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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).

Unique method opens door to development of simple diagnostic tests for myriad diseases

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a unique method for detecting antibodies in the blood of patients in a proof-of-principle study that opens the door to development of simple diagnostic tests for diseases for which no microbial cause is known, including auto-immune diseases, cancers and other conditions.

10 Jun 2016

Lifestyle intervention program can increase physical activity levels of adults at risk for type 2 diabetes

Adults at risk for type 2 diabetes or heart disease or both can substantially increase their physical activity levels through participating in a lifestyle intervention program developed at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health for use in community-settings, such as senior centers or worksites.

9 Jun 2016

Study finds differences in hospitalization trends for gout and rheumatoid arthritis

While hospitalizations related to rheumatoid arthritis have dropped considerably over the past two decades, hospitalizations primarily associated with gout have increased dramatically.

8 Jun 2016

Common angina drug can stimulate patient's own white blood cells to combat cryptococcosis

A drug, more commonly used in the treatment of angina, could be the focus of a new strategy in fighting the fatal fungal infection cryptococcosis

8 Jun 2016

New systems-based strategy may help accelerate TB drug discovery

The rise in multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is becoming a major cause of global health concern for treating tuberculosis, which affects a third of the global population.

7 Jun 2016

Overweight adolescents can increase physical activity by using their built environment

A program encouraging overweight or obese adolescents to increase their physical activity through use of their everyday environment, rather than organized classes or sports programs, produced significant increases in participants' daily physical activity that were sustained for at least three to four months.

3 Jun 2016

UN’s 90-90-90 program could be a cost-effective way to control global AIDS epidemic

A new study finds that implementing the United Nations targets for HIV testing and treatment would be an expensive but ultimately very cost-effective way to increase survival, reduce the number of children orphaned by HIV, and contain the global AIDS epidemic.

31 May 2016

ART alone not sufficient to reduce arterial inflammation among HIV-infected patients, study finds

Initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) soon after diagnosis of an HIV infection did not prevent the progression of significant arterial inflammation in a small group of previously untreated patients.

26 May 2016

Telephone-based intervention helps reduce menopause-related insomnia, hot flashes

Chatting on the phone with a "sleep coach" and keeping a nightly sleep diary significantly improve sleep quality and reduce insomnia in women through all stages of menopause, according to a new study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.

24 May 2016

Text messaging intervention may help smokers abstain from smoking relative to controls

A new study from The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine found that smokers who received a text messaging intervention were more likely to abstain from smoking relative to controls. The paper is published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research mHealth and uHealth.

24 May 2016

Lancet study finds unsafe sex as fastest-growing risk factor for ill health in young people

The Lancet Commission's groundbreaking report released today, "Our Future: A Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing," finds that years of neglect and underinvestment have had serious detrimental effects on the health and wellbeing of adolescents aged 10-24 years.

11 May 2016

UCLA, Danish research yields proof that treatment-as-prevention strategy could eliminate HIV

Worldwide, about 35 million people are living with HIV. The World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS plan to use an approach called "treatment as prevention" to eliminate the global pandemic, which the WHO says will have occurred when only one person out of 1,000 becomes infected each year.

11 May 2016

Study shows short-term statin treatment does not benefit heart surgery patients

Giving daily doses of statins for a few days before and after heart surgery does not prevent heart muscle damage or the development of atrial fibrillation (AF), according to an international clinical trial led by the University of Oxford and funded by the British Heart Foundation.

5 May 2016

New HIV infections and transmission rate in the U.S. drop, but fall short of NHAS goals

The number of new HIV infections and the transmission rate in the United States dropped by 11 and 17 percent, respectively, between 2010 and 2015, but fell short of the goals put forth by President Obama's U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reported this week in the journal AIDS and Behavior.

4 May 2016

FDA’s new education campaign for LGBT young adults aims to prevent, reduce tobacco use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the launch of a historic public education campaign aimed at preventing and reducing tobacco use among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young adults ages 18-24. Of the more than 2 million LGBT young adults in the U.S., more than 800,000 smoke occasionally. The "This Free Life" campaign is designed to specifically reach the occasional or "social" smokers in the LGBT community to help prevent tobacco-related disease and the loss of tens of thousands LGBT lives to tobacco use each year.

3 May 2016

Experimental therapy has over 90% remission rate for advanced leukemia patients

Twenty-seven of 29 patients with an advanced type of leukemia that had proved resistant to multiple other forms of therapy went into remission after their T cells (disease-fighting immune cells) were genetically engineered to fight their cancers.

28 Apr 2016

Mozambique women who use modern contraceptives more likely to undergo HIV testing

Women in sub-Saharan Africa who use modern contraceptives are more likely to be tested for HIV than those who do not, according to a study published April 25, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Katherine Center from the University of Arizona and colleagues.

27 Apr 2016

Scientists identify transposable element in certain bird genomes

In rare instances, DNA is known to have jumped from one species to another. If a parasite's DNA jumps to its host's genome, it could leave evidence of that parasitic interaction that could be found millions of years later -- a DNA 'fossil' of sorts.

21 Apr 2016

Georgetown researchers report first case of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed in HIV-positive individual

Georgetown University researchers are reporting the first case of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed in an HIV-positive individual. The finding in a 71-year-old man triggers a realization about HIV survivors now reaching the age when Alzheimer's risk begins to escalate.

18 Apr 2016

Developing countries face health financing crisis due to low domestic investment, stagnating international aid

Two major studies published in The Lancet reveal the health financing crisis facing developing countries as a result of low domestic investment and stagnating international aid, which could leave millions of people without access to even the most basic health services.