Making Healthy Choices
Staying healthy is much of the time a matter of making healthy choices. Choosing the right foods to eat; choosing to exercise; choosing to stop smoking. No matter how you look at it, being healthy depends a great deal on you making healthy lifestyle choices. in this feature, I have provided you with some resources that will assist you when it's time for making healthy choices.
More Healthy Resources
FDA Issues New Warning About Lexiva
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to physicians regarding an increased risk of heart attack and elevated cholesterol in people taking the GlaxoSmithKline HIV drug Lexiva (fosamprenavir). The FDA has sent "Dear Healthcare Professional" letters to HIV providers warning them of the increased risk of heart attacks and abnormally high cholesterol levels in patients taking a Lexiva containing regimen. The letter also warned providers of the need to monitor patients closely for fat redistribution signs and symptoms and cholesterol and triglyceride elevation during and after Lexiva use. The letter also suggested that people with other cardiac risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, previous heart disease, or a family history of heart disease should be monitored very closely while taking Lexiva. If you are taking Lexiva, speak with your HIV provider to see if you are at risk.
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AIDS Awareness - Observe World AIDS Day all Year
Tuesday, December 2, 2009 marks another Worlds AIDS Day. Here at About.com we provide you with the best HIV resources on the Internet. We have assembled some of those resources for you. Also, as part of the worldwide observance or World AIDS Day, we have provided you with a few simple and fun ways you can participate in World AIDS Day on December 1, 2009 and throughout 2010. Read more about what HIV/AIDS at About.com has to offer.
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Half of all Young People Say they Don't Know Enough About HIV
According to a recent survey of 1500 people age 15 to 24 from all parts of the world, 50% of those surveyed say they don't know enough about HIV and AIDS. While over 80% do feel HIV is one of the great challenges of our time almost 25% would not always use condoms when having sex. In fact, over one third of young people survied don't feel condoms are an effective means of preventing HIV transmission. Many of the respondents of this worldwide survey say that there is not enough HIV educational material available to them. Over 94% say they go online to get the HIV information they need and will go online before talking about HIV with family, medical professionals, or friends. It's obvious from the survey results that much needs to be done in terms of educating our young people about HIV and there is a huge need for free, easy to access HIV information on the Web.
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Uganda Considering Death Sentence for Homosexuality and HIV
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Healthy Food for the Holiday Season
The holidays are upon us and one of the keys to a happy holiday celebration is good food. From Thanksgiving Dinner to New Year's parties, food is a prominent feature of our celebrations. Make sure that your holiday parties are healthy as well as fun. The right foods prepared in the right way will assure you that you won't pay the price come January 2. These resources provide you with the information you need to prepare foods the correct way and to eat the right foods to enhance your health not make you sick.
Resources for Healthy Eating
Dating and Relationships when HIV Positive
In this day and age, getting out and meeting new people is hard enough. So one can imagine how difficult it is the first time you set out to meet new people after being diagnosed with HIV. While many newly diagnosed people feel they have to give up any hope of dating and relationships after diagnosis, the truth is finding that special someone can and does happen. With the right information and guidance, people living with HIV can have healthy loving relationships just like anyone else. Read more to learn a few things before testing the waters.
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The AMA Changes Views on Medical Marijuana
The American Medical Association (AMA) has reversed course regarding medical marijuana now urging the FDA to review marijuana's classification as a top tier controlled substance. While the AMA emphasizes that they are not endorsing state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product. They are urging the review to pave the way for more comprehensive studies of smoked marijuana of which on a few small trials now exist. The AMA's House of Delegates met in Houston and has adopted a policy that would call for more studies of the efficacy and use of smoked marijuana. The AMA is not the only physicians group calling for more research. In 2008, the American College of Physicians issued a position statement supporting research into the therapeutic role of the drug.
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Alledged Fort Hood Shooter Left Behind an Old Bottle of Combivir
In a shoe box filled with vitamins and prescription medications, the alledged Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan had a bottle of the HIV medication Combivir. The box of drugs, found in the laundry room of his Casa del Norte apartment near Fort Hood, gives authorities a peak into the life of the man believed to be responsible for the shooting tragedy at Fort Hood. The prescription was dated 2001 and was the only HIV medication in the box. Does this mean Major Hasan had HIV? There is no way to tell from just a that prescription. Combivir, a combination of the drugs Epivir (lamivudine) and Retrovir (AZT), is not prescribed as a sole drug in an HIV regimen however, Combivir was often given to healthcare workers who had been exposed to HIV through an accidental needle stick or exposure to infected bodily fluids. It's one of many possible explanations for the bottle of Combivir.
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HIV/AIDS Leading Cause of Death and Disease in Women
In a study of women's health around the world, HIV/AIDS has been found to be the leading cause of death and disease in women 15 to 44 years of age. Data shows that 1 in 5 deaths among women is due to HIV related to unsafe sex practices. Unsafe sex is the leading HIV risk factor in developing countries. In addition there is a lack of access to contraception, condoms, and safer sex education. "Women who do not know how to protect themselves from such infections, or who are unable to do so, face increased risks of death or illness," The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a 91-page report. WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan called the data evidence of a preventable tradgedy. As Chan said "We will not see a significant improvement in the health of women until they are no longer recognized as second-class citizens in many parts of the world," Chan told journalists in Geneva."
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