Health in the News

In short: The FDA approves Truvada to prevent HIV infection.  This is a first.  When taken daily, Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) reduced the risk of HIV infection by 42 percent compared with a placebo. That was in a clinical trial where HIV-negative people had unprotected sex with multiple partners, including some HIV carriers, according to the FDA. Another trial involving heterosexual couples where one partner was infected -- and condoms were used routinely -- found that Truvada reduced the risk of infections by 75 percent.

I'm not sure where you would find people to take part in a study such as this, but Truvada is a treatment for an individual is already infected.  A prevention besides the usual barrier methods (or abstenance) is novel.

Another - Watching TV Causes Larger Waistlines  - no brainer right?

And the unthinkable - Dr. Stephen Stein, Denver Oral Surgeon, May Have Exposed Over 8,000 to HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.  The department sent out letters to 8,000 of Dr. Stein's patients Friday, urging them to seek tests for disease if they received intravenous (IV) medications, including sedation, under Stein’s care from September 1999 through June 2011.  Really?  What kind of healthcare professional would do this?  Of course now, he's skipped town.  Seems he may be guilty of prescription fraud and diverting medications.

Interestingly, in Germany, circumcision in the news.  German doctors are seeking an urgent clarification from the government over religious circumcision after a court ruling calling it a criminal act prompted an international outcry.  I know this is a hot button topic with many.

The College of Physicians called on the government to act to prevent clandestine circumcisions and to ensure that "children do not fall into the hands of any butcher or any old health worker".

The Cologne ruling concerned a case brought against a doctor who had circumcised a four-year-old Muslim boy in line with his parents' wishes.

When the boy later suffered heavy bleeding, prosecutors charged the doctor.

Although the doctor was acquitted, the court judged that "the right of a child to keep his physical integrity trumps the rights of parents" to observe their religion, potentially setting a legal precedent.

Want to lose weight?  Don't eat out at lunch, don't skip meals, and log everything you eat in a journal.  So, first thing I'm going to do since I've already started using Fitness Pal is to brown bag it from now on.

Related articles

• FDA approves first drug for reducing the risk of sexually acquired HIV infection (miamiherald.typepad.com)
• First HIV-prevention pill approved by FDA (cbsnews.com)
• Dentist behind HIV risk fears in Colorado: Dirty needles used? (examiner.com)
• Antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for preventing HIV in high-risk individuals. (zedie.wordpress.com)

June 27 is National HIV Testing Day

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that causes AIDS. Today, in honor of National HIV Testing Day, the healthcare community encourages you to get tested for HIV. The only way to know if you have HIV is to get tested. Many people with HIV don’t have any symptoms. In the United States, 1 in 5 people living with HIV don't know they have it.

Even if you don’t feel sick, getting early treatment for HIV is important: early treatment can help you live a longer, healthier life.

Am I at risk for HIV?

HIV is spread through some of the body’s fluids, like blood, semen (cum), vaginal fluids, and breast milk. HIV is passed from one person to another by:

• Having unprotected sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) with a person who has HIV
• Sharing needles with someone who has HIV
• Breastfeeding, pregnancy, or childbirth if the mother has HIV
• Getting a blood transfusion that has HIV (very rare in the U.S.)

HIV testing is covered for many people under the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform law passed in 2010. Depending on your insurance plan, you may be able to get tested at no cost to you. Talk to your insurance provider.

circumcision and health

There is a big debate online in certain mother forums about circumcision and "why would you want to operate on something that God created?" along with big icons "NO CIRC" and references to mutilation when it comes to the practice in the US. It's amazing to me that mothers become so heated in discussing something already proven to reduce the incidence of HIV infection in men and now, according to the New York Times, reduces the transmission of both herpes simplex virus Type 2 and human papilloma virus. The study was a randomized clinical trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine assigned more than 3,000 uncircumcised Ugandan men who were not infected with HSV-2 to undergo immediate circumcision or to be circumcised 24 months from the start of the investigation. A subgroup was similarly evaluated for HPV infection. The study showed a 25% reduced risk of infection. Of course, the results don't apply to their partners. For the types of HPV that cause genital cancer, the results were about 18 percent of circumcised men were infected at the end of two years, compared with almost 28 percent in the control group making a 35 percent reduced risk of infection. Unfortunately, when you are in the hospital or at home with a midwife giving birth to a baby boy, the full information isn't given to the parents (the ones making the decision) concerning the benefits or risks in either. In fact, in the US, the rates of circumcision are declining, especially among black and Hispanic patients, the same groups with high rates of HIV, herpes infection, and cervical cancer. Sixteen states don't allow Medicaid to pay for routine circumcision.