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AIDS patients with serum biomarkers are predisposed to immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome

A study in this week's PLoS Medicine suggests that AIDS patients with cryptococcal meningitis who start HIV therapy are predisposed to immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome - an exaggerated inflammatory immune response that kills up to one-third of affected people - if they have biomarkers in their blood showing evidence of a damaged immune system that is not capable of clearing the fungal infection.

22 Dec 2010

AIDS Healthcare Foundation sues AIDS drug maker for overcharging

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a press teleconference on Wednesday, December 22nd at 9:30 AM Pacific/12:30 PM Eastern to announce that it has filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson’s Tibotec Therapeutics for overcharging AHF for AIDS drugs purchased under the 340B program.

21 Dec 2010

Expansion of HIV screening worthwhile

According to researchers, screening for the AIDS virus to include every American at least once and the highest-risk people once a year could prevent more than 80,000 infections over the next 20 years. The team from Yale University in Connecticut and Stanford University in California reported that if treatment for infected people were integrated into such a program, it would prevent an estimated 212,000 new infections.

21 Dec 2010

Country must make wise choices in preventing infections, says study on future of AIDS in Cambodia

Despite Cambodia's remarkable history in driving down HIV infections, a report released today on the future of AIDS in the country argues that future success is not guaranteed and the government needs to focus increasingly on wise prevention tactics and assume more of the financing of its AIDS program.

21 Dec 2010

Gilenya offers more benefits for MS therapy than previously realized

In September, patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) received the welcome news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved a promising new drug for their condition called Gilenya. Now, a team from The Scripps Research Institute has discovered that this drug's success may involve an unexpected biological mechanism acting within the central nervous system (CNS). This difference may mean that Gilenya offers even more benefits than previously realized and would represent the first MS therapy with direct CNS activities.

21 Dec 2010

Study examines treatment options for children diagnosed with ADHD

For doctors and parents to jointly decide how to attack pediatric conditions, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), practical barriers to recommended health treatments need to be overcome, according to a study by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In considering their options, parents preferred their physicians to offer an unbiased presentation of all available treatments.

21 Dec 2010

Hutchinson Center's tips for weight loss in the new year

Losing weight is at the top of many a New Year's resolution list. In addition to maintaining a healthy diet and getting enough exercise, what else can one do to make sure those good intentions have a lasting impact throughout the year?

21 Dec 2010

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oncolys complete license agreement for festinavir

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Oncolys BioPharma Inc., a privately held biotechnology company based in Japan, announced today that the companies have signed a definitive agreement under which Bristol-Myers Squibb will acquire exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture, develop and commercialize festinavir, a once-a-day, orally available nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) in Phase II development for HIV.

20 Dec 2010

AHF calls on Sen. Nelson to address Florida's AIDS drug crisis

On Monday, December 20 at 6:00 PM, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a town hall and public forum at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center calling on U.S. Senator Bill Nelson to immediately address Florida's AIDS drug crisis which has left nearly 2,400 patients without access to lifesaving AIDS medications. Town hall attendees will include AIDS advocates, patients, healthcare professionals, community leaders and concerned citizens.

20 Dec 2010

Medical breakthrough: Scientists grow functioning human intestinal tissue from stem cells

Emerging Healthcare Solutions was encouraged by the latest breakthrough in stem cell research this week when scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center announced that they've grown functioning human intestinal tissue from stem cells for the first time.

20 Dec 2010

Possible stem cell cure for AIDS

An explosion of stem cell breakthroughs, including a possible cure for AIDS, is reshaping the possibilities for curing deadly and debilitating diseases around the globe, says Emerging Healthcare Solutions President and CEO Cindy Morrissey.

17 Dec 2010

Elsevier Foundation's new library grants focus on telemedicine, HIV/AIDS videos and Egyptian cancer database

The Elsevier Foundation has announced the 2010 recipients of grants under its Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries program, committing over $300,000 to support the work of libraries in developing countries. The 2010 grant recipients were selected from 260 proposals worldwide for their innovation and potential for impact in the developing world. The Innovative Libraries program supports capacity-building projects in the science, technology and medicine library training, education, infrastructure, digitization and the preservation of information.

17 Dec 2010

Research project examines unfamiliar space to make it 'older person-friendly'

Urban planning needs to consider how older people use walking routes as well as public areas, concludes a Research Council UK-funded research project from the New Dynamics of Ageing Programme.

17 Dec 2010

Global Fund approves 79 grants with two-year commitment of $1.7B

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Board of Directors on Wednesday approved 79 grants with a two-year commitment of "$1.7 billion dollars for projects against the diseases, amid warnings that some hard-hit African countries were being left out," Agence France-Presse reports. The commitment, according to Ethiopian Health Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who chairs the Global Fund's board, "shows that even in hard economic times, we can continue to expand the fight against the three diseases" (12/15).

17 Dec 2010

U.S., South Africa sign PEPFAR partnership agreement

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane on Tuesday signed a "partnership agreement that will guide efforts on fighting HIV/AIDS in the African nation," Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports (Wessels, 12/15).

17 Dec 2010

HIV patient cured!

German researchers working with stem cell therapy have claimed they have cured an American patient with HIV and leukemia. Experts are wary of accepting the development at its face value and caution that there is a need for further research. Dr David Scadden, a co-director of the Harvard University Stem Cell Institute added, “Cured is a strong word. But this is very encouraging… from all indications, there was no residual virus… It’s as good an outcome as one could hope for.”

16 Dec 2010

New finding sheds light on how HIV eludes treatment by mutating

The virus that causes AIDS is chameleon-like in its replication. As HIV copies itself in humans, it constantly mutates into forms that can evade even the best cocktail of current therapies. Understanding exactly how HIV cells change as they reproduce is key to developing better tests and treatments for patients.

16 Dec 2010

PEG-Prom encased nanoparticle aids in cancer detection and treatment

In a proof of principal study in mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins and the Virginia Commonwealth University have shown that a set of genetic instructions encased in a nanoparticle can be used as an "ignition switch" to rev up gene activity that aids cancer detection and treatment.

16 Dec 2010

Almonds can help treat, prevent type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

With nearly 16 million Americans living today with pre-diabetes, a condition that is the precursor to type 2 diabetes, and half of all Americans expected to have some form of diabetes by the year 2020, healthy eating is more important than ever. But here is some good news: a recent scientific study shows that incorporating almonds into your diet can help treat and possibly prevent type 2 diabetes, as well as cardiovascular disease.

15 Dec 2010

Profectus' GENEVAX IL-12 pDNA adjuvant improves vaccine-induced response rate in Phase I HIV study

Profectus Biosciences, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against infectious diseases and cancers, announced today that its GENEVAX™ IL-12 pDNA adjuvant has significantly improved the vaccine-induced response rate in a Phase I clinical study of an experimental DNA vaccine for the prevention of HIV infection.

15 Dec 2010