Month: April 2012

Essential Minerals for HIV+ People

From the book “Built to Survive (click here) Minerals 1.        Calcium – 300 mg or more three times per day. Take for strong bones, nerve health, and muscle growth itself. Calcium and magnesium are nutrients that Dr. Jon Kaiser recommends to prevent and treat neuropathy. Optimal calcium intake improves insulin sensitivity,[i] so calcium is another nutrient that might help …

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Merck’s Cavalier Attitude Towards the Welfare of HIV/HCV Coinfected Patients

What You Don’t Know, You Can Selltagline Spring 2012<https://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/tagline/2012/spring/tagline/2012/spring>by Tracy SwanIn places where access to antiretroviral therapy is widespread, peopleliving with HIV are now dying from a common and curable coinfection:hepatitis C virus (HCV). HIV increases the risk for, and accelerates therate of, liver disease from hepatitis C. Pegylated interferon andribavirin, medications used to treat …

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Interleukin-7 is Looking Better and Better….

CROI 2012- Oral Presentation  #94:   Gut Mucosa T Lymphocyte Restoration in Chronically HIV+ Patients Treated with Recombinant Interleukin-7 HIV infection caused decreases in CD4 cells in the gut mucosa that are only partially restored by ART. This study was an open-label  study of recombinant interleukin-7 (rhIL-7) (manufactured by Cytheris) in chronically HIV-infected persons, on ART, …

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Can an Alzheimer’s Drug Help HIV+ People with Cognitive Dysfunction?

CROI 2012 Paper #482.  Rivastigmine for the Treatment of HIV-associated Neurocognitive Disorders: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Crossover Pilot Study The prevalence of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) remains high despite successful antiretroviral therapy.  This study performed by researchers from the HIV Swiss Cohort aimed at looking at the effect of rivastigmine on HAND in patients with …

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Is It Safe to Give the Shingles Vaccine to HIV Positive People?

CROI 1012: Oral presentation  #96 . ZOSTAVAX Is Generally Safe and Immunogenic in HIV+ Adults Virologically Suppressed on ART: Results of a Phase 2, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial Risk of recurrent/severe herpes zoster (HZ) is increased in HIV+ patients.   To date, use of ZOSTAVAX® (ZV; live attenuated zoster vaccine live) has been contraindicated for people …

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Do Friendly Bugs Improve Immune Function?

CROI 2012 Oral Presentation #95 . Probiotic Supplementation of ARV Treatment during SIV Infection of Pigtail Macaques Results in Enhanced GI Tract CD4+ T Cell Frequency and Immunological Function During progressive HIV/SIV (simian immune defficiency virus in monkeys) infections, damage to the GI tract leads to microbial translocation, which may contribute to chronic immune activation …

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Undetectable HIV Viral Load in the Blood? Not Necessarily in Semen, Boston HIV Study Finds

Can someone with no detectable HIV virus in their blood due to successful HIV treatment infect someone? “Undetectable viral loads in blood is not a guarantee that HIV is also undetectable in semen, according to a new study involving 101 HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) conducted in Boston and published online ahead of print …

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