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Political strife undermines HIV treatment

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2013Health, Politicsaids reviews, ampath, antiretroviral therapy, brown university, conflict related disruption, elections, haart, highly active, hiv epidemics, hiv treatment, jane carter, Kenya, kenyan citizens, marita mann, moi university, policymakers, political conflict, political strife, political violence, post strife treatment, providence, rami kantor, sylvester kimaiyo, the miriam hospital, viral load

Among other tragedies in countries with HIV epidemics, political violence can have the additional long-term consequence of an increase in viral resistance to treatment and HIV treatment failure, say the authors of a new paper in AIDS Reviews. The researchers, who have studied post-strife treatment failure and resistance in Kenya, argue that officials and health care providers need to study and prepare for how violence disrupts antiretroviral treatment and complicates the epidemic.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As Kenyan citizens negotiated the tensions following the March 4 nationwide elections, memories of the violence that followed the December 2007 vote weighed heavily for many reasons. Among those in any nation with an HIV epidemic, argue authors of a new paper in AIDS Reviews, should be the long-term damage that political conflict can do to public health by disrupting treatment and thereby promoting resistance to antiretroviral drugs and treatment failure. (more…)

Lecture or Listen: When Patients Waver on Meds

By Guest PostFebruary 5, 2012Healthadherence, aids and behavior, antiretroviral therapy, arv drugs, arv medication, Baltimore, brown university, detroit, hiv-positive, m barton laws, mary catherine beach, new york city, patient, portland, william rogers, yoojin lee

*According to a new analysis of hundreds of recorded office visits, doctors and nurse practitioners typically issued orders and asked closed or leading questions when talking to their HIV-positive patients about adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Attempts at problem-solving with patients who had lapsed occurred in less than a quarter of visits.*

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Take your medicine, Doctor’s orders. It’s a simple idea that may seem especially obvious when the pills are the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that add decades to the lives of HIV-positive patients. But despite the reality that keeping up with drug regimens is not easy for many patients, a new analysis of hundreds of recorded doctor’s office visits finds that physicians and nurse practitioners often still rely on lecturing, ordering, and scolding rather than listening and problem solving with their patients. (more…)

Couples-oriented Programs Found to Boost Healthy Behaviors Among African Americans

By Guest PostMay 17, 2011Healthafrican american couples, antiretroviral therapy, cancer screenings, cardiovascular disease, chronic diseases, diabetes, gail wyatt, haart, healthier eating, hiv and its treatment with haart, hiv medications, hiv-positive, increased physical activity, john b jemmott, nabila el bassel, std risk reduction program, virus, willo pequegnat

*Intervention focuses on couples in which one partner is HIV-positive*

Intervention programs that promote healthier eating, increased physical activity and cancer screenings may be beneficial for African American couples that are at high risk for chronic diseases and that include one partner who is HIV-positive, according to new research.

With such inverventions, each partner appears to draw encouragement from the other to monitor his or her own lifestyle and health, according to study co-author Gail Wyatt, a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and an associate director of the UCLA AIDS Institute. (more…)

Research Suggests HIV Causes Rapid Aging in Key Infection-fighting Cells

By Guest PostJanuary 29, 20111 commentHealthaids epidemic, antiretroviral therapy, beth d jamieson, cancers, cd31 t cells, cd4+ helper t cells, cd4+ t cell numbers, chromosomes, clinical conditions, disease, hiv 1 infected adults, hiv seronegative, hiv-positive, illnesses, immune systems, infect, infection, liver diseases, natural cell division, pathogens, t cells, tammy m rickabaugh, telomeres, virtual death, virus

In the early years of the AIDS epidemic, being infected with the virus that causes the disease was considered a virtual death sentence. But with the development of antiretroviral therapy, many with HIV are now living much longer. In fact, it is estimated that by 2015, about half of all HIV-positive individuals will be older than 50.

Yet those over 50 also progress to AIDS faster than adults in their 20s or 30s. And those in the younger age bracket — even those responding well to antiretroviral therapy — still exhibit illnesses and clinical conditions commonly associated with older people, such as certain cancers and liver diseases. For the most part, the reasons for this have remained a mystery. (more…)

Tag Archives: antiretroviral therapy

Political strife undermines HIV treatment

Lecture or Listen: When Patients Waver on Meds

Couples-oriented Programs Found to Boost Healthy Behaviors Among African Americans

Research Suggests HIV Causes Rapid Aging in Key Infection-fighting Cells