Infant Mortality Rates-Unwanted Side Effects-Investigational Drug-Insulin Sensitivity

Nigeria: Ekiti Speaker Raises Alarm Over Maternal, Infant Mortality Rates

[Daily Trust] Ado-Ekiti - Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin has said that a grave danger is looming in the country if nothing is done to address the high maternal and infant mortality rate in the country. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/L5seBz

Investigational diabetes drug may have fewer side effects

Drugs for Type 2 Diabetes can contribute to unwanted side effects, but researchers have found that in mice, an investigational drug appears to improve insulin sensitivity without side effects. The medicine works through a different pathway, which could provide additional targets for treating insulin resistance and Diabetes. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/L5srVo

Game Of Thrones-Season Finale

Already going through 'Game of Thrones' withdrawal after last night's season fin...

Already going through 'Game of Thrones' withdrawal after last night's season finale? Well, at least you can get fit like the Starks in the off-season with these GoT-inspired workouts
Old-World Calorie Burners | Fitbie
Skip the gym for one of these age-old activities read more..

source:fitbie.msn.com

Transmission Of Hiv-Joseph Sonnabend

Have we ignored a very simple procedure that could significantly reduce the risk of sexual transmission of HIV to men from women?

This was written together with Joseph Sonnabend In 2010 there was a great deal of outraged comment about the US government’s award of $823,000 to an HIV related project in Africa. Specifically, the taxpayer dollars were to be used to teach uncircumcised African men how to wash their genitals after having sex. The grant states; [...] read more..

source:http://bit.ly/IIeSYL

Food And Drug Administration-Aids Healthcare Foundation-Poor Efficacy-Truvada

Is the Big Pharma Tail Wagging the Dr Dog?

In addition to the good work that the Aids Healthcare Foundation is doing to question the 'fast-tracking' of the use of Truvada as PrEP when it has so far shown such poor efficacy, a group of 55 US physicians have signed a letter, also urging the US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) to delay approval until further tests, which may take years, have been carried out.PrEP may be a great theory and Truvada may be a great drug. But there is little to get excited about yet. If effectiveness in the real world (as opposed to efficacy in carefully controlled trial contexts) can reach a reasonable level, which would be a lot higher than the unimpressive 44% found in the iPrEX study, then it will be time to consider the use of Truvada as PrEP.It's good to hear that some doctors are standing up for their patients. Others appear to be in the thrall, or in the pocket, of Big Pharma. Many AIDS and human rights activists seem to have got the wrong end of the stick on this one: people have a right to safe healthcare, not to be used as free lab-rat material.Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) involves putting HIV negative people on antiretroviral drugs (ARV) with the aim of protecting them from HIV infection. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/wrICrB

Maternal Mortality-Health Facilities-Genetic Testing

Namibia: Maternal Mortality Stats Are Shocking

[New Era] Despite the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality (CARMMA) that was launched in 2009, a shocking 61 mothers died in health facilities countrywide in 2009, 80 died in 2010 and a further 62 mothers died in health facilities across the nation last year. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/LfdIYB

Not all patients will pay for genetic testing, study suggests

More than one-fifth of people who have received referrals to test for cancer-causing genes say they will only undergo testing if their insurance covers the cost -- just as more insurers are instituting cost-sharing for medical services like Genetic Testing, according to new findings. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/LfdQYk

Voluntary Counseling And Testing-Religious Leaders-Hiv Prevention

SAVE families, stop HIV!

The International (formerly African) Network of Religious Leaders living with or Affected by HIV/AIDS (INERELA+) promotes SAVE as a response to Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. SAVE stands for: Safe sexual and skin-piercing behavior; Access to treatment; Voluntary counseling and testing; and Empowerment. This note considers some of the ways that SAVE could strengthen Hiv Prevention in Africa. AIDS was first recognized [...] read more..

source:http://bit.ly/IyJBqR

Retraction: 127 Zimbabwean Women-Antiretroviral Drug-HIV

RETRACTION: 127 Zimbabwean Women Were Not Infected With HIV During Trial

Following an article in ZimEye.org, I mistakenly wrote that one arm of the Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (VOICE) trial, involving the antiretroviral drug Tenofovir, was stopped because 127 women taking the drug became infected with HIV. In fact, these women were taken out of the trial because of 'futility', the finding that it would not be possible to show that the treatment they were receiving was more effective than the placebo that another group was receiving.I apologise for reporting something so alarmist when the only source was an online article (which apparently also appeared in the Sunday Mail) that was released without any named author. I will take more care in commenting on such articles in the future. I have removed my blog post from the three sites where I placed it and will make the same efforts to publicize this retraction as I made with the original.There will be a press release confirming the above, which I will post as a comment to this report as soon as it is available.Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) involves putting HIV negative people on antiretroviral drugs (ARV) with the aim of protecting them from HIV infection. read more..

source:http://bit.ly/yYlGz8