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Challenge of a cure for HIV infection

A group including leading academic and industry scientists has issued a challenge to researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS: find a way to effectively purge latent HIV infection and eliminate the need for chronic, suppressive therapy to control this disease.

5 Mar 2009

Discovery of new gene associated with Lou Gehrig's disease

A collaborative research effort spanning nearly a decade between researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), MIT, the Broad Institute, King's College London (KCL) and other institutions has identified a novel gene for inherited amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease).

5 Mar 2009

Vaginal microbicide gel shows promise as HIV prevention method for women

A clinical trial involving more than 3,000 women in the U.S. and southern Africa demonstrates for the first time the promise of a vaginal microbicide gel for preventing HIV infection in women.

5 Mar 2009

Texas bill to make HIV screening part of routine care would help efforts to curb virus

"More than two years after" CDC "recommended routine HIV screening, two state lawmakers" in Texas have proposed a bill to align the state with the federal recommendations, a Lubbock Avalanche-Journal editorial says.

5 Mar 2009

Antigua HIV/AIDS program manager announces plans for education campaign

Delcora Williams, Antigua's deputy program manager for the AIDS secretariat, on Tuesday announced that the secretariat is waiting for approval from the Board of Education to begin a new HIV/AIDS education and awareness campaign, the Antigua Sun reports.

5 Mar 2009

Video game aims to teach young people in Kenya about HIV/AIDS prevention

A video game in Kenya -- called Pamoja Mtaani and launched through a partnership between Warner Bros. Entertainment and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- is teaching young people in the capital of Nairobi about HIV/AIDS risks and prevention strategies, VOA News reports.

5 Mar 2009

HIV/AIDS advocates in Thailand urge government to maintain compulsory license program

HIV/AIDS advocates in Thailand plan to meet with officials to urge the government not to restrict its compulsory license program, which allows people in the country to access low-cost, generic versions of drugs such as antiretroviral medications, AFP/Google.com reports.

5 Mar 2009

New HIV cases reach record high in Hong Kong

Hong Kong in 2008 recorded 435 new HIV cases, the highest number of annual new cases since record-keeping began in 1984 and a 5% increase from the 414 cases reported in 2007, Hong Kong's The Standard reports.

5 Mar 2009

Experimental microbicide containing natural compound provides protection in monkeys against simian version of HIV

An experimental microbicide containing a naturally occurring compound provides protection in monkeys against the simian version of HIV by diminishing immune responses to the virus, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the Los Angeles Times reports.

5 Mar 2009

Advocates in Mexico call for greater effort against HIV/AIDS

AIDS-related mortality rates in Mexico have remained somewhat steady over the past 12 years, despite increased access to antiretroviral drugs in the country, officials at the National Institute of Public Health, or INSP, said recently, The News/Individual.com reports.

4 Mar 2009

World Food Program expands program for HIV-positive people in Rwanda

The World Food Programme recently expanded a project in Rwanda that provides food to HIV-positive people taking antiretroviral drugs, adding 10,000 participants and increasing the number of project sites from 61 to 138 across 18 districts in the country, the New Times/AllAfrica.com reports.

4 Mar 2009

Scientists create HIV strain that can infect monkeys

Scientists have created a strain of HIV that is able to infect and multiply in monkeys, leading to the possibility that researchers would be able to test HIV/AIDS drugs and vaccines in monkeys before testing them in humans, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Reuters UK reports.

4 Mar 2009

Texas Senate Committee approves bill to protect needle-exchange programs

The Texas Senate's Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday voted 5-1 to approve a bill (S.B. 188) that would protect needle-exchange programs run by local health departments, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

4 Mar 2009

Increasing risk of HIV among seniors

People ages 50 and older are more likely to have unprotected sex than younger groups, increasing their risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, according to a recently released World Health Organization study, Reuters UK reports.

4 Mar 2009

Hair helps predicts HIV antiretroviral treatment success

UCSF researchers have found that examining levels of antiretroviral drugs in hair samples taken from HIV patients on therapy strongly predicts treatment success.

3 Mar 2009

Opioid antagonists help pain management

Achieving effective, durable, and safe pain relief, especially in patients with chronic and/or severe pain conditions, can be difficult.

3 Mar 2009

A new monkey model for HIV

By altering just one gene in HIV-1, scientists have succeeded in infecting pig-tailed macaque monkeys with a human version of the virus that has until now been impossible to study directly in animals.

2 Mar 2009

The obesity paradox

It's called the obesity paradox. Although obese people are more apt to suffer from inflammatory diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, they are also more likely to survive a major attack caused by one of those conditions.

26 Feb 2009

New software aids discovery of new genetic markers for diseases

Modern genotyping technologies offer new opportunities to explore how genes influence health and disease, but also present the challenge of analyzing huge amounts of genetic and clinical data.

26 Feb 2009

How obesity, diet and exercise influence our metabolism and interact with our genome

Research by kinesiology investigator Dustin Hittel, PhD, has proven that muscle in extremely obese individuals produces large amounts of a protein called myostatin, which normally inhibits muscle growth-suggesting that for Type 2 diabetics, and the very obese, the task of getting healthy may be more difficult than initially thought.

26 Feb 2009