HIV/AIDS News and Research

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Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Women with HIV need cervical cancer check every 3 years

Tiffany G. Harris, Ph.D., from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y., and colleagues in a study to see if a single, initial human papillomavirus (HPV) test result could be used to decide how often an HIV-seropositive woman with normal cervical cytology should be screened for cervical cancer, looked at the incidence of abnormal cervical lesions among HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative women enrolled in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS).

22 Mar 2005

Women who are HIV-positive or are abused are more likely to think about or attempt suicide

The Hopkins study, consistent with previous research, sheds new light on the extent to which being in an abusive relationship compounds suicide risk for HIV-positive women in particular. This latest study is published in the March/April 2005 issue of Women’s Health Issues

22 Mar 2005

Depression appears to be a major cause of insomnia in people with HIV

Patients in the last stages of HIV infection with full-blown AIDS and those who have suffered some kind of brain impairment as a result of the disease are also more likely to suffer from insomnia, the reviewers conclude in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

22 Mar 2005

New findings about the spread of HIV in the UK

Contrary to the prevailing belief that the HIV epidemic in the UK can be traced back to one source, a new study by Oxford and London scientists suggests that HIV spread via at least six independent virus introductions and subsequent transmission chains.

21 Mar 2005

African genome research given impetus

Millions of victims in Africa, die each year from preventable diseases like tuberculosis and malaria and researchers say only a relatively small proportion of money is spent on developing vaccines, much more is spent on drugs aimed at tackling diseases more prevalent among rich, Western consumers.

21 Mar 2005

Availability of cheap HIV-AIDS drugs threatened by Indian patent law

A controversial Indian patents bill could threaten the lives of millions of people worldwide living with HIV-AIDS and cancer by banning companies from producing cheap copies of brand name drugs.

21 Mar 2005

New study to evaluate Pegasys and Copegus to treat hepatitis C in liver transplant patients

Roche has initiated a new study to evaluate treatment strategies to reduce post-transplant recurrence of hepatitis C infection with the most prescribed hepatitis C treatment combination in the U.S., Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) and Copegus (ribavirin, USP).

21 Mar 2005

Genetically modified plants are to be used to fight against HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and rabies

Genetically modified (GM) plants are to be used to grow vaccines for use in the worldwide fight against HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and rabies thanks to a grant of 12 million euros from the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).

21 Mar 2005

Fishing communities are the hidden victims of HIV/AIDS

Men and women living in fishing villages across the world have been found to be between five and ten times more vulnerable to the disease than other communities.

21 Mar 2005

Key target for Foot-and-Mouth drug revealed

A complete picture of Foot-and-Mouth Disease's key replication enzyme could lead to the development of new drugs to control the disease without recourse to vaccination or slaughter, scientists report today.

21 Mar 2005

Medical supervision for illicit drug injections could reduce syringe sharing

Facilities that provide medical supervision for illicit drug injections could reduce syringe sharing among users, concludes a Canadian study published online by The Lancet.

21 Mar 2005

Unique variant of HIV that is resistant to multiple classes of antiretroviral drugs

Researchers have identified a patient with a unique variant of HIV that is resistant to multiple classes of antiretroviral drugs and associated with the rapid development of AIDS, reporting their findings in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

21 Mar 2005

10% of homosexual men diagnosed late died within a year

1 in 4 HIV-infected homosexual men in England and Wales were diagnosed late in 2001 and 10% died within a year compared to only 0.5% of those not diagnosed late - reports a recent AIDS journal article

17 Mar 2005

New set of standards to improve sexual health services in the NHS

A new set of clear recommended standards to improve sexual health services in the NHS have been jointly launched today by Public Health Minister Melanie Johnson and Ruth Lowbury of the Medical Foundation for AIDS and Sexual Health.

16 Mar 2005

Are sources of affordable generic medicines drying up?

India should ensure global access to medicines when implementing its patent law.

16 Mar 2005

Antiretroviral therapy may prevent some cancers in people with HIV

In people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) may prevent most excess cases of Kaposi sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a new study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

15 Mar 2005

Innovative computer modeling technique predicts how protein molecule behavior in response to environmental conditions

In a development that could have great significance for efforts to understand how the basic molecular machinery of life works, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) have successfully applied an innovative computer modeling technique to predicting how protein molecules will behave in response to different environmental conditions.

15 Mar 2005