| 93 Health - AIDS Resources |
| AIDS associated with an increased risk of some stomach, esophageal cancers |
| Among people with AIDS, the risk of stomach and esophageal malignancies is higher than among the general population, according to study results presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held here April 2-6. |
| April 4, 2011 |
| AIDS drug supplies dwindling in Swaziland |
| Cash-strapped Swaziland's state hospitals have only two months' supplies of AIDS drugs, the country's health minister has told parliament in an assessment that AIDS patients and activists took as a death sentence. |
| June 28, 2011 |
| AIDS epidemic turns 30 |
| It is 30 years since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. It was fatal then but has now become a treatable, if still incurable, chronic illness. AIDS therapy now has tools that prolong the lives of people infected with the virus and prevent others from acquiring it. They range from antiretroviral therapy (ART), to circumcision and campaigns to reduce promiscuity. On the horizon are gels and pills that protect against infection during intercourse. Even the outlook for an AIDS vaccine is no longer as bleak as it used to be. |
| May 31, 2011 |
| AIDS kills 28,000 in China in 2011: report |
| AIDS killed 28,000 people in China last year, and another 48,000 new infections from the HIV virus were discovered in the country, according to an official report on Saturday. |
| January 21, 2012 |
| AIDS: HIV drugs boost prevention hopes |
| Heterosexuals who take daily AIDS drugs reduce the risk of being infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by nearly two-thirds, ground-breaking studies said on Wednesday. |
| July 13, 2011 |
| Anti-AIDS drugs slow deaths in S.Africa: study |
| South Africa's AIDS deaths have fallen by nearly 25 percent due to scaled up access to life-saving drugs, which the government for years had refused to provide, new research has shown. |
| March 11, 2011 |
| Anti-HIV vaginal gel promising protection in Africa, SE asia |
| A new vaginal microbicide gel and drug formulation looks promising for empowering women in developing countries to protect themselves from HIV during intercourse, without having to inform their partners, according to research published in the April 2011 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. |
| April 20, 2011 |
| Anti-retroviral drugs 'help reduce' HIV transmission |
| An HIV-positive person who takes anti-retroviral drugs after diagnosis, rather than when their health declines, can cut the risk of spreading the virus to uninfected partners by 96%, according to a study. |
| May 12, 2011 |
| Aspirin merits testing for prevention of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women |
| Research conducted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center global health investigators and cancer specialists in New York, Qatar and Haiti suggests that aspirin should be evaluated for its ability to prevent development of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women. |
| January 18, 2012 |
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| Bali tattoo and HIV transmission scare |
| Tourists who have gotten themselves tattooed or pierced whilst in Bali are being warned to seek medical advice after a Western Australian man reportedly contracted HIV during a recent holiday trip. |
| December 28, 2011 |
| Breaking the chain: 'Molecular cap' blocks processes that lead to Alzheimer's, HIV |
| A new advance by UCLA biochemists has brought scientists one step closer to developing treatments that could delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease and prevent the sexual transmission of HIV. |
| June 23, 2011 |
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| Cancer-Detector the Size of a Dime Can Also Spot HIV |
| Last month's handheld cancer-sniffing device (pictured) has already met its match in a tool that's the size of a dime--a tool that can spot cancer, but also HIV. The engineers who invented the microfluidic device are hopeful it can be used in developing countries. |
| March 28, 2011 |
| Children with HIV/AIDS falling through the cracks of treatment scale-up efforts |
| Less than one-quarter of children with HIV/AIDS who need treatment are getting it, according to a report released by the World Health Organization on the occasion of World AIDS Day. Although treatment coverage for adults has been steadily climbing and has now reached approximately half of those in need, coverage for children is lagging far behind, highlighted the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit research and development organization that has recently launched a new paediatric HIV drug development programme. |
| December 1, 2011 |
| Couples-oriented programs found to boost healthy behaviors among African Americans |
| Intervention programs that promote healthier eating, increased physical activity and cancer screenings may be beneficial for African American couples that are at high risk for chronic diseases and that include one partner who is HIV-positive, according to new research. |
| May 17, 2011 |
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| Danish HIV Patients Can Live as Long as the General Population When Treated Optimally |
| Researchers who have been following Danish HIV patients for more than fifteen years now see that the patients may live as long as other Danes if they take their medicine. |
| December 1, 2011 |
| DermaVir Employs Nanotechnology to boost Patient's Immunity to Destroy HIV-infected cells |
| Power of the Dream Ventures, a Hungarian company that acquires and develops technologies, recently declared Phase II test results by Genetic Immunity of its Lead Product called DermaVir, based on an earlier contract. |
| April 20, 2011 |
| Distinct AIDS viruses found in cerebrospinal fluid of people with HIV dementia |
| When the virus that causes AIDS infects the central nervous system, it can lead to the development of a severe neurological disease called HIV-associated dementia (HAD). |
| October 06, 2011 |
| Distribution of Cancers in the HIV/AIDS Population Is Shifting |
| s treatments for HIV/AIDS improve and patients are living longer, the distribution of cancers in this population has undergone a dramatic shift in the United States. While cases of the types of cancer that have been associated with AIDS progression have decreased, cases of other types of cancer are on the rise. |
| April 11, 2011 |
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| Earlier antiretroviral therapy might reduce the burden of cancer in those with HIV |
| HIV-infected patients are at increased risk for cancer as a result of both their impaired immune system and lifestyle factors, such as smoking. |
| November 22, 2011 |
| Earlier male circumcision may help to slow rates of HIV, HPV transmission in South Africa |
| According to Anna R. Giuliano, Ph.D., program leader in cancer epidemiology at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and colleagues in the Netherlands, earlier circumcision of males in South Africa may be a positive step in slowing the spread of both HIV and the human papillomavirus (HPV). Their commentary and data were published in a recent issue of the British medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases (Vol. 11) 581-582. |
| October 06, 2011 |
| Elite controllers block integration of HIV DNA into host genome |
| Alone among those infected with HIV-1, so-called elite controllers spontaneously maintain undetectable levels of viral replication even absent the benefit of anti-retroviral therapy. Now Mathias Lichterfeld of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and Xu Yu of the Ragon Institute show that in elite controllers, integration of HIV-1 DNA into the host chromosomes of CD4 T cells--the main target cells of HIV-1 -- is markedly reduced in comparison to those whose infection has run a more normal course. "[Elite controllers] behave like people who get effective antiretroviral treatment, despite the fact that they don't," says Lichterfeld. |
| September 19, 2011 |
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| FDA approves 60-second HIV test |
| The test, which, at 60 seconds, will be the fastest-working on the U.S. market (others tend to take between 10 minutes and 20 minutes) is already available in more than 50 countries. In Canada's Ontario province, the kits have been available since they were first commercialized in 2006, and in British Columbia, where BioLytical is based, health authorities plan to use them for the new $48 million pilot project called Seek and Treat for the prevention of HIV and AIDS. |
| December 3, 2010 |
| FDA Approves New HIV Drug Edurant |
| Once-a-Day Edurant in Same Drug Class as Sustiva, Equally Effective |
| May 24, 2011 |
| FEI Collaborates with NIH to Create New 'Living Lab' for Structural Biology Research |
| FEI has entered into a Cooperative Research And Development Agreement with the National Institutes of Health, creating a "Living Lab Structural Biology Center" to promote structural biology research through the integration of cryo-electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction which may accelerate important medical discoveries relating to global health challenges such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. |
| January 12, 2012 |
| FEI, OHSU Partner to Create a 'Living Lab for Cell Biology' With High-performance Electron Microscopes |
| FEI and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) today announced a partnership to create the OHSU/FEI Living Lab for Cell Biology that will provide researchers with several state-of-the-art electron microscopes to advance the understanding and treatment of complex diseases such as cancer and AIDS. |
| September 13, 2011 |
| Fewer than half of Americans have had HIV test |
| Fewer than half of Americans have had an AIDS test since guidelines were expanded to include routine screening, according to a government report released Tuesday. |
| November 30, 2010 |
| First large study to find HIV epidemic among gays in the Middle East |
| HIV epidemics are emerging in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa among men who have sex with men, a term that encompasses gay, non-gay identified homosexual men, and transgendered and bisexual men. |
| August 3, 2011 |
| Fresh cells can pep talk immune cells exhausted by HIV or hepatitis C |
| Chronic infections by viruses such as HIV or hepatitis C eventually take hold because they wear the immune system out, a phenomenon immunologists describe as exhaustion. |
| December 14, 2011 |
| FSU scientist leads research on AIDS-related cancer |
| In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, a once-rare form of cancer known as Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) emerged as a frequent harbinger of HIV. Its stigma was best illustrated by Tom Hanks, who portrayed a gay man trying to conceal the cancerous skin lesions from his co-workers in the 1993 movie "Philadelphia." |
| June 3, 2011 |
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| Gamers Solve AIDS-Related Enzyme Puzzle, Helping Scientists Search for Novel Drugs |
| Using software at home, gamers took just three weeks to solve a decade-old enzymatic enigma, in a breakthrough that could have implications for AIDS treatment. The crowdsourced puzzle solution will give scientists new insights in designing antiretroviral drugs, which could stop the AIDS virus from spreading. |
| September 20, 2011 |
| Getting to the HIV test: It takes a village |
| If you want to improve HIV testing rates in remote rural areas, get the community involved, says UCLA's Thomas Coates, who has directed a new study examining HIV testing programs in communities in Africa and Southeast Asia. |
| May 5, 2011 |
| Gene therapy reduces HIV levels in small trials |
| This weekend at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago, Illinois, researchers from two different study groups, one on the east coast and one on the west coast, reported promising results from studies being conducted in gene therapy for the treatment of HIV. |
| September 20, 2011 |
| Genetic code cracked for a devastating blood parasite |
| Scientists have cracked the genetic code and predicted some high priority drug targets for the blood parasite Schistosoma haematobium, which is linked to bladder cancer and HIV/ AIDS and causes the insidious urogenital disease schistosomiasis haematobia in more than 112 million people in Africa. |
| January 18, 2012 |
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| Handheld Pathogen Sensor Could Diagnose HIV in 30 Minutes |
| Working with support of the Bill & Medlinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenge to develop field-worthy point-of-care diagnostics for the developing world, a couple of Cornell researchers are mashing up their individual inventions to create a handheld pathogen detector that can quickly diagnose pathogens ranging from chlamydia and tuberculosis to HIV. |
| January 31, 2012 |
| Higher HIV risk in black gay men linked to partner choice, risk perception |
| Young black men who have sex with men (MSM) get infected with HIV nearly five times more often than MSM from other races, even though they don't have more unprotected sex. |
| May 2, 2011 |
| HIV 'epidemics' emerging in MENA region: study |
| The AIDS virus is spreading like an epidemic in some Middle East and North African countries because of homosexual encounters between men, a study warned on Wednesday. |
| August 3, 2011 |
| HIV drug could prevent cervical cancer |
| A widely used HIV drug could be used to prevent cervical cancer caused by infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV), say scientists. |
| May 3, 2011 |
| HIV drug reduces graft-versus-host disease in stem cell transplant patients |
| An HIV drug that redirects immune cell traffic appears to significantly reduce the dangerous complication graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in blood cancer patients following allogeneic stem cell transplantation. |
| December 13, 2011 |
| HIV Drugs Can Also Target Tropical Parasites, Study Suggests |
| Scientists have discovered that drugs used to treat HIV may also one day become lifesaving drugs targeted at parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis and malaria. According to new research published in The FASEB Journal, scientists have identified the target of action for some anti-HIV drugs with known abilities to kill serious pathogenic parasites. While scientists have long known that these HIV drugs can kill parasites, exactly how they work was previously unknown. Researchers discovered that a particular protein called Ddi 1 from Leishmania parasites is sensitive to anti-HIV inhibitors. This research could one day significantly change the treatment of parasitic diseases. |
| May 2, 2011 |
| HIV Havens: Researchers Find New Clues About How HIV Reservoirs May Form |
| Much like cities organize contingency plans and supplies for emergencies, chronic infectious diseases like HIV form reservoirs that ensure their survival in adverse conditions. But these reservoirs -- small populations of viruses or bacteria of a specific type that persist despite attack by the immune system or drug treatment -- are not always well understood. Now, however, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) believe they have begun to decode how a reservoir of infection can persist in HIV-positive populations. |
| August 17, 2011 |
| HIV infection may be a risk factor for heart failure |
| Patients with HIV infection without a prior history of coronary heart disease may be at a higher risk of developing heart failure, according to a report in the April 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. |
| April 25, 2011 |
| HIV integration requires use of a host DNA-repair pathway |
| The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS, makes use of the base excision repair pathway when inserting its DNA into the host-cell genome, according to a new study led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Crippling the repair pathway prevents the virus from completing this critical step in the retrovirus's life cycle. |
| March 25, 2011 |
| HIV tool launched in Indonesia |
| A team of Indonesian and Australian researchers has developed a new computerised tool to help authorities reduce HIV infection and track disease burden across the Indonesian archipelago. |
| March 15, 2011 |
| HIV trial scrapped after gel found to be ineffective |
| In a major setback for AIDS prevention research, a clinical trial of a new vaginal gel supposed to reduce HIV infections has been suspended after studies showed it to be ineffective. |
| November 27, 2011 |
| HIV uses base excision repair pathway to insert DNA into host-cell genome |
| The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS, makes use of the base excision repair pathway when inserting its DNA into the host-cell genome, according to a new study led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Crippling the repair pathway prevents the virus from completing this critical step in the retrovirus's life cycle. |
| March 25, 2011 |
| HIV-exposed children at high risk of language delay |
| Women who consumed a diet high in animal fat and cholesterol before pregnancy were at higher risk for gestational diabetes than women whose diets were lower in animal fat and cholesterol, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University. |
| January 25, 2012 |
| HVTN debunks top 10 myths about HIV vaccine research |
| Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, and in commemoration of the occasion, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, headquartered at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, debunks the top 10 myths about HIV vaccine research. |
| November 18, 2011 |
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| Increasing the potency of HIV-battling proteins |
| If one is good, two can sometimes be better. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have certainly found this to be the case when it comes to a small HIV-fighting protein. |
| July 29, 2011 |
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| Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Now Available to HIV-Infected Patients |
| Mayo Clinic in Florida is now offering kidney and pancreas transplants to HIV positive patients with advanced kidney disease and diabetes. Evidence is now solid that HIV-positive patients have the same favorable outcome in terms of patient and allograft survival as non-HIV positive organ transplant recipients, says Mary Prendergast, M.D., a kidney specialist whose focus is the care of patients who receive kidney and pancreas transplants. |
| December 6, 2011 |
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| Many of those living with HIV face a new life-threatening challenge: cancer |
| As the world marks the 30-year anniversary of the first reporting of HIV/AIDS, now comes the realization of a new challenge for people with the incurable disease. For reasons not yet clear, people with HIV face a higher rate of cancers not usually associated with HIV. This increasing rate of "non-AIDS defining cancers" includes lung, head and neck, liver, kidney, and anal cancers, among others. The alarming uptick in cancer rates highlights the critical need to understand how to treat tumors in people taking highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV. Given what is known about HAART drug interactions, can newer targeted cancer therapies be given safely to patients with HIV? |
| June 6, 2011 |
| Media outlets examine case of man cured of HIV, leukemia through bone marrow transplant |
| In a special report, Reuters examines the case of Timothy Ray Brown, who was cured of HIV and leukemia after undergoing "a bone marrow transplant using cells from a donor with a rare genetic mutation, known as CCR5 delta 32," which researchers knew conveyed resistance to HIV infection. Also known as "the Berlin patient," Brown's case "has injected new energy into a field where people for years believed talk of a cure was irresponsible," the news service reports. |
| June 3, 2011 |
| Michelle Obama visits HIV/AIDS clinic in Botswana |
| "Michelle Obama on Friday began the second leg of her weeklong visit to Africa by wielding a brush to help paint a mural" at the Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Center of Excellence in the capital city of Gaborone, the Associated Press reports. The clinic serves 4,000 children and their families who have been affected by HIV/AIDS, according to the news service. |
| June 24, 2011 |
| Michelle Obama's message of leadership for 'HIV-free future' |
| U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby writes about First Lady Michelle Obama's trip to Africa and her focus on "youth leadership, education, health and wellness," including HIV/AIDS, in this Office of National AIDS Policy blog post. "The Obama Administration is more committed than ever to build on the successes of the last decade and to continue to work with other governments and partners as we all work toward our shared goal of a world without HIV/AIDS. And we hope the millions of lives saved to date will inspire youth in Africa and around the world to continue their fight for an HIV-free future," he writes. |
| June 24, 2011 |
| Microsoft spam-detecting algorithm helps with HIV research |
| When the first computer viruses popped up, their behavior was so similar to that of their biological counterparts that security researchers simply chose to appropriate the already existing expression. |
| December 5, 2011 |
| Monkey AIDS Vaccine Holds Promise for Us Humans, Too |
| While this is by no means a quantum leap for HIV treatment in humans, any AIDS progress is great AIDS progress. Especially when the progress is in our furry monkey relatives, who are responding terrifically to a new AIDS vaccine. |
| May 13, 2011 |
| More AIDS patients may get cheaper drugs |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. will allow some of its AIDS drugs to be made by generic manufacturers, potentially increasing their availability in poor countries, particularly in Africa, officials said Tuesday. |
| July 12, 2011 |
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| Nanovircides Plans to Use its Optimization Technology to Enhance its HIVCide Candidate |
| According to Eugene Seymou, who serves as Chief Executive Officer at NanoViricides, a company developing unique nanomaterials for viral therapy, the company plans to improve its HIVCide candidate using its lead optimization technology. |
| August 3, 2011 |
| NanoViricides' Anti-HIV Candidate Protects Human T Cells Similar to HAART Therapy |
| NanoViricides, a company developing special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy, has reported in its latest animal study that its anti-HIV nanoviricide has attained anti-HIV efficiency equal to a highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) triple drug cocktail. |
| July 27, 2011 |
| National HIV/AIDS Strategy meeting to be held at UAB |
| The White House Office of National AIDS Policy is holding a series of National HIV/AIDS Strategy Implementation Dialogues across the country to examine critical issues and encourage action and collaboration at the state and local levels. The first meeting, focusing on incorporating prevention and care research into HIV programs, is being held at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011. |
| September 23, 2011 |
| Neutralizing HIV |
| Each time a virus invades a healthy individual, antibodies created by the body fight to fend off the intruders. For some viruses, like HIV, the antibodies are very specific and are generated too slowly to combat the rapidly changing virus. However, in the past few years, scientists have found that some HIV-positive people develop highly potent antibodies that can neutralize different subtypes of the HIV virus. |
| July 18, 2011 |
| New life-saving diagnostic test for HIV patients featured in 'Better World Report' |
| Research conducted at University of Nevada, Reno and licensed through the University's Technology Transfer Office is featured in the technology transfer publication "Better World Report" for a remarkable second year in a row. |
| December 3, 2011 |
| New Study May Aid Search for AIDS Vaccine |
| Research Could Lead to New Strategies for the Development of an Effective HIV Vaccine |
| August 17, 2011 |
| NIH funds new research toward an HIV cure |
| Three research teams focused on developing strategies that could help to rid the body of HIV are receiving grants totaling more than $14 million a year, for up to five years, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health announced today. |
| July 11, 2011 |
| NIH researchers show how anti-HIV drug acts to block herpes virus |
| An anti-HIV drug also discovered to stop the spread of the genital herpes virus does so by disabling a key DNA enzyme of the herpes virus, according to findings by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. |
| October 20, 2011 |
| NIH Study Examines Best Time for Healthy HIV-infected People to Begin Antiretrovirals |
| A major new clinical trial seeks to determine whether HIV-infected asymptomatic individuals have less risk of developing AIDS or other serious illness if they begin taking antiretrovirals sooner rather than later, based on their level of CD4+ T-cells. An HIV-infected individual's level of CD4+ T-cells -- commonly referred to as their CD4 count -- is a key measure of immune system health. The study is co-funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. |
| March 7, 2011 |
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| OHSU and FEI to Establish Living Lab for Cell Biology to Study Cancer and AIDS |
| Scientific instruments company FEI has entered into a partnership with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to establish the OHSU/FEI Living Lab for Cell Biology that will have advanced electron microscopes to enhance knowledge about lethal diseases such as AIDs and cancer and their treatment. |
| September 16, 2011 |
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| 'Pep talk' can revive immune cells exhausted by chronic viral infection |
| Chronic infections by viruses such as HIV or hepatitis C eventually take hold because they wear the immune system out, a phenomenon immunologists describe as exhaustion. |
| December 13, 2011 |
| Plasma-based treatment goes viral |
| Life-threatening viruses such as HIV, SARS, hepatitis and influenza, could soon be combatted in an unusual manner as researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of plasma for inactivating and preventing the replication of adenoviruses. |
| December 5, 2011 |
| Political will, strong leadership from U.S. needed to end AIDS epidemic |
| "This Thursday's commemoration of World AIDS Day marks a potential turning point in the fight against a global epidemic that has yet to be arrested," a Detroit Free Press editorial states. "Over the past three decades, scientific discoveries about [HIV] and advances in treating it have brought the end of the AIDS epidemic within view. |
| November 30, 2011 |
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| Report outlines lessons from AIDS advocates |
| A new report from the consulting firm HCM Strategists and the nonprofit group FasterCures "analyzes the factors that helped patient advocates drive research into and drug development for [HIV/AIDS], and tries to figure out whether there are lessons to be learned for other disease advocates," the Wall Street Journal's "Health Blog" writes. |
| June 18, 2011 |
| Researchers Announce a Breakthrough on HIV/AIDS Treatment |
| A technique that alters T cells has been shown to reduce the amount of virus in infected people. |
| September 18, 2011 |
| Researchers modify HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress immune system |
| Researchers at Johns Hopkins have modified HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress the immune system. Their work, they say in a report published online September 19 in the journal Blood, could remove a major hurdle in HIV vaccine development and lead to new treatments. |
| September 27, 2011 |
| Researchers pilot new acute hepatitis C screening strategy for HIV-infected patients |
| Researchers at The Miriam Hospital demonstrated a practical strategy for regularly screening HIV-infected patients for acute hepatitis C virus infection (HCV), a "silent epidemic" that is rising undetected in this population and can lead to serious health complications. |
| October 18, 2011 |
| Researchers suspect bacterial changes in mouth promote oral disease in people with HIV |
| Oral disease occurs commonly and progresses rapidly among people who have HIV, but the process is poorly understood. Researchers suspect that the culprit is a change in the makeup of bacterial communities that live in the mouth. |
| March 17, 2011 |
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| Sangamo's SB-728-T Phase 1 study data on HIV/AIDS to be presented at ICAAC conference |
| Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced today that data from all dosing cohorts of its Phase 1 study to evaluate SB-728-T for HIV/AIDS as well as preliminary data from the Phase 1 clinical study of the same drug, ongoing at the University of Pennsylvania, will be presented at the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC). |
| September 9, 2011 |
| Scavenger Cells Accomplices to Viruses |
| Mucosal epithelia are well-protected against pathogenic germs. However, individual viruses, such as the HI virus, still manage to enter the body via the mucous membrane somehow. Cell biologists from the University of Zurich have now identified a new infection mechanism, demonstrating that the viruses use the body's own scavenger cells for the infection. The new findings are important for cancer-gene therapy and the development of anti-viral medication. |
| July 21, 2011 |
| Second US trial in HIV/AIDS lymphoma patients using Benitec's ddRNAi technology |
| Benitec Limited, a company involved in RNA-based gene silencing for human therapeutics, announced that the City of Hope research hospital in Duarte, California is planning to initiate a second small Phase I/II study using Benitec's DNA-directed RNA interference (ddRNAi) technology in lymphoma patients carrying the HIV virus. The aim of the study is to optimize the treatment by modifying a range of clinical parameters. |
| March 21, 2011 |
| SEEK HIV-v vaccine demonstrates 90% reduction in HIV viral load |
| 90% Reduction in HIV Viral Load Demonstrated Compared With Normal Disease Progression |
| July 18, 2011 |
| Self-affirmation may break down resistance to medical screening |
| People resist medical screening, or don't call back for the results, because they don't want to know they're sick or at risk for a disease. But many illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, have a far a better prognosis if they're caught early. How can health care providers break down that resistance? |
| December 21, 2011 |
| Sexually transmitted co-infections increase HIV risk: study |
| Bacterial and viral sexually transmitted infections can exacerbate HIV replication in co- infected individuals, a team of Canadian researchers led by Charu Kaushic, associate professor of pathology and molecular medicine, has found. |
| June 20, 2011 |
| Study of HIV increase in Pakistan could benefit other research |
| Rates of HIV have increased in Pakistan's general population, as the virus has spread beyond at-risk groups to women and their children, according to an international team of researchers, including a University of Florida scientist. |
| August 24, 2011 |
| Study tests interventions targeting multiple health-related behaviors in African American couples |
| Interventions to promote healthy behaviors, including eating more fruits and vegetables, increasing physical activity, and participating in cancer screenings, as well as prevention of HIV/sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), appear beneficial for African-American couples who are at high risk for chronic diseases, especially if one of the individuals is living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). The report is published in the April 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. |
| April 25, 2011 |
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| Tattoos: A journey of HIV acceptance |
| As he puts a straw in his fruit smoothie, Michael Lee Howard accidentally knocks over the cup, spilling the seaweed-colored liquid. "Well, it happens," he says. As he collects the smoothie overflow in the plastic lid, he exposes the tattoos on his wrists: a biohazard symbol on the right and a radiation symbol on the left. |
| August 10, 2011 |
| Tobira commences cenicriviroc Phase IIb clinical trial for HIV infection |
| Tobira Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for HIV, announced today that it has initiated a Phase IIb clinical trial for the CCR5/CCR2 inhibitor cenicriviroc (TBR-652). The multi-center, double-blind, double-dummy, 48-week comparative study is designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of cenicriviroc in 150 HIV-1-infected, antiretroviral treatment-naïve patients with only CCR5-tropic virus. The trial is actively enrolling patients in more than 50 sites across the United States and Puerto Rico. |
| June 22, 2011 |
| Tumor suppressor blocks viral growth in natural HIV controllers |
| Elevated levels of p21, a protein best known as a cancer fighter, may be involved in the ability of a few individuals to control HIV infection with their immune system alone. In a paper in the April edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Infectious Disease Division and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard report that CD4 T cells from HIV controllers, while capable of being infected, can effectively suppress key aspects of the viral life cycle, an ability that may be associated with increased expression of the p21 protein. Preliminary results of this study were presented at the October 2010 Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting. |
| March 14, 2011 |
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| U.S. HIV/AIDS policy and funding should be guided by science, policy statement recommends |
| The IDSA Center for Global Health Policy and the HIV Medicine Association recently released a policy statement responding to the results of the HPTN 052 study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at NIH, which found that people with HIV who received immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) were more than 96 percent less likely to sexually transmit the infection to their uninfected partners. |
| September 16, 2011 |
| U.S. investments in HIV treatment internationally, domestically 'should pay off' |
| "We welcome the Obama administration's announcement of a farsighted effort to treat millions more [people living with HIV] abroad, especially in sub-Saharan Africa," a New York Times editorial writes. |
| December 14, 2011 |
| UN summit adopts AIDS targets amid condom storm |
| A UN summit on Friday ordered a huge expansion in AIDS treatment, but sparked protests by the Vatican and some Muslim nations over its endorsement of condoms and calls to help prostitutes, gays and drug users. |
| June 11, 2011 |
| Understanding the link between HIV and dementia |
| HIV can hide out in the brain, protected from the immune system and antiviral drugs, Dr. Lachlan Gray and his colleagues at Monash University and the Burnet Institute have found. |
| June 29, 2011 |
| Unique clinical trial addresses important questions about treating AIDS-related cancers |
| As the world marks the 30-year anniversary of the first reporting of HIV/AIDS, now comes the realization of a new challenge for people with the incurable disease. For reasons not yet clear, people with HIV face a higher rate of cancers not usually associated with HIV. This increasing rate of "non-AIDS defining cancers" includes lung, head and neck, liver, kidney, and anal cancers, among others. |
| June 7, 2011 |
| USAID releases new issue of Frontlines |
| The June/July issue of USAID's Frontlines focuses on climate change, including an article on how Kenyan farmers are adapting to environmental changes. The issue also includes articles on how the search for an HIV vaccine has boosted African research and on the introduction of the GeneXpert tuberculosis test in Central Asia (7/25). |
| July 28, 2011 |
| W |
| Why HIV infection rates are on the rise |
| Since HIV infection rates began to rise again around 2000, researchers have been grasping for answers on what could be causing this change, especially in the homosexual community. The rising numbers are a stark contrast to the 1990's, when infection rates dropped due to increased awareness of the virus. A new study in Israel reveals that the number of new HIV cases diagnosed each year in the last decade saw a startling increase of almost 500% compared to the previous decade, and similar trends have been reported in a number of other developed nations, including the U.S. |
| August 25, 2011 |
| World must scale up AIDS fight, even as donors scale back |
| UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece that "amid all the good news" about HIV prevention recently presented at the 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, "one stubborn fact was hard to ignore: AIDS remains a metaphor for inequality." With discrepancies in access to HIV treatment and prevention between developed and developing countries, "[i]t is hard not to conclude from all this that life is not valued equally across the world. This is morally wrong and unacceptable," he writes. |
| August 4, 2011 |