggies-Plate
Could using healthy fruits + Veggies as art class inspiration make kids more likely to eat them?The Art of Food – SchoolBookwww.nytimes.comHealthy food can be a beautiful thing, as an organization of professional visual artists has been trying to get across by using art to help children make better eating choices. read more..
You look like you could use a little color! Make your plate prettier (and get an...
You look like you could use a little color! Make your Plate prettier (and get an antioxidant, vitamin, and mineral boost) by adding these vibrant fruits & veggies.The 10 Best Ways to Add Color to Your Diet | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comTasting the rainbow fills you up with the nutrients you need and is an easy way to boost your health read more..
Doctors And Nurses-Hiv Epidemic
There would be no Hiv Epidemic if doctors and nurses in Central and West Africa had not reused syringes and needles during 1900-1960. We’d worry about other things. And health aid programs would be begging for money for other things. But no one would have heard of HIV. The charge – accusation – that colonial [...] read more..
Hiv Prevention Efforts-Transmission Of Hiv-Prevention Strategy-Hiv Transmission
It's a relief to hear that there are some people working with HIV who are willing to speak out against the apparent assumption that treatment is Prevention, that all we need to do is substantially increase the number of people taking expensive antiretroviral therapy (Art) for the rest of their lives, regardless of the known consequences of such a strategy, and HIV transmission will magically decline and eventually disappear.Alison Rodger, Andrew Phillips and Jens Lundgren recommend that before adopting ART as a prevention policy, we need to assess the risk of HIV transmission through unprotected sex (ie, without a condom) when the viral load is undetectable. So far, research has revealed that transmission could be unacceptably high under such circumstances, but neither the media nor the academic hype around treatment as prevention has alluded to this.Xiaohua Tao, Dan Shao and Wei Xue call for an assessment of how a policy of treating HIV positive people at an earlier stage of disease progression would affect their sexual behavior. They point to evidence that use of ART increases risky sexual behavior. They also express worries about the development of resistance to ART, which is one of the known consequences alluded to above.Enthusiasts of the treatment as prevention strategy, Myron S. Cohen, Ying Q. Chen and Thomas R. Fleming, accept that the benefits of ART are unknown where condoms are not used as part of the strategy. They also note the frequent occurrence of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STI) among trial participants, which suggests that self-reported sexual behavior was not so accurate, or that condoms are a lot less effective in reducing STI transmission and pregnancy than we are led to believe.Essentially, Cohen and colleagues are a bit vague with one of the real worries about a treatment as prevention strategy: the lack of clarity about how HIV is transmitted so rapidly in only some countries. The orthodox view is that heterosexual sex is responsible for 80-90% of transmission. But why should a virus that is difficult to transmit through penile-vaginal sex be transmitted so rapidly in certain populations? Do they all secretly engage in anal sex? Or are there non-sexual risks that some of them face?Uganda is an interesting case in point. The orthodoxy gather up lists of 'most at risk' people, men who have sex with men, intravenous drug users and the like. They also add in sex workers, truckers and other groups who are said to be vulnerable because of their 'mobility', whatever that may mean. But there is always the assumption that heterosexual sex is the key. Yet none of these circumstances explain massive rates of transmission in some countries, where most people don't fall into any of those groups said to face high risks.Indeed, the majority of transmissions in Uganda and other countries are among people who do not face high risks, they fall into low risk categories, even by the strictures of UNAIDS and others in the industry. Don't these astute people notice the contradiction in their claims, that most HIV transmission occurs among low risk people, those who do not have high risk lifestyles? What is it about Ugandans? Is it their sex lives, their sex organs, or something else?It's not just treatment as prevention or any other smug strategy that will fail if we don't make it clear how HIV is being transmitted, why it is being transmitted amongst people whose ostensible risk behavior levels are low and why doling out ever increasing amounts of drugs to ever increasing numbers of people should make any difference; because, so far, for every person put on drugs, two become newly infected. If putting 6 or 7 million people on ART doesn't reduce transmission, why should doing so with 16 or 17 million, or more?Treatment is not prevention and until the actual modes of transmission, rather than assumed modes of transmission, have been properly assessed, HIV prevention efforts in Uganda and el read more..
Arctic Sea Ice Decline-Eicosapentaenoic Acid-Docosahexaenoic Acid-Northern Hemisphere
A new study provides further evidence of a Relationship between melting ice in the Arctic regions and widespread cold outbreaks in the Northern Hemisphere. The study’s findings could improve seasonal forecasting of snow and temperature anomalies across northern continents. read more..
Low levels of omega-3 fatty acids may cause memory problems
A diet lacking in omega-3 Fatty Acids, Nutrients commonly found in fish, may cause your brain to age faster and lose some of its memory and thinking abilities, according to a new study. Omega-3 fatty acids include the nutrients called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). read more..
Unethical Research-Hiv Epidemics-Circumcision
Advocates for circumcising millions of men to curb Africa’s HIV epidemics claim the program is based on sound evidence from well-done scientific studies. Advocates cite three key studies – in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda — to say that circumcising men reduced the rate at which they got HIV by more than 50% by reducing their risk [...] read more..
Tuesday 28 February 2012
Monster Black Holes-Spherical Structure-Sleep Disturbances-Hyperactivity-Memory Issues
People with Depression suffer a number of symptoms -- including anxiety, memory issues, and sleep disturbances. Now researchers have found that the brains of depressed people show hyperactivity; The finding sheds new light on the brain dysfunction that causes depression and its wide array of symptoms. read more..
Ultra-fast outflows help monster black holes shape their galaxies
A curious correlation between the mass of a galaxy's central black hole and the velocity of stars in a vast, roughly spherical structure known as its bulge has puzzled astronomers for years. Astronomers have now identified a new type of black-hole-driven outflow that appears to be both powerful enough and common enough to explain this link. read more..
Vegetable Casserole-Meatless Monday-Swiss Cheese-Fat Content
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Swiss vegetable casserole is a low-cal way to do Meatless Monday. Lower the fat content by using skim milk and reduced-fat Swiss cheese! http://bit.ly/yl0Lla read more..
Angelina Jolie-Gorgeous Gams
Put Angelina Jolie's right leg to shame! Get gorgeous gams of your own with this toning and strengthening workout.Get Lean Legs and a Tight Tush | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comThis workout will have you sporting a tighter lower body in no time. Learn how to perform these moves and hundreds more with the Exercise and Workout Finder. read more..
Shoes
Killer Shoes--not in a good way. These 4 pairs are pretty dangerous to your health. (And this isn't just a list of sky-high heels!)4 Shoes that Wreck Your Body | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comThe wrong shoes slow you down, make you fat, and set you up for a lifetime of injuries. Check out our lab results and you'll never shoe shop the same way again read more..
Birth Control Pills-Oral Contraceptives
Less than one month after Pfizer recalled nearly 1 million packages of faulty Birth Control Pills, Glenmark Generics has recalled its version of the oral contraceptives because of a packaging error that landed the pills in the wrong order. The India-based drug company has warned that... read more..
Aids Healthcare Foundation-Tournament Of Roses Parade-Elizabeth Taylor
AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s “Our Champion: Elizabeth Taylor” float in the 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade won the Queen’s Trophy for Best Use of Roses!Check out this time-lapse video of the float’s construction. read more..
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill-The Gulf Of Mexico-Economic Impact
[Vanguard] WHAT was it about Bishop Abraham Adebola Daniel that made him an eternal pilgrim; ever ready to move away from any sect where he noted that human practices differed from the contents of the Bible? The answer to this question generates the lessons from the life and passing of the servant of God. read more..
Deepwater Horizon disaster could have billion dollar impact
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 will have a large economic impact on the US Gulf fisheries. A new study says that over seven years this oil spill could have a $US8.7 billion impact on the economy of the Gulf of Mexico. This includes losses in revenue, profit, and wages, and close to 22,000 jobs could be lost. read more..
Monday 27 February 2012
Epstein Barr Virus-Viral Protein-Texting
Researchers have designed a texting solution that could become a modern substitute for passing notes under the table. BrailleTouch is a prototype texting app that requires only finger gestures to key in letters on touch screen devices – no sight required. read more..
A single protein helps the body keep watch over the Epstein-Barr virus
Some 90 percent of people are exposed to the Epstein Barr virus at some point in their life. Even though it is quickly cleared from the body, the virus can linger silently for years in small numbers of infected B cells. According to researchers, the immune system subdues the virus by watching for a single viral protein called LMP1. read more..
Sense Of Fairness-Climate Change-Science Team-Playground-Earth
A Nasa-led science team has created an accurate, high-resolution map of the height of Earth's forests. The map will help scientists better understand the role forests play in climate change and how their heights influence wildlife habitats within them, while also helping them quantify the carbon stored in Earth's vegetation. read more..
Babies know what's fair
"That's not fair!" It's a common playground complaint. But how early do children acquire this sense of fairness? Before they're 2, says a new study. "We found that 19- and 21-month-old infants have a general expectation of fairness, and they can apply it appropriately to different situations," says a psychology graduate student. read more..
Implications-Osteoporosis-Stem Cells-Tissues
What if we could engineer a liver or kidney from a patient's own Stem Cells? How about helping regenerate Tissue damaged by diseases such as Osteoporosis and arthritis? A new study bring scientists a little closer to these possibilities by providing a better understanding how tissue is formed and organized in the body. read more..
Limb Development Gene-Genetic Counseling-Skeletal Disorder-Promiscuous Yeast-Thrombocytopenia
Researchers have identified an elusive Gene responsible for Thrombocytopenia with Absent Radii (TAR), a rare inherited blood and skeletal disorder. As a result, this research is now being transformed into a medical test that allows prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling in affected families. read more..
In vino veritas: Promiscuous yeast hook up in wine-making vats
Humans aren't the only species that like to get busy with a glass of bubbly. Turns out, the common baker's yeast has indulged in a frenzy of amorous frolicking in the fermentation vats of winemakers for hundreds, possibly thousands, of years, with interesting results. read more..
African American Men-White Women
A group of researchers tracing disparities in life expectancy between blacks and whites in the US has found that white males live about 7 years longer on average than African American men and that white women live more than 5 years longer than their black counterparts. read more..
Los Angeles City Council
This week the Los Angeles City Council voted to adopt the condoms-in-porn initiative requiring adult film producers to show proof that condoms will be used on set before being issued a film permit. read more..
Scientists Score New Victory-Pharmaceutical Companies-Medical Device Market-Quantum Physics
Reacting to new developments to optimize pricing and marketing approaches for fast-growing and complex Eastern markets Asian markets are increasingly the focus of pharmaceutical companies who are looking for new market opportunities beyond the traditional "rich-world" countries who are facing economic stagnation... read more..
Scientists score new victory over quantum uncertainty
Uncertainty affects the accuracy with which Measurements can be made in quantum physics. To reduce this uncertainty, physicists have learned to "squeeze" certain measurements. Researchers are now reporting a new type of measurement that can be squeezed to improve precision. read more..
Aids Healthcare Foundation
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A truly historic day! For more information about AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s campaign to require condoms in adult films, please visit: www.aidshealth.org. read more..
Further Development-Bioactive Peptides-Cancer Therapy-Wound Healing-Molecules
Researchers have combined bioactive peptides to stimulate wound healing. The peptides act by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels and promoting re-growth of tissue. Further development of these peptides could lead to a treatment for chronic and acute wounds. read more..
Cancer therapy more potent when it hits two targets, study suggests
Simultaneous targeting of two different molecules in Cancer is an effective way to shrink tumors, block invasion, and stop metastasis, scientists have found -— work that may improve the effectiveness of combination treatments that include drugs like Avastin. read more..
Hiv Prevention-News Report-HIV
This news report details concerns over an HIV prevention pill.Tell drug maker Gilead and the FDA: There is No Magic HIV Prevention Pill!Send your eletters TODAY. Go to:www.nomagicpills.org.Your efforts are making a difference. Please re-blog. read more..
Environmental Toxins-Female Sex Hormones-Computer Scientists-Technical Elements
At this time, wireless networks are able to brake just one bike, but in the future, the technical elements will be further developed to regulate entire trains as they travel over the lines. In view of this, computer scientists are designing mathematical calculations to check such systems automatically. read more..
Female sex hormones can weaken the ability of fish to protect themselves against environmental toxins
It is well known that female sex hormones (estrogens) that end up in rivers and lakes, primarily via spillage from sewers and livestock farming, pose a threat to the environment. Some environmental toxins can also have the same impact as estrogens. One example of such substances are degradation products (metabolites) from the pollutant PCB. read more..
World AIDS Day-Sierra Leone
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Series World AIDS Day 2011: SIERRA LEONEOn December 1st in Sierra Leon, hundreds of people came out to participate in an HIV/AIDS awareness parade, including the 1st Lady Sia Nyama.If you don’t know your status, get tested. For locations and information: freeHIVtest.net read more..
Sunday 26 February 2012
Genetic Component-Contamination-Intelligence-Road Traffic-Car Tracks
The contamination caused by road traffic not only affects the air, it also seeps under the asphalt and harms the adjacent soil and plants. A chemist has delved into the subject and studied the extent of the impact of the metals emitted by cars. Likewise, he has analyzed their consequences in the short, medium and long term. read more..
In the genes, but which ones? Studies that linked specific genes to intelligence were largely wrong, experts say
For decades, scientists have understood that there is a genetic component to intelligence, but a new study has found both that most of the Genes thought to be linked to the trait are probably not in fact related to it, and identifying intelligence's specific genetic roots may still be a long way off. read more..
States In Mexico-World AIDS Day
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Series World AIDS Day 2011: MEXICOThe week of World AIDS Day (Dec 1st) AHF Mexico held events in 11 states in Mexico and successfully tested a total of 10,176 people for HIV. In addition, a total of 152,805 free condoms were distributed for prevention efforts. read more..
Cassini Spacecraft-Cameroon Tribune-Ultrasonic Waves-Deep Structures-Echography
[Cameroon Tribune] Echography is a radiology technique through which deep structures of the body are visualised by recording the reflections of ultrasonic waves directed into the tissues. Through echography, it is possible to determine ovarian, uterine, or foetal status in pregnant women. read more..
The Many Moods of Titan
A set of recent papers, many of which draw on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, reveal new details in the emerging picture of how Saturn's moon Titan shifts with the seasons and even throughout the day. The papers show how this largest moon of Saturn is a cousin -- though a very peculiar cousin -- of Earth. read more..
Delivery Services-Safe Motherhood-Vanguard
[Vanguard] Forced into marriage at the age of 15, Maymuna, cannot read or write. Three months later, she conceived. Worse still, her 65 year -old husband, is on the same boat with her, neither of them went to school. When her contraction started, her husband brought some of her fellow women to assist in her delivery. read more..
Virtual Colonoscopy-Precancerous Polyps-Colorectal Cancer-Ct Colonography
Computerized tomographic (CT) colonography (CTC), also known as virtual colonoscopy, is comparable to standard colonoscopy in its ability to accurately detect Cancer and precancerous polyps in people ages 65 and older, according to a paper published online in Radiology... read more..
Favorite Heart-Weight Loss
Keep it simple, silly! These 7 Weight Loss rules are easy to remember and yield major results.The 7 Simplest Rules For Weight Loss | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comUse these seven rules to tap into the power of foods that can naturally slow sugar absorption, so you can keep eating meals you love read more..
Heart Month is winding down, but we're still keeping track of all of our favorit...
Heart Month is winding down, but we're still keeping track of all of our Favorite Heart healthy tips on Pinterest! Check them out PLUS all of our other awesome boards.Fitbiepinterest.comFitbie is using Pinterest, an online pinboard to collect and share what inspires you. read more..
Pharmaceutical Giant-Clinical Trials-Fda Approval-FDA
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FDA: Safety Before Profits!Pharmaceutical giant - Gilead’s application to expand use of its AIDS drug Truvada for use as HIV prevention pill in uninfected individuals alarms AIDS advocates who note FDA approval is unwarranted based on unsuccessful clinical trials. Join the advocates & send a message to the FDA! read more..
Modern Humans-Neanderthals-Europe
Most Neanderthals in Europe died off around 50,000 years ago, new research suggests. The previously held view of a Europe populated by a stable Neanderthal population for hundreds of thousands of years up until modern humans arrived must therefore be revised, researchers say. read more..
Active Video-Video Games
Lose weight all day long! We have the hour-by-hour schedule you need to help you slim down this weekend.Lose Weight All Day Long | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comFollow this hour-by-hour slim-down schedule to control hunger hormones, banish cravings, and get trim and toned--fast! read more..
Do you use video games to help you work out at home? Try one of these 4 new virt...
Do you use video games to help you work out at home? Try one of these 4 new virtual fat-burners!4 New Exergames for Winter 2012 | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comBattle winter blahs with active video games designed to help you strengthen, tone, and torch calories at home. Here, a look at the latest fitness... read more..
Derrick Burts
Check out this interview with Derrick Burts, a former adult film performer who contracted HIV on set. We at AHF salute him for his bravery in sharing his story, as well as for his efforts to help other performers by speaking about his experience and advocating for condom use. http://aumag.org/wordpress/?p=3122 read more..
Smokeless Tobacco Products-Scientific Foundation-Genetic Diversity-Smoking Products
Substituting smokeless tobacco products can save smokers' lives, and there is a scientific foundation that proves it, according to one researcher whose work shows that smokers can greatly reduce their risk of disease and death by replacing smoking products with e-cigarettes or modern, spit-free smokeless tobacco. read more..
Yosemite's alpine chipmunks take genetic hit from climate change
Global warming has driven Yosemite's alpine chipmunks to higher ground, prompting a startling decline in the species' genetic diversity, according to a new study. The genetic erosion occurred in the relatively short span of 90 years, highlighting the rapid threat changing climate can pose to a species. read more..
Surprising Molecular Switch-Ifo Local Government Area-Biology Textbook-Tops And Bottoms
[Vanguard] Iwalola, a Resident of Agbado Community in Ifo local Government Area of Ogun State had been feeling the pangs of labour for several hours. It was her third pregnancy and even though from experience, Iwalola knew the birth of her baby still was a long way off, because her contractions were coming at regular well spaced intervals, nevertheless, she requested to be taken to the hospital immediately. read more..
Surprising molecular switch: Lipids help control the development of cell polarity
In a standard biology textbook, Cells tend to look more or less the same from all sides. But in real life cells have fronts and backs, tops and bottoms, and they orient many of their structures according to this polarity explaining, for example, why yeast cells bud at one end and not the other. read more..
Saturday 25 February 2012
Dinosaurs And Other Prehistoric Animals-American College Of Rheumatology-Systematic Lupus Erythematosus
A multi-center study of a national survey published in Arthritis Care and Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), has established that over half of women with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have fewer children than desired. Leading researcher, Kaleb Michaud, Ph.D... read more..
Robotic dinosaurs on the way for next-gen paleontology
Researchers are bringing the latest technological advancements in 3-D printing to the study of ancient life. Using scale models of real fossils, for the first time, they will be able to test hypotheses about how dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals moved and lived in their environments. read more..
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter-Geological Activity-Geologic Activity-Nasa Spacecraft
New images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft show the moon's crust is being stretched, forming minute valleys in a few small areas on the lunar surface. Scientists propose this geologic activity occurred less than 50 million years ago, which is considered recent compared to the moon's age of more than 4.5 billion years. read more..
Whether championing more effective AIDS policies or spearheading...
Whether championing more effective AIDS policies or spearheading campaigns aimed at lowering drug prices, the AHF Speak Out community is a powerful group of advocates committed to taking on the most urgent issues in the AIDS fight today. Sign up to become a member and step up your advocacy this year. read more..
Video Game World Of Warcraft-Cognitive Functioning-Science Fiction-Older Adults
Pain? Just turn it off! It may sound like science fiction, but researchers have now succeeded in inhibiting pain-sensitive neurons on demand, in the laboratory. The crucial element in their strategy is a chemical sensor that acts as a light-sensitive switch. read more..
World of Warcraft boosts cognitive functioning in older adults
For some Older Adults, the online video game World of Warcraft (WoW) may provide more than an opportunity for escapist adventure. Researchers have found that playing WoW boosted cognitive functioning for older adults – particularly those who had scored poorly on cognitive ability tests before playing the game. read more..
Billboard Advertising-Durban, South Africa-Genome Analysis-Photosynthesis
Photo of the Day: This AHF billboard advertising free HIV testing, treatment and condoms has gone up in several locations around Durban, South Africa recently - just in time for International Condom Day, February 13th. Please re-blog if you love this real-life couple’s attitude as much as we do! read more..
Origin of photosynthesis revealed: Genome analysis of 'living fossil' sheds light on the evolution of plants
Evolutionary biologists have shed light on the early events leading to photosynthesis, the result of the sequencing of 70 million base pair nuclear genome of the one-celled alga Cyanophora. They consider this study the final piece of the puzzle to understand the origin of photosynthesis in eukaryotes. read more..
Neurodegenerative Diseases-Suitable Temperature-Fried Food Risks-Dynamic Behavior
Researchers have been the first to discover the presence of certain aldehydes in food, which are believed to be related to some neurodegenerative diseases and some types of cancer. These toxic compounds can be found in some oils, such as sunflower oil, when heated at a suitable temperature for frying. read more..
Observing single atoms during relaxation toward equilibrium
Scientists have succeeded for the first time in simulating the dynamic behavior of strongly correlated individual atoms in solids. They were able to string atoms in so-called optical lattices and observe their dynamic behavior, which is determined by complex interactions with other atoms. read more..
Survival Instincts-Critical Steps-Human Emotion-Cancer Cells-Animals
Oncologists have known that in order for Cancer cells to spread, they must transform themselves so they can detach from a tumor and spread to a distant organ. Now, scientists have revealed critical steps in what happens next -- how these cells reverse the process, morphing back into classical cancer that can now grow into a new tumor. read more..
What can animals' survival instincts tell us about understanding human emotion?
Can Animals’ Survival Instincts shed additional light on what we know about Human Emotion? Neuroscientists pose this question in outlining a pioneering theory, drawn from two decades of research, that could lead to a more comprehensive understanding of emotions in both humans and animals. read more..
African Americans-National Black-Awareness Day
Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in the U.S. There are a lot of myths surrounding what actually fuels the epidemic among African Americans. Our friends athttp://www.thebody.com/ have compiled a great piece with responses from HIV advocates from around the country answering why African Americans account for only 14 percent of the U.S. population but make up almost half of all newly diagnosed HIV cases each year. read more..
Ischemic Stroke-Citrus Fruits-Compound
Eating higher amounts of a compound in Citrus Fruits, especially oranges and grapefruit, may lower ischemic Stroke risk. Women who ate high amounts of the compound had a 19 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke than women who consumed the least amount. read more..
International Consortium-Fatal Heart Stoppage-Innate Immune System-Circadian Clock
Sudden cardiac death -- catastrophic and unexpected fatal heart stoppage -- is more likely to occur shortly after waking in the morning and in the late night. In a new study, an international consortium of researchers explains the molecular linkage between the circadian clock and the deadly heart rhythms that lead to sudden death. read more..
Researchers take a step forward in transplanting pig cells to regenerate human cartilage
Researchers have recently studied the response of human NK cells against porcine chondrocytes. The results of the research indicate that these cells, characteristic of the innate immune system, play an important role in the rejection of xenotransplantation of porcine chondrocytes. read more..
Aids Healthcare Foundation-Condoms-Ahf
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Condom delivery! Today in Los Angeles, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) moved about 250,000 “Love”-branded condoms to prepare for a big announcement this Monday, February 13th - which is International Condom Day. How are planning you commemorate International Condom Day? (Learn more about AHF’s “Love”-branded condoms at www.lovecondoms.org). Stay tuned for our condom announcement! read more..
Friday 24 February 2012
Controversial Chemical-Desalination Plants-Plastics Industry-Efficient Power-Water Droplets
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a controversial chemical widely used in the plastics industry. A new study followed people over a 10-year time period and shows that healthy people with higher urine concentrations of BPA were more likely to later develop Heart Disease. read more..
Making droplets drop faster: New nanopatterned surfaces could improve the efficiency of powerplants and desalination systems
New research offers important new insights into how water droplets form, and ways to pattern the collecting surfaces at the nanoscale to encourage droplets to form more rapidly. These insights could enable a new generation of significantly more efficient power plants and desalination plants, the researchers say. read more..
Aids Drug Assistance Program-Aids Healthcare Foundation-Patient Recovery-President Obama
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HIV Treatment as Prevention Expansion of AHF services High Patient Recovery Rate at AHF Clinic Advocates Achieve AIDS Drug Price Cuts World AIDS Day Testing President Obama Increases Aid Florida AIDS Walk Had its Best Year China Agrees to Take Less & Give More U.S. AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) This is a quick look back at some of the key breakthroughs, wonderful events, advocacy efforts, and growth that AIDS Healthcare Foundation and our supporters saw in 2011. (Click for more info.) read more..
Carbon Dioxide-Concentrations-Heart Attacks-Brain Cells
Some 56 million years ago, rising temps and concentrations of carbon dioxide caused mammals, including tiny Sifrhippus, to shrink. New research offers new evidence of why and how it happened and provides clues to what might happen to animals in the future from global warming. read more..
Heart attacks: Naked mole-rats bear lifesaving clues
A biologist thinks the subterranean lifestyle of the naked mole-rat may hold clues to keeping brain cells alive and functioning when oxygen is scarce, as during a Heart Attack. The key may lie in how brain cells regulate their intake of calcium, he says. read more..
Childless Couple-Newborn Baby-Pastor
[Leadership] Anayo Onukwugha reports on the abominable action of a questionable pastor and a quack nurse who recently connived and sold a newborn baby of a poor family to a wealthy but childless couple for the sum of N150, 000. He says the duo however incurred the wrath of some irate members of the Port Harcourt community in Rivers State, who vandalised the church in anger over the vile action. read more..
Statins As Anti-Inflammatory-Inflammatory Serum Proteins-Hiv Disease Progression
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J Infect Dis: "The present study has additional limitations. Unfortunately, levels of inflammatory serum proteins, such as C-reactive protein, were not measured. Moreover, the duration of statin exposure was only 4 weeks, so it is not known whether the anti-inflammatory effects observed would be sustained with longer statin exposure."Unless other statins have modes of action that are different from those of high-dose atorvastatin, it seems unlikely that other statins will be found to suppress HIV replication. However, the present data suggest that statins merit evaluation over longer periods in HIV-infected adults who are receiving effective antiretroviral therapy but who have persistent T cell activation, given that ongoing inflammation in HIV-infected adults receiving therapy is associated with a greater risk of HIV disease progression and death. A very large study would probably be required to determine whether the potentially positive effects of statin therapy on inflammatory biomarkers will translate into less HIV disease progression and fewer cases of inflammatory non–AIDS-related illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease and end-stage liver disease." read more..
Maternity Hospital-Women And Children-Ndalatando-Angop-Mpla
[ANGOP] Ndalatando - A team from the Angolan Women's Organisation (OMA), linked to the ruling Mpla party, on Thursday donated several goods to women and children at the provincial maternity of Ndalatando, in the northern Kwanza-Norte Province, ANGOP has learnt. read more..
Carrots
Here are a few tips to help your kids get a kick out of carrots! http://bit.ly/AAoLG7Green Giant® - Mom Tip: Will carrots blend?blog.greengiant.comSharon of Kennesaw, Georgia, inherited from her mother a few tips for making vegetables more enticing to young children, and the main one was to throw them in the blender. read more..
The Cold Weather
Sorry, guys. The Cold Weather isn’t an excuse for slacking off on your running routine. Get back on track with these tips: A Comeback Plan for Runners | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comNo more excuses! Here’s how to kick-start your running routine--and stick with it all year long read more..
Milton Hershey School-The Boarding School-Discrimination-Protesters
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Dozens of protesters descended on Hershey, Pennsylvania to protest AIDS discrimination at the Milton Hershey School. The boarding school - funded by the trust left behind by the Hershey co. founder - recently rejected a 13-year-old boy for admission due to his HIV-positive status.Help us reach 3,000 eletters telling the Hershey Board Members to denounce this discrimination and facilitate the boy’s enrollment at the school.Go to www.endHIVstigma.org to send your eletter. read more..
Muscular Dystrophy-Small Molecules
While RNA is an appealing drug target, small molecules that can actually affect its function have rarely been found. But now scientists have for the first time designed a series of small molecules that act against an RNA defect directly responsible for the most common form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy. read more..
Fitness Cabin Fever-Health And Fitness-Bleh
We're usually all for penny-pinching, but these Health & fitness products are definitely worth the splurge!9 Splurge-Worthy Health and Fitness Products | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comThese days, we’re all out to save a buck--but sometimes investments can produce big-time returns for your health read more..
Anyone else dealing with a bad case of fitness cabin fever? (Bleh, we are.) This...
Anyone else dealing with a bad case of fitness Cabin Fever? (Bleh, we are.) This chilly weather is here to stay, but it's no reason to give up on winter workouts! Try these indoor options...10 Indoor Workouts to Carry You to Spring | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comWave good-bye to outdoor exercise! read more..
Dar Es Salaam-Hiv Infection
[Citizen] Dar es Salaam - Tina Pius, 31, realised that she had an Hiv Infection when she was pregnant with her second child, three years ago.When receiving the results from a counselor at a voluntary counseling and testing centre (VCT), her first thought was whether that was a death sentence to both of them. But she would despair easily and declared: "Neither me nor my child will die." read more..
Thursday 23 February 2012
Public Health Officials-Public Health Issue-Survival Instincts-Human Emotion-Animals
Problems with the correct use of the male condom, such as not wearing a condom throughout sex or putting it on upside down, are common in the U.S. and have become a major concern of public health officials. New research shows that countries around the world are facing similar challenges... read more..
Understanding Human Emotions Via Animals' Survival Instincts
Can Animals' survival instincts shed additional light on what we know about human emotion? New York University neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux poses this question in outlining a pioneering theory, drawn from two decades of research, that could lead to a more comprehensive understanding of emotions in both humans and animals... read more..
Cranberry Juice-Sugary Drinks-Calories
Yikes... There are 137 Calories in 8 oz of cranberry juice just from Sugar! You won't believe how much sweet stuff these other drinks pack.5 Super Sugary Drinks to Avoid | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comCheck out which surprisingly calorie- loaded liquids have been flying under your radar read more..
Young People-Hiv Status
More than 3,600 young people have signed up to update their HIV status through the “Update Your Status” campaign run by our friends atDo Something. If you live in the U.S. and are 25 or under, you can join the movement by signing on, getting tested and passing the message along to your friends. Refer 5 of your friends and you could win a $500 scholarship! Best of all, you’ll have done something great for your health and the health of your community. Go to: http://www.dosomething.org/status read more..
Reproductive Biology-Medical Breakthrough-Funding Agencies-Opera Experiment-Infertile Women
[Tunisia Live] Dr. Elyess Mkaddem, a Tunisian specialist in reproductive biology, has announced the birth of the first baby in Tunisia to be conceived through a revolutionary new procedure know as embryo vitrification. read more..
OPERA experiment reports anomaly in flight time of neutrinos from CERN to Gran Sasso
The OPERA Collaboration has informed its funding agencies and host laboratories that it has identified two possible effects that could have an influence on its neutrino timing measurement. These both require further tests with a short pulsed beam. If confirmed, one would increase the size of the measured effect, the other would diminish it. read more..
Whole Grains-Sneak
Want to feel fuller, eat less, and flatten your belly in the process? Sneak in some extra Whole Grains! (Brought to you by Quaker)6 Surprising Ways to Sneak in Whole Grains | Fitbiefitbie.msn.comGive your next meal a belly-flattening, heart-healthy makeover with these super simple suggestions read more..
Hiv Positive-Hiv Negative-Condoms-Arvs-HIV
It is very reassuring that a commentator in Kenya has mentioned, albeit briefly, that providing ARVs to HIV negative people will strain resources in a country where it is not even possible to supply all HIV positve people with them.Many people don't have food, water, cheap drugs for everyday, but deadly, diseases, contraception and family planning, proper education, infrastructure, and a great many other things. Why the obsession with grossly overpriced drugs that will not make any material differenc to most people's health?But there are some odd remarks in the article. One person mentioned in the article that she had not had sex with her husband for the first three years after finding out that he was HIV positive. Then she started to use Condoms.So far so good. Condoms give a good level of protection if they are used properly and used all the time. There are all sorts of stories about condoms breaking but this should be rare if people really know how to use them properly. And at least condoms are cheap and have other benefits, protecting against sexually transmitted infections and preventing unplanned pregnancies.But the article is about using drugs to reduce HIV transmission. This would be in the form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), where a HIV negative person takes an antiretroviral drug regularly to reduce the probability of being infected, or 'treatment as prevention', where the HIV positive person takes ARVs which reduce the viral load to a level where HIV is a lot less likely to be transmitted.If condoms are used, is the risk that the HIV negative partner faces going to be reduced further when they also take PrEP? Perhaps so, perhaps a belt and braces policy gives more protection.But if the HIV positive partner is on ARVs, taking them correctly, responding to them (to the extent that their viral load is low, etc), does the HIV negative partner need to be taking PrEP? Couldn't the HIV negative partner just make sure that condoms are used?The more important questions are about whether there will be enough money for all HIV positive people to receive the drugs and other care they need, as well as for HIV negative people to receive the most effective prevention assistance available.Currently, only 20-40% of people in need of ARVs are receiving them. Will the need for PrEP be given priority over the need for ARVs, given that PrEP is for people who are healthy and normal ARV treatment is for people who are sick and will die without the drugs?But even 'treatment as prevention' is not that straightforward. The majority of people in most African countries do not know their HIV status. Even the majority of HIV positive people do not know their status. How easy will it be to identify all HIV positive people and keep on identifying new infections for as long as they occur.Apparently Swaziland is going to test its entire population and put everyone found to be HIV positive on ARVs, effectively, 'treatment as prevention' or 'test and treat'. There are only 1.2 million Swazis but an estimated 200,000 of them are HIV positive.Yet only about 60,000 HIV positive Swazis are on ARVs and the country doesn't even have enough supplies for them. Similar shortages have occurred in other African countries. Health services can barely cope with keeping a fraction of people on treatment, let alone all those who need them.The Kenyan article continues with the sort of honesty that you wouldn't normally find in an article about HIV: prevention so far has had little impact and the rate of new infections is still very high; sexual behavior change, the main aim of most prevention programs, has not occurred to any great extent.But UNAIDS and the HIV orthodoxy have, according to the article, been targeting the wrong people all along. They have been talking about reducing numbers of partners, using condoms and even giving up sex altogether. But many new infections occur in mutually monogamous couples, often among people who tak read more..
World Health Organization-Treatment Of Hiv-Hiv Prevention-HIV Infections-Effectiveness
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Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an experimental method of HIV prevention. It involves a doctor prescribing antiretroviral HIV/AIDS drugs to a healthy person in order to prevent that person from possibly getting infected with HIV. So far, clinical trials have failed to prove PrEP’s effectiveness… (Click below to read more.)The 2007 iPrEX study found that PrEP reduced the risk of HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) by only 44%. A part of the 2009 Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (VOICE) study was discontinued two years later because tenofovir (branded as Viread by Gilead Sciences) tablets were no better than a placebo in protecting HIV-negative women from HIV. Researchers stopped another trial in 2011, called Fem-PrEP, after they concluded that Truvada (Gilead’s combination tablet of tenofovir DF and emtricitabine) was unlikely to prevent HIV infection in women. Partners PrEP, a study of sero-discordant couples in Africa, showed an efficacy rate of 62%-73%. However it is imprudent to extrapolate the overall effectiveness of PrEP based of this study since the researchers reported an adherence rate of 95% among the study participants — a figure that would likely be much lower under non-clinical trial conditions and as a result, would likely lead to a lower overall efficacy rate.Questionable clinical efficacy aside, a surge in the interest around PrEP is puzzling given that 14.6 million HIV positive people around the world in need of ART right now are not receiving it. Expanding the permitted use of a lifesaving antiretroviral therapy—which is currently unavailable to those 14.6 million individuals still in need of treatment—as a sanctioned form of HIV prevention for use by uninfected individuals presents both a practical and moral dilemma for both Gilead and society at large.In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) have expressed interest in establishing guidelines for the use of PrEP. Under the current regulations, a medical provider is allowed to prescribe ART to a HIV negative person. This is called ‘off-label use’ – use of an HIV/AIDS medication for purposes other than treatment of HIV— effectively constitutes PrEP. However, as long as PrEP is not officially sanctioned by the FDA, drug companies cannot market ARTs as a preventative measure to the public. If PrEP is eventually approved by the FDA, pharmaceutical companies stand to make a lot of money catering to a new market in the developed world instead of providing cheaper—and much needed—drugs in the developing world.Internationally, PrEP has also received attention from the EU, the World Health Organization and various civil society organizations and advocates in the global health arena. The fact that PrEP is being considered as an evidence-based HIV prevention approach is incomprehensible at a time when the world cannot treat all people with HIV who are already ill.With the continued assault on generic drug manufacturers by Big Pharma and a stagnating commitment by the rich countries to contribute more money to the global AIDS fight, PrEP looks more like a pharmaceutical cash cow in the making, than a viable or prudent public health initiative. In the United States, one year of ART can cost upwards of $10,000 USD. Currently, there are waiting lists in the US for HIV-positive low-income people in need of treatment. In Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa ART coverage remains unacceptably low and far behind the Universal Access target of 80% for all who need it. Is it possible to justify giving PrEP to healthy people while the sick and dying are waiting for treatment?The legitimization of PrEP is detrimental because it could lead to a false sense of security among people who are currently using condoms to protect themselves. To achieve even a modest level of protection, PrEP requires strict adherence to a daily ART regime read more..