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Care News Archives
POZ New Resources The newest
version of POZ's special Newly Diagnosed issue is now in production. It
is created for people recently diagnosed with HIV and covers the basics from
managing disclosure to finding a doctor. This 36-page flipbook will feature
content in both English and Spanish. We are targeting the initial distribution
for April. You can order your copies in advance by visiting
orders.poz.com.
They are also working on the next round of POZ Fact Sheets. Topics already in
the works include:
- Healthy Skin
- Heart Health
- HIV over 50
- Liver Health
National News
"FDA Clears New Johnson
& Johnson HIV Drug"
Reuters, (01.19.2008) Lisa Richwine
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration
approved Intelence (TMC125, etravirine) for use
in combination with existing AIDS drugs in adult
HIV patients who are failing other therapies.
Made by Johnson & Johnson, Intelence is the
newest approved drug in the class of
non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
(NNRTIs), which block an enzyme HIV needs to
replicate. CDC Summary
FDA Approves Tibotec's Antiretroviral Etravirine
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=49955
UNITED STATES:
"AIDS Patients Face
Downside of Living Longer"
New York Times, (01.06.2008) Jane
Gross
Several unexpected medical conditions among
long-term AIDS survivors are challenging the
perception the disease is manageable but
chronic, according to patients, doctors, and
scientists. To date there have been only small,
inconclusive studies on age-related health
conditions and AIDS, partly because so many
early AIDS patients died quickly in the era
before robust treatments were available.
CDC Summary
HIV/AIDS Experts, Doctors Voice Concerns About Health Problems Seen Among
Long-Term HIV/AIDS Survivors
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=49673
Book Examines Experiences of Children With
HIV/AIDS, Addresses Treatment, Care, Support
Issues
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=49699
HIV-Positive People With Depression More Likely
To Follow Treatment Regimens When Taking SSRIs,
Study Finds
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=49700
HIV/AIDS Experts, Doctors Voice Concerns About
Health Problems Seen Among Long-Term HIV/AIDS
Survivors
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=49673
Around the
Nation
See December 2007
Archives
Global
THAILAND:
"Canadian Doctor Brings Touch of Chinese Healing to
Thai Medicine"
Ottawa Citizen, (01.02.2008) Aileen McCabe, CanWest News Service
Acupuncture is not a part of traditional medicine in Thailand. However, since
2004, Vancouver naturopathic doctor Laura Louie has employed acupuncture and
massage to help HIV/AIDS patients at the Mae On Clinic cope with the pain,
fatigue, numbness, loss of appetite, and insomnia caused by the disease and side
effects of antiretroviral therapy. CDC Summary
Summaries
UNITED STATES:
"FDA Clears New Johnson
& Johnson HIV Drug"
Reuters, (01.19.2008) Lisa Richwine
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration
approved Intelence (TMC125, etravirine) for use
in combination with existing AIDS drugs in adult
HIV patients who are failing other therapies.
Made by Johnson & Johnson, Intelence is the
newest approved drug in the class of
non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
(NNRTIs), which block an enzyme HIV needs to
replicate.
FDA approved the drug based on 24-week studies
that showed 60 percent of patients who took an
Intelence-based drug cocktail achieved an
undetectable viral load. In comparison, 40
percent of patients taking a placebo in an AIDS
drug combination attained undetectable levels of
HIV.
Intelence can also be used in patients failing
other NNRTIs, said Roger Pomerantz, president
for research and development at Tibotec, a unit
of Johnson & Johnson. "Doctors and patients can
use [Intelence] in those patients that… have had
several or multiple rounds of resistance
develop."
The new drug will have a wholesale cost of $5.45
per tablet, said Pamela Van Houten, a Tibotec
spokesperson. The approved dosage is two tablets
twice a day.
FDA said the most common side effects reported
from the studies were skin rashes and nausea. In
rare instances, serious rashes were noted; FDA
advises patients on Intelence to tell their
doctor if they develop rashes. Patients on the
drug may develop infections, and the long-term
effects of Intelence are not known, said FDA.
Patients should also tell their doctor and
pharmacist about all medications they take, as
other drugs may interact with Intelence.
UNITED STATES:
"AIDS Patients Face
Downside of Living Longer"
New York Times, (01.06.2008) Jane
Gross
Several unexpected medical conditions among
long-term AIDS survivors are challenging the
perception the disease is manageable but
chronic, according to patients, doctors, and
scientists. To date there have been only small,
inconclusive studies on age-related health
conditions and AIDS, partly because so many
early AIDS patients died quickly in the era
before robust treatments were available.
Many experts believe some conditions seem to be
both premature and disproportionate among
long-term AIDS patients, including
cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol,
diabetes, certain cancers, osteoporosis and
depression.
In 2006, an AIDS Community Research Initiative
study involving 1,000 long-term survivors from
New York City found unusual rates of depression
and isolation. The Multi-Site AIDS Cohort Study,
which has followed 2,000 volunteers nationwide
for the past 25 years, holds promise of a
comprehensive look at medical rather than
psychological issues among aging AIDS patients.
No study has yet explained AIDS patients'
unusual incidence of osteoporosis, a disease
that is otherwise rarely seen in middle-aged
men. Many experts believe avascular necrosis -
the death of cells due to inadequate blood
supply - among AIDS patients is caused by the
steroids used in treating early patients for
pneumonia.
Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and high
cholesterol are associated with lipodystrophy,
which redistributes fat in many AIDS patients.
Statins to treat high cholesterol have their own
risk, as they are bad for people with abnormal
liver function, and many older AIDS patients
have liver disease from injection drug use and
alcohol abuse. In addition, the more medications
a patient takes, the greater the "chance of
something else going wrong," said Dr. Sheree
Starrett, the medical director for Manhattan's
Rivington House, a residence for AIDS patients.
THAILAND:
"Canadian Doctor Brings Touch of Chinese Healing to
Thai Medicine"
Ottawa Citizen, (01.02.2008) Aileen McCabe, CanWest News Service
Acupuncture is not a part of traditional medicine in Thailand. However, since
2004, Vancouver naturopathic doctor Laura Louie has employed acupuncture and
massage to help HIV/AIDS patients at the Mae On Clinic cope with the pain,
fatigue, numbness, loss of appetite, and insomnia caused by the disease and side
effects of antiretroviral therapy.
While on a short trip to Thailand in 2002, Louie first observed Mae On Clinic
personnel working with HIV patients and volunteered to help. It took some
convincing and demonstrations of acupuncture before she received the hospital
director's approval to begin the free HIV-acupuncture clinic outside the
government-run hospital.
Louie went back to Vancouver to raise funds from family and friends for the
project and returned with $30,000 (US $30,262) to found the clinic, she said.
The money helped buy desks, filing cabinets, hot water bottles, needles, and
other, clinic supplies, and it paid for a Thai-speaking doctor to help her train
the five nurses who volunteered to learn acupuncture. Louie visits the clinic
three times a year for six to twelve weeks.
Since local nurses now know acupuncture well enough, Louie said she effectively
"worked my way out of a job." From Vancouver, Louie helps finance the clinic
through the not-for-profit Laura Louie Foundation. Operating the clinic takes
about $6 (US $6.06) a month per patient, plus a $3,000 (US $3,030) per year
honorarium for each of the nurses, who work there one day a week.
In small surveys taken at the clinic, 96 percent of patients said they
experienced physical improvements from the acupuncture, and 86 percent said
their quality of life has improved.
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