HIV/AIDS
« Previous EntriesLandmark study promises to make HIV less infectious.
Monday, May 30th, 2011In a path breaking invention scientists have come up with certain drugs that could make HIV less infectious. The result was satisfying enough for the panel to recommend the release of the drug four years before its scheduled time.
The study was carried on couples— 3% of whom were homosexuals. One half was sent for immediate [...]
Results of new clinical trial of HIV drug disappointing
Thursday, May 5th, 2011A clinical trial to test the potential of the prophylactic drug Truvada (tenofovir & emtricitabine) in HIV-prevention has been stopped amidst concerns regarding its efficacy. Preliminary research had suggested that Truvada can help in HIV-prevention in gay men and the clinical trial was being conducted on African women who had tested HIV-negative. However, a preliminary [...]
Switching To Nevirapine Therapy May Be Safe, Effective For HIV-Infected Children.
Sunday, September 12th, 2010Source: DIA Daily
HealthDay (9/7, Mozes) reported that, according to a National Institutes of Health-funded study published in the Sept. 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, “there may be a way to administer one particularly cheap and practical HIV drug — nevirapine — safely and effectively to many” HIV-infected [...]
Starting HIV Therapy Earlier May Help Reduce Mortality Risk, Thwart TB Infection.
Thursday, July 15th, 2010Bloomberg News (7/14, Aquino) reports, “The World Health Organization recommends patients start antiretroviral therapy when their CD4+ count drops to 350,” as a “higher CD4+ count means greater infection-fighting ability because the immune system hasn’t yet been depressed by the virus.” A new paper appearing in the New England Journal of [...]
Antiretroviral Therapy Treatment May Reduce Perinatal AIDS Transmission.
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010Bloomberg News (6/17, Randall) reports that, according to studies published June 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine, “AIDS transmission to babies was blocked in 99 percent of cases when breastfeeding mothers infected with the HIV virus took triple-drug combinations.” In fact, one study in Botswana of 730 pregnant women [...]
San Francisco Now Urging HIV Patients To Start Antiviral Medicines Right After Diagnosis.
Thursday, April 15th, 2010The New York Times (4/4, A25, Russell) reported, “In a major shift of HIV treatment policy, San Francisco public health doctors have begun to advise patients to start taking antiviral medicines as soon as they are found to be infected, rather than waiting…for signs that their immune systems have started [...]
Suppressive antiretroviral therapy slows progression of atherosclerosis
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Antiretroviral therapy that reduces viral load to an undetectable level was linked to slower progression of sub-clinical atherosclerosis, as indicated by carotid intima-media thickness, researchers reported last week at the 17thConference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in San Francisco.
Atherosclerosis (’hardening of the arteries’) is an inflammatory condition in which plaques (accumulations of lipids, immune [...]
Raltegravir, efavirenz may offer comparable outcomes in patients with HIV.
Friday, February 19th, 2010MedPage Today (2/18, Susman) reported “that patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus and treated with the integrase inhibitor raltegravir (Isentress) fare as well as patients treated with efavirenz (Sustiva).” Although “the side effects on lipids favor raltegravir,” Peruvian scientists explained that “74% of patients treated with a raltegravir-based regimen and 74% [...]
Gilead Quad AIDS Pill Safer, Better Than Atripla
Thursday, February 18th, 2010Gilead Sciences Inc.’s four-in-one combination pill for AIDS had fewer side effects and may be more effective than its three-drug treatment Atripla, the world’s best-selling HIV therapy, a study found.
The quad pill reduced the virus to undetectable levels in 90 percent of patients after 24 weeks, compared with 83 percent on Atripla, according to research [...]
Increased adherence to HIV medicinal regimens deemed cost-effective.
Thursday, January 7th, 2010MedPage Today (1/5, Smith) reported that even in economically depressed countries, “programs designed to increase adherence” to HAART are cost-effective. Through their study in South Africa, Harvard researchers discovered that “although medication costs were higher for patients who took their drugs as prescribed, overall average monthly costs for those with [...]
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