High Level of Bone Loss in Men Recently Infected With HIV

POZ - Treatment News: "This study shows a high rate of osteopenia and osteoporosis early in the course of HIV infection, before the possible influence of [ARVs],” the authors concluded."

Genetic Factor Strongly Predicts Response to Hep C Therapy

POZ - Treatment News: "HIV-positive people with an inherited mutation in a specific gene are far more likely to respond to hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy than people without the mutation, according to a study published online August 30 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Testing for the gene could help identify those most—and least—likely to benefit from HCV treatment."

Pulmonary Infections and Risk of Lung Cancer Among Persons With AIDS

JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes: "Lung cancer risk was unrelated to tuberculosis [(n = 13,878) HR = 1.12, 95% CI = 0.82 to 1.53] or Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia [(n = 69,771) HR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.80 to 1.18]. The increased lung cancer risk associated with recurrent pneumonia supports the hypothesis that chronic pulmonary inflammation arising from infections contributes to lung carcinogenesis."

Micronutrient Supplements May Be Beneficial For People With HIV (AIDS 2010)

The AIDS Beacon: "Research presented at the 2010 International AIDS Conference suggests certain vitamins and minerals, known as micronutrients, may help delay HIV disease progression and improve immune health of people living with HIV."

The Impact of Shame on Health-Related Quality of Life Among HIV-Positive Adults with a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse

AIDS Patient Care and STDs: "In bivariate analyses, shame regarding sexual abuse and HIV infection were each negatively associated with health-related quality of life and its components (physical well-being, function and global well-being, emotional and social well-being, and cognitive functioning). After controlling for demographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors, HIV-related, but not sexual abuse-related, shame remained a significant predictor of reduced health-related quality of life, explaining up to 10% of the variance in multivariable models for overall health-related quality of life, emotional, function and global, and social well-being and cognitive functioning over and above that of other variables entered into the model. ... Shame is an important and modifiable predictor of health-related quality of life in HIV-positive populations, and medical and mental health providers serving HIV-infected populations should be aware of the importance of shame and its impact on the well-being of their patients."

New HIV Microbicide Candidate Has Unique Properties

POZ: "Though the authors state that the drug could theoretically work as a treatment for HIV, most current peptide drugs must be injected because they can’t survive the passage from the gut to the blood stream. This doesn’t necessarily kill PIE12-trimer’s chances as a treatment for HIV—if it only has to be injected weekly or monthly, people might not mind it—but does give it a higher hurdle to jump over."

Long-Term Imiquimod Treatment Helps Clear High-Grade Anal Lesions

POZ: "Long-term treatment with a topical immune-stimulating cream called Aldara (imiquimod), approved for the treatment of external genital warts, may also improve or clear high-grade lesions inside the anuses of men living with HIV and may potentially reduce the risk of cancer. This is the conclusion of a study published online August 19 in the journal AIDS"

LOYOLA RESEARCHERS ZERO IN ON PROTEIN THAT DESTROYS HIV

loyolamedicine.org: "Using a $225,000 microscope, researchers have identified the key components of a protein called TRIM5a that destroys HIV in rhesus monkeys.

"The finding could lead to new TRIM5a-based treatments that would knock out HIV in humans, said senior researcher Edward M. Campbell, PhD, of Loyola University Health System.

"Campbell and colleagues report their findings in an article featured on the cover of the Sept. 15, 2010 issue of the journal Virology, now available online."

Gene therapy: HIV-resistant cells work in mice. Can they help humans?

latimes.com: "The question was, could researchers create bone marrow stem cells that — just like the marrow the Berlin patient received — lack the crucial gene, CCR5, that normally lets HIV into the key immune cells it destroys?

In 2006, Gregory asked Cannon if she was interested in testing whether a tool his company developed, called a zinc finger nuclease, could do the trick.

Zinc finger nucleases are genetic scissors, cutting DNA at a specific site — say, in the middle of the CCR5 gene. When the cell glues the gene back together, it usually makes a mistake, resulting in a gene that no longer works."

danger, huge egg recall - Second Iowa Producer Recalls 170 Million Eggs

Second Iowa Producer Recalls 170 Million Eggs - NYTimes.com: “You have to treat eggs with the assumption that they’re contaminated with salmonella,” said Carol Tucker Foreman, a food safety expert of the Consumer Federation of America. “We may all object to the fact that we have to treat food like toxic waste, but if we don’t want to get sick, and especially if you have someone in your house that’s immune-suppressed, you have to handle things carefully and demand that the standards be set higher.”

Comment: Take-home messages, especially for persons with immune deficiences:
- Don't use recalled eggs. See http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ for the latest news (including a list of recalled brands, currently near the end of the press announcement).
- Cook ALL eggs thoroughly, at least while this problem continues. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for public-health authorities to even know about new cases, so nobody knows all the eggs that are causing illness.
- We must revive public health in this country. This is hard because it means giving health priority over corporate profits and influence. Also, we need an open, real-time database of the latest health and illness information, to find problems as soon as possible, when they can best be contained.

U of M researchers identify two FDA approved drugs that may fight HIV

University of Minnesota: "The two drugs, decitabine and gemcitabine – both FDA approved and currently used in pre-cancer and cancer therapy – were found to eliminate HIV infection in the mouse model by causing the virus to mutate itself to death – an outcome researchers dubbed 'lethal mutagenesis.'"

"This is a landmark finding in HIV research because it is the first time this novel approach has been used to attack the deadly virus without causing toxic side effects. Because decitabine and gemcitabine are already FDA approved, researchers believe that if their research is effective in large animal models, it will be much easier to expedite the development of the drugs for human use."

Journal of Virology abstract: http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/18/9301

Comment: This mechanism seems to be similar to that proposed by Koronis Pharmaceuticals, whose experimental treatment KP-1461 (prodrug to KP-1212) has been reformulated for new clinical trials.

AIDS Treatment News: Help us preserve its history

We need assistance in the next two weeks to preserve the early archive of AIDS Treatment News, including irreplaceable information on the epidemic. For details, click Why in the donation box on the right, or visit http://www.aidsnews.org/archive98.html.

New Strategy Could Eradicate Latent HIV-Infected Cells

AIDSmeds: "Researchers report that they have taken the first step toward killing cells that are latently infected with HIV—cells that serve as a reservoir of persistent HIV reproduction and that current antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can’t reach. Their findings have been accepted by the open-access journal AIDS Research and Therapy. ...

"After two weeks of treatment with the combination, no HIV DNA could be found, and this remained the case for an additional two weeks after the last dose of the treatment was added to the cells. The authors caution it is possible that some residual integrated HIV DNA was still present in the cells. Nevertheless, their results are encouraging.

“Stimulation of viral integration by the INS and INrs peptides, combined with the prevention of virion production by the protease inhibitor, not only resulted in blocking of HIV-1 infection but also in extermination of the infected cells by invoking apoptosis,” the authors concluded.

“Whilst this research is promising, a major caveat with these studies is that they are preliminary,” Loyter cautioned. “So far these experiments have only been shown to ‘cure’ HIV from small dishes of cultured cells in the authors’ laboratory, but the findings are an exciting development in the quest to eradicate this devastating global pandemic.”

Supplement may help people with depression

Reuters Health: "Researchers found that adding the supplement, called S-Adenosyl Methionine, or SAMe, to a patients' antidepressant treatment helped more people with major depression improve their symptoms than those that took an inactive placebo on top of their normal medication."

See the journal abstract at http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/8/942

For an earlier review, see www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/76/5/1158S.pdf


Comment: Not an HIV-related study, but may be useful to some.

There could be drug-interaction and safety issues with SAMe -- which is often taken with certain B vitamins, and in lower doses than used in the recent study. Persons with serious health problems especially should get medical advice. But SAMe has not gone through the formal approval process, so some of the routine testing has not been done, and doctors don't have some of the answers.

U.S. researchers develop new anti-HIV drug

Xinhua: "Researchers at University of Utah have developed a promising new anti-HIV drug that prevents HIV from attacking human cells.

"The researchers said they hoped to begin human clinical trials in two to three years.

"The drug, PIE12-trimer, is ideally suited for use as a vaginal microbicide (topically applied drug) to prevent HIV infection, the researchers said in the study appearing Wednesday in the online issue of the Journal of Virology.

"PIE12-trimer was designed with a unique 'resistance capacitor' that provides it with a strong defense against the emergence of drug-resistant viruses. ...

"Because of its ability to block the virus from infecting new cells, PIE12-trimer has the potential to work as a microbicide to prevent people from contracting HIV and as a treatment for HIV infected people. HIV can develop resistance rapidly to existing drugs, so there is a constant need to develop new drugs in hopes of staying ahead of the virus."

Traditional risk factors main cause of thickening of carotid artery in patients with HIV

aidsmap.com: "US researchers have found that thickening of the carotid artery in patients with HIV appears to be associated with traditional risk factors, rather than those connected with either the severity of HIV disease or the use of antiretroviral therapy. However, in a study published in the online edition of AIDS, the investigators report that treatment with tenofovir had a protective effect against thickening of this artery.�

“Traditional risk factors are more important in predicting levels of cIMT [carotid-intima media thickness] in HIV infection,” comment the investigators.

"The life expectancy of patients with HIV has improved dramatically since the introduction of effective antiretroviral therapy and is now considered likely to be of near-normal duration.

"However, increased rates of cardiovascular disease have been observed in patients with HIV. The exact reasons for this are unclear, but possible reasons include a high prevalence of traditional risk factors, the inflammatory effect of HIV disease, and the side-effects of anti-HIV drugs.

"An important early warning sign of increased risk of cardiovascular risk is increased thickness of the carotid artery."

PTSD Symptoms Common Among People With HIV

POZ: "Three HIV-related events most strongly predicted developing PTSD. They were: experiencing physical symptoms, witnessing HIV-related death and, unexpectedly, receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. Though 55 percent of the survey respondents rated being diagnosed with HIV as a traumatic event, this was not correlated strongly with the development of PTSD, nor were feelings of shame or guilt over becoming HIV positive.

"Theuninck and his colleagues stated that receiving HIV treatment was both “the strongest predictor and an unexpected finding. The emotional distress evoked by receiving treatment was more highly correlated with [post-traumatic stress symptoms] than any other stressor.”

Salk to Get $21M for HIV Study

NBC San Diego: "The grant from the National Institutes of Health will be used to study the immune system's response to the early stages of HIV infection."

Tenofovir treatment impairs kidney function, but clinical significance limited

aidsmap.com: “Our systematic review suggests that the risk of clinically relevant renal toxicity due to TDF is relatively low, at least during the short-term,” comment the investigators.

"Nevertheless, they note that “dozens” of cases of tenofovir-associated kidney dysfunction have been reported. The researchers provide a number of explanations for the differences between the findings of their meta-analysis and the outcomes seen in routine practice:

* More sensitive testing of kidney function was used to diagnose the cases seen in “real world” settings.

* Many of the cases seen in clinical practice involved individuals who were also taking ddI (didanosine, Videx, Videx EC) or a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor. By contrast, most of the patients in the studies were taking an NNRTI and the use of ddI was scrupulously avoided.

*Many case reports involve older patients, those with advanced HIV disease, and individuals with mild kidney dysfunction at baseline. Such individuals would be excluded from clinical trials.

"Our findings do not support the need to restrict TDF use in jurisdictions where regular monitoring of renal function… is difficult or impractical," conclude the investigators."

Antiretrovirals and Risk for Myocardial Infarction

HIV/AIDS Clinical Care: "This study supports the observation that some PIs may modestly increase MI risk. When researchers shift within a single study from demonstrating a link between abacavir and MI to refuting that association after more-careful analysis, then one can understand why the topic of abacavir and risk for cardiovascular disease remains contentious."

HIV Cure: Controversy, Consensus, and a Consortium

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses: "In an address at the 2010 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, issued a clarion call to action. Describing research toward a cure as “high risk but very high impact,” he continued: “I feel strongly that this is a direction we should go, even though years ago this would have been unimaginable.” At amfAR, we wholeheartedly concur."

Severe Symptomatic Hyperlactatemia Among HIV Type 1-Infected Adults on Antiretroviral Therapy in Côte d'Ivoire

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses: "Stavudine is no longer recommended for use in first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART), but it remains in high demand worldwide because it is affordable. We report the clinical presentation and incidence of severe hyperlactatemia (SL) in HIV-infected adults who initiated ART between April 2005 and May 2009 in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. ...

"Among the eight patients with SL, 100% lost >9% of body weight before diagnosis, 100% had serum lactate >4mmol/liter (range 4.2–12.1), 50% had pre-ART BMI >25kg/m2, and three patients died (38%), accounting for 6.4% of deaths among patients taking stavudine. As long as HIV clinicians continue to use stavudine in sub-Saharan Africa, they should watch out for acute unexplained weight loss in patients taking ART, particularly among women and patients with high pre-ART BMI."

Tattooing Significantly Increases the Risk of Contracting Hep C

POZ: "Getting a tattoo can increase a person’s risk for contracting hepatitis C virus (HCV) by nearly six times, according to a study published online July 31 in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases."

New Study and Editorial Highlight the Potential of Test and Treat

POZ: "A new study and an accompanying editorial published in the August 14 issue of The Lancet highlight the potential to reduce ongoing HIV transmission in a community simply through aggressive testing and treatment of HIV-positive people with antiretroviral (ARV) drugs."

Two-Year Safety and Virologic Efficacy of Maraviroc in Treatment-Experienced Patients With CCR5-Tropic HIV-1 Infection: 96-Week Combined Analysis ...

JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes: "Conclusions: Maraviroc-containing antiretroviral regimens maintained durable responses in treatment-experienced patients with R5 HIV-1 through 96 weeks of treatment with a safety profile similar to placebo."

A New Lifeline Boosts Therapeutic Cells

Howard Hughes Medical Institute: "'My laboratory is devoted to figuring out how to deliver drugs and vaccines that better target the immune system,' says Irvine.'“We’re trying to learn how to make the immune system mount more effective attacks against cancer and HIV.'"

Also see the Nature Medicine abstract, Therapeutic cell engineering with surface-conjugated synthetic nanoparticles.

Rare Sharing of Data Leads to Progress on Alzheimer’s

New York Times: "In 2003, a group of scientists and executives from the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the drug and medical-imaging industries, universities and nonprofit groups joined in a project that experts say had no precedent: a collaborative effort to find the biological markers that show the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in the human brain. ...

"The key to the Alzheimer’s project was an agreement as ambitious as its goal: not just to raise money, not just to do research on a vast scale, but also to share all the data, making every single finding public immediately, available to anyone with a computer anywhere in the world."

NIH Bankrolls Six Centers with $100M to Characterize Human Immune Responses

Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News: "NIH is launching a nationwide research initiative to define changes in the immune system in response to infection or vaccination. Six U.S.-based Human Immune Phenotyping Centers will receive $100 million over five years to conduct research in humans."

David in Guatemala: U.S. activist in Costa Rica Trying to Save a Life

Richard Stern: "What I do know is that there is now over $10 million dollars of foreign aid for HIV/AIDS flowing into Guatemala each year, the majority of it from USAID and the Global Fund, and still 32 percent of all PLWA who need treatment continue to die without it."


This case shows on-the-ground consequences of not enough funding for treatment. Although treatment is better than in many countries, a critical drug (Abacavir) was unavailable for weeks.

And systems that must exclude many people often evolve irrational excuses for doing so.

If you might be able to help, see the attached documents, or contact Richard Stern, rastern@racsa.co.cr or call him in Costa Rica, +506-2280-3548.

The NOSE Study (Nasal Ointment for Staphylococcus aureus Eradication): A Randomized Controlled Trial of Monthly Mupirocin in HIV-Infected Individuals

JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes: "Monthly mupirocin application has a potential role in long-term care settings or in HIV-positive patients with high rates of S. aureus colonization and infection."

The science and practice of HIV prevention

The Lancet: "What AIDS 2010 seems to have shown is that the science of HIV prevention is now beginning to yield major successes. Whether the AIDS community has the right strategies to translate those successes into policies remains to be seen."

Sepsis is a major determinant of outcome in critically ill HIV/AIDS patients

Critical Care: "Severe sepsis has emerged as a major cause of admission and mortality for hospitalized HIV/AIDS patients, significantly impacting short- and longer-term survival of critically ill HIV/AIDS patients."

Black AIDS Institute, in Partnership with Merck, Launches Dynamic National HIV/AIDS Treatment and Care Advocacy Network

Merck: "Today, the Black AIDS Institute (The Institute), with support from Merck, announced the launch of the Black Treatment Advocates Network (BTAN). BTAN, the first collaborative Network of its kind, will train and mobilize a team of treatment advocates with a mission to link Black Americans with HIV into care and treatment; strengthen local and national leadership; raise HIV science and treatment literacy in Black communities; and advocate for policy change and research priorities.

"Black Americans represent 13 percent of the U.S. population, and yet they are the largest group impacted by HIV/AIDS at 51 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They also remain those least in care. Studies show that among individuals with HIV/AIDS, Blacks are 59 percent less likely than Whites to be receiving HIV treatment."

Black AIDS Institute, in Partnership with Merck, Launches Dynamic National HIV/AIDS Treatment and Care Advocacy Network

Merck: "Today, the Black AIDS Institute (The Institute), with support from Merck, announced the launch of the Black Treatment Advocates Network (BTAN). BTAN, the first collaborative Network of its kind, will train and mobilize a team of treatment advocates with a mission to link Black Americans with HIV into care and treatment; strengthen local and national leadership; raise HIV science and treatment literacy in Black communities; and advocate for policy change and research priorities.

"Black Americans represent 13 percent of the U.S. population, and yet they are the largest group impacted by HIV/AIDS at 51 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They also remain those least in care. Studies show that among individuals with HIV/AIDS, Blacks are 59 percent less likely than Whites to be receiving HIV treatment."

HIV patients say doctors ignore their other problems, study says

Chicago Tribune: "Patients express widespread satisfaction with their physicians overall and say they communicate well. But the study, AIDS Treatment for Life International Survey, or ATLIS 2010, also found that patients do not report discussing so-called co-morbidities — other health-related conditions that can seriously affect their well-being and lead to death, such as heart disease, stroke or kidney failure.

'It's great that HIV clinicians are focusing on antiretroviral therapies and patients are doing so much better,' said Renslow Sherer, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and member of the ATLIS team who helped present the study's findings at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna. 'But people are now dying from heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease and stroke.'"

Many patients with HIV could benefit from aspirin to reduce cardiovascular risk

aidsmap.com: "Almost a third of HIV-positive patients could benefit from aspirin treatment to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, Spanish investigators argue in the August 15th edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

"Researchers from the Hospital Gandia, applied recently published guidance on aspirin use for primary prevention of diseases such as heart attack and stroke to their clinic population. They found that “aspirin would be indicated in 30.8% of the patients…yet only 2 patients were taking the medication.”"

Analysis: HIV generics under threat from tighter patenting rules

PlusNews: "Of particular concern are negotiations around a "Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement" between India and the EU, due to be completed by December 2010. Activists fear such an agreement may impose TRIPS-plus-type conditions on India's manufacture and export of generic medicines.

"Shifting away from generic competition would put the power of price-fixing back into the hands of 'big pharma' and make ARVs unaffordable again," said Gilles van Cutsem, project coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières in the South African township of Khayelitshan."

WHO online consultation on global health sector strategy for HIV

World Health Organization: "You are invited to provide your feedback on the consultation materials found on the WHO web site. These materials will be available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

"Comments should be submitted by 31 August ..."

Susan Smith Ellis: HIV/AIDS Medicine Is Only One Piece Of The Puzzle

(RED): "ARVs are just one aspect of this complex issue, so why did we concentrate on showcasing its affordability? To quote my friend and colleague, Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director, the Global Fund: 'It is true that many factors are important in ensuring that people are able to live healthy lives despite an HIV infection, including good nutrition and proper care. But the one that has revolutionized the fight against AIDS is the reduction in the price of antiretroviral drugs.'"

[Pennsylvania health insurance] It's Finally Here!! PA's Health Insurance Plan for Adult's with Pre-Existing Conditions!!

PA Health Access Network: "We are pleased to announce a new program offered by the Insurance Department called PA Fair Care – Pennsylvania’s health plan for uninsured adults with pre-existing conditions.

PA Fair Care will be administered statewide through a contract with Highmark Blue Shield. Benefits will include preventive care, physician services, diagnostic testing, hospitalization, mental health services and prescriptions. The cost to enrollees is a subsidized premium of $283.20 monthly.

To be eligible for PA Fair Care, applicants must:

o Be a U.S. citizen or lawful resident

o Be a Pennsylvania resident

o Have a pre-existing health condition

o Be uninsured for the previous six months

PA Fair Care will begin taking applications on Wed., Aug. 4, after 8:30 a.m. To apply, applications can be completed online at www.PAFairCare.com, or those without internet access may apply with assistance from the toll free helpline – 1-888-767-7015 (TTY 1-888-767-7018) Monday thru Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m."

AIDS activists stage mock funeral in front of Pelosi's house (VIDEO)

SFGate: Politics Blog: "A group of about 25 AIDS activists, health care providers and those afflicted by HIV/AIDS performed a mock wake, procession and funeral today in San Francisco, starting at the intersection of Market Street and Castro Street, and heading to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home for the staged funeral.

"The event was part of a campaign by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to get Pelosi, D-San Francisco, to support a bill that would use stimulus money to pay for treatment for HIV/AIDS patients, more than 2,300 of whom are on waiting lists across the nation to get funding for HIV/AIDS drugs, according to the AHF."

Activist Group Claims HIV Cure Is Closer Than Many Think

POZ - Treatment News: "The AIDS Policy Project, in Philadelphia, has issued a report contending that a cure for AIDS may be closer to fruition than most people think, but that poor research funding is holding it back.

“Who knows exactly what’s going on with AIDS cure research?” ask Kate Krauss, Stephen LeBlanc and John James, the activists who wrote the report. They argue that most people outside of the research community don’t know how close we may be to a cure, nor how much funding is being spent toward a cure. This includes reporters, members of Congress and the public at large."

Low Vitamin D Levels Not Associated With HIV Drugs

POZ.com: "Low vitamin D levels in people with HIV were not associated with any particular antiretroviral (ARV) medication, nor with signs of bone loss, according to a study presented Wednesday, July 21, at the XVIII International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Vienna.

"Vitamin D is critical to good health. People with low vitamin D levels—which typically occur in people living in more extreme latitudes during the winter months—have been associated with cardiovascular disease, bone mineral loss and several cancers. Of concern, studies presented over the last several years increasingly find that low vitamin D levels are common in people with HIV, particularly African Americans, men and people who are overweight."

Researchers Study Lipodystrophy And Effects Of Antiretrovirals On Cholesterol Levels (AIDS 2010)

The AIDS Beacon: "Several studies presented at the 2010 International AIDS Conference examined lipodystrophy and the effects of antiretroviral medications on cholesterol levels."

Researchers Study Lipodystrophy And Effects Of Antiretrovirals On Cholesterol Levels (AIDS 2010) - The AIDS Beacon

Researchers Study Lipodystrophy And Effects Of Antiretrovirals On Cholesterol Levels (AIDS 2010) - The AIDS Beacon: "Several studies presented at the 2010 International AIDS Conference examined lipodystrophy and the effects of antiretroviral medications on cholesterol levels."

Reflections on Vienna 2010

The Loop -- International HIV/AIDS Alliance: "At a time when the focus on HIV and AIDS appears to be diminishing it is easy to forget that there are still over 33 million people who are living with HIV and every year 2 million people die from AIDS. HIV/AIDS is still very much with us.

"Please scroll down to read our reflections from the conference on:
The Alliance at Vienna
A focus on drugs and HIV
Human Rights, Right Now!
Show us the money!
What’s preventing HIV prevention?
Maternal health, children and HIV
Clinical Developments
Community Voices speaking their world"

Therapeutic HIV vaccines show promise

Nature News: "At a special session, included in the programme at the last minute, attendees heard the results of a handful of successful, but small, early-phase clinical trials for therapeutic vaccines — once thought to be a dead end for tackling HIV."

Low Vitamin D Levels Not Associated With HIV Drugs

POZ.com: "Low vitamin D levels in people with HIV were not associated with any particular antiretroviral (ARV) medication, nor with signs of bone loss, according to a study presented Wednesday, July 21, at the XVIII International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Vienna.

"Vitamin D is critical to good health. People with low vitamin D levels—which typically occur in people living in more extreme latitudes during the winter months—have been associated with cardiovascular disease, bone mineral loss and several cancers. Of concern, studies presented over the last several years increasingly find that low vitamin D levels are common in people with HIV, particularly African Americans, men and people who are overweight."

Inadequate Vitamin D Exacerbates Parathyroid Hormone Elevations in Tenofovir Users

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses: "In this cross-sectional study of HIV-infected men on ART, the use of TDF [tenofovir] and the level of 25(OH)D were independently associated with PTH levels. Because TDF is a potent and widely used antiretroviral drug, information about cofactors that may exacerbate its side effects is of significant clinical value."

Universal HIV Treatment Access No Guarantee of Health for Socially Disadvantaged

POZ.com: "San Francisco has long been a pioneer in HIV research and treatment. In some populations of people with HIV—notably financially stable gay and bisexual men receiving HIV care—the city has among the best treatment outcomes in the United States, due in part to laws providing universal health care to its residents. Recently, the San Francisco health department recommended intensive HIV testing and immediate treatment for all people found to be HIV positive. The idea is not only to prevent ongoing HIV transmission but also to benefit the health of people living with HIV.

"A concern has remained, however, whether good health outcomes are the same for people who are socially disadvantaged—such as injection drug users and people with mental illness—compared with less marginalized groups. Other studies have indicated that reductions in AIDS cases and AIDS deaths have not fallen as much among disadvantaged populations as the general population of people with HIV."

'The business of public health': new research on financing of HIV programmes

aidsmap.com: "Stover concluded that to provide ongoing support to people already on ART would cost between US$1.6 and 1.9 billion per year. He explained that this was a 'baseline commitment', and that additional sources of funding were required to increase ART coverage.

"Stover explained: 'The price of second-line drugs is a major component. Any progress in reducing second-line prices will make a significant difference, as will improving first-line regimens so people can stay on first-line treatment for a lot longer.'


"When questioned about the validity of costing models that indicate that the failure to invest in ART will be more costly to countries in the long run, Stover emphasised that: 'Models unequivocally show that ART is a good investment. The benefits of ART can be clearly ascertained if you look at the number of productive years that are gained from treatment.'

"Stover went on to explain: 'Since the year 2000, the price of ART has plummeted. If it costs $600 to treat someone for a year, which is more than the estimated cost of the World Health Organization recommendations, that’s less than the GDP per capita of most countries and certainly less than the average productivity of an adult in sub-Saharan Africa.'

"However, he added that, 'The trouble is who is paying, and who is getting the benefit. With PEPFAR and the Global Fund, they are financing health initiatives, although the benefit of these accrues somewhere else. But that’s okay, because PEPFAR and the Global Fund aren’t in the business of making money. They are in the business of public health.'"

New studies strengthen evidence that drug addiction is a disease of the brain; substitution therapy necessary

aidsmap.com"Two scientific lectures presented at the Eighteenth International AIDS Conference in Vienna last week, demonstrated that drug use in and of itself is linked to increased rates of HIV transmission, giving support for evidence that substitution therapy programmes could help to stem the HIV epidemic.

"Currently, ten million injecting drug users (IDUs) are living with the virus worldwide."

Researchers Present Early Data On New Treatment Approaches And Drugs For HIV (AIDS 2010)

The AIDS Beacon: "Several innovative but preliminary treatment approaches were presented Monday at the 2010 International AIDS Conference currently underway in Vienna, Austria. Presentations included the results of animal and laboratory studies on novel drugs and new generations of traditional therapies.

"Two of the studies focused on methods to completely eliminate HIV from the body. More specifically, they targeted latent HIV – HIV that lies dormant in infected cells and can start multiplying again if antiretroviral therapy is stopped."

Neurocognition, Health-Related Reading Literacy, and Numeracy in Medication Management for HIV Infection

AIDS Patient Care and STDs: "Findings suggest that patients must rely on higher order cognitive skills to successfully navigate medication self-management, and that efforts to simplify health information that merely lowers readability are likely to meet with limited success."