Monday February 8, 2010
The results of a new study are being published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and it relates different issues dealing with the AIDS epidemic and drugs that were introduced to fight the symptoms of the disease in the 1990's. The most notable item to come out of this study is that the life expectancy of people with HIV is nearing that of people without the disease. Experts agree that HIV medication cocktails are the reason HIV life expectancies are getting longer. Read more in this article from EON of Canada.
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Saturday February 6, 2010
December 7, 2010 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. African Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. While making up only 13 percent of the U.S. population, they account for more than 49 percent of AIDS cases. AIDS is now the leading cause of death for African American women ages 25 to 34, and the second leading cause of death for African American men ages 35 to 44. This year marks the tenth year of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Organizations celebrate the day in hopes of raising awareness of the problem of HIV/AIDS in the African American community.
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Friday February 5, 2010
The Food and Drug Administration is alerting HIV specialists and medical providers about a serious liver problem that could arise in those people taking Videx or Videx EC. Also known as didanosine, the drug is now being linked to a rare disorder of the liver called non-cirrhotic portal hypertension. Portal hypertension is caused by the slowing of blood through the liver's venous system. As the blood slows, back pressure can occur throughout the venus system, causing enlarged blood vessels in the esophagus called varices. Varices are dangerous because if they rupture, a person can have massive amounts of bleeding that could cause death if not stopped immediately. Most often portal hypertension is caused by liver cirrhosis, a hardening of the liver that slows blood flow. Experts are now reporting cases of portal hypertension in patients taking Videx or Videx EC who do not have cirrhosis. While experts agree that the benefits of didanosine outweigh the risks of developing portal hypertension, patients on didanosine should be monitored for signs of portal hypertension and people should be made aware of the connection between didanosine and portal hypertension before beginning a regimen containing the drug.
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Tuesday February 2, 2010
As an HIV educator, I have taught people that abstinence only teaching doesn't help slow the rate of HIV infection or the spread of other sexually transmitted diseases. Well, I may have to change my tune. A federally funded study has provided us with the first evidence that abstince only teaching can have a positive influence on the sexual behavior of teens. The study published in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine showed that 33% of sixth and seventh graders who took an abstinence only course had sex within two years of the course compared to 52% who were taught only safer sex and 42% of those taught abstinence and safer sex. While President Obama cuts $170 million dollars for abstinence only programs, experts feel the results of the study prove that abstinence only programs should receive federal monies. Critics aren't convinced. They say the program used in the study was not typical of abstinence only teaching and was like comparing apples to oranges. Most who have reviewed the study's findings agree it does prove that programs covering safer sex and abstinence probably work best.
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