Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sensitive New Sensor Detects Prostate Cancer in Early Stages
British scientists have designed a prototype of a highly sensitive scanner that can detect diseases such as prostate cancer and HIV in very early stages. They consider their discovery extremely useful in countries where high-tech detection equipment is scarce.
The researchers, from Imperial College London, reported that their new visual sensor technology is 10 times more sensitive than traditional disease detectors that measure biomarkers in the body, according to Medical News Today.
The team tested the sensor's accuracy in looking for a biomarker known as p24 that's associated with HIV in human blood samples. They tested other samples for the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) marker, one indicator of prostate cancer.
The National Cancer Institute predicts that more than 240,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012 and that more than 28,000 of them will die. A male newborn has a one in six chance of developing this disease.
The two standard ways of detecting this cancer are a digital rectal exam and a PSA test. In early stages, many cases have no symptoms. According to the Mayo Clinic, use of the PSA test is debatable because studies have never proven that the blood test saves lives. It can yield suspicious results even when the patient merely has an infection.
The new sensor detects prostate cancer by looking for PSA in a blood sample. With a positive result, irregular clumps of nanoparticles form and emit a specific blue shade inside the disposable container. For a negative test, the nanoparticles separate and form shapes that resemble a ball. The process creates a red hue. Both colors are visible to the naked eye.
The ultra-sensitive sensor could detect certain diseases at much earlier stages than current technology can find. It found miniscule levels of p24 in samples from patients with low HIV viral loads, a result impossible with standard tests like the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).
The next step toward implementation is finding a sponsor among not-for-profit global health organizations to oversee the strategy for development, funding, and distribution of the technology.
While use of the sensor in the United States might be years away, the device is of special interest to my family. After years of lower-than-average PSA results, the numbers for my husband, who has a family history of prostate cancer, shot up last year. A test six months later showed even higher numbers.
The urologist performed prostate biopsies that caused bleeding and discomfort for weeks. The results showed no sign of malignancy, calling into question the validity of the two tests. A year later, the numbers mysteriously returned to the low end of the normal range. It would be reassuring to have access to this sensitive new sensor, knowing that it has the capacity to detect prostate cancer in very early stages.
Vonda J. Sines has published thousands of print and online health and medical articles. She specializes in diseases and other conditions that affect the quality of life.
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Monday, October 29, 2012
GSK raises bet on AIDS drug with new Shionogi deal
LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline has raised its bet on a promising drug for HIV/AIDS by redrawing a deal with Japan's Shionogi, giving it a much bigger economic interest in the new product.
Dolutegravir, a once-daily drug that has performed strongly in clinical trials, is seen by analysts as a potential multibillion-dollar-a-year seller and a strong competitor to treatments from market leader Gilead Sciences.
Under the new agreement, Shionogi will take a 10 percent stake in Viiv Healthcare - an HIV drug joint venture set up in 2009 between Britain's biggest drugmaker and Pfizer - in exchange for its rights to dolutegravir.
Previously, income from the medicine would have been shared 50:50 between ViiV and Shionogi, which analysts calculate would have given GSK only around a 40 percent interest in the drug, after taking account of Pfizer's minority stake in ViiV.
Now GSK's economic interest will be between 60 and 66 percent, GSK Chief Strategy Officer David Redfern told Reuters.
'It's an affirmation of our belief in dolutegravir as a potential important medicine in HIV,' he said in an interview. 'We're taking in house, in this case through ViiV, what we deem to be an important growth asset.'
Dolutegravir is scheduled to be filed for regulatory approval in the United States and Europe by end of this year. It belongs to a novel class of drugs known as integrase inhibitors that block the virus causing AIDS from entering cells.
Redfern said the new arrangement was expected to dilute GSK's earnings by around 1 pence a share in 2013 and 2014 but should boost earnings thereafter.
Shionogi, which will save money it would otherwise have had to spend in the run-up to the drug's launch, will gain one Viiv board seat and receive royalties of 15 percent to 19 percent on sales of dolutegravir and future related products.
After the deal GSK will hold 76.5 percent in the venture, while Pfizer will hold 13.5 percent.
There has been speculation that ViiV might be spun off at some point through an initial public offering (IPO). Redfern, who is also chairman of ViiV, said the new arrangement made this neither more or less likely.
'I wouldn't rule anything in or out, but for the foreseeable future we are very comfortable with where ViiV is,' he said.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler and Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
This news article is brought to you by MOVIE GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Dolutegravir, a once-daily drug that has performed strongly in clinical trials, is seen by analysts as a potential multibillion-dollar-a-year seller and a strong competitor to treatments from market leader Gilead Sciences.
Under the new agreement, Shionogi will take a 10 percent stake in Viiv Healthcare - an HIV drug joint venture set up in 2009 between Britain's biggest drugmaker and Pfizer - in exchange for its rights to dolutegravir.
Previously, income from the medicine would have been shared 50:50 between ViiV and Shionogi, which analysts calculate would have given GSK only around a 40 percent interest in the drug, after taking account of Pfizer's minority stake in ViiV.
Now GSK's economic interest will be between 60 and 66 percent, GSK Chief Strategy Officer David Redfern told Reuters.
'It's an affirmation of our belief in dolutegravir as a potential important medicine in HIV,' he said in an interview. 'We're taking in house, in this case through ViiV, what we deem to be an important growth asset.'
Dolutegravir is scheduled to be filed for regulatory approval in the United States and Europe by end of this year. It belongs to a novel class of drugs known as integrase inhibitors that block the virus causing AIDS from entering cells.
Redfern said the new arrangement was expected to dilute GSK's earnings by around 1 pence a share in 2013 and 2014 but should boost earnings thereafter.
Shionogi, which will save money it would otherwise have had to spend in the run-up to the drug's launch, will gain one Viiv board seat and receive royalties of 15 percent to 19 percent on sales of dolutegravir and future related products.
After the deal GSK will hold 76.5 percent in the venture, while Pfizer will hold 13.5 percent.
There has been speculation that ViiV might be spun off at some point through an initial public offering (IPO). Redfern, who is also chairman of ViiV, said the new arrangement made this neither more or less likely.
'I wouldn't rule anything in or out, but for the foreseeable future we are very comfortable with where ViiV is,' he said.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler and Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
This news article is brought to you by MOVIE GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Newer Pill has low blood clot risk: ob-gyn group
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A newer version of the Pill may carry a slightly higher blood clot risk than older formulations - but it's still a small risk, says the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
In new recommendations, the group says that women should be aware of the 'possible minimally increased risk' of blood clots with birth control pills containing the hormone drospirenone.
Those include big-selling brands like Yaz, Yasmin, Beyaz and Safyral, along with their generic equivalents.
It has long been known that women on the Pill have a small, but higher-than-average risk of blood clots. And some recent studies have suggested that the risk is relatively higher with pills containing drospirenone.
But because of 'study weaknesses,' it's not certain whether that is the case, said Dr. Kavita Nanda, who helped draft the new ACOG recommendations.
And the absolute risk of blood clots with any birth control pill is small, ACOG says in a report in its journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
For every 10,000 women using birth control pills over a year, there would be anywhere from three to nine cases of blood clots called venous thromboemboli. That compares with one to five cases for every 10,000 women who are not pregnant and not on the Pill.
With drospirenone-containing pills, some studies suggest there would be 10 cases per 10,000 women each year.
Venous thromboemboli usually form in the leg veins, but can travel to the lungs, where they cause a sometimes life-threatening condition called pulmonary embolism.
Drospirenone is a synthetic form of progesterone that's different from the versions used in older 'generations' of the Pill. Yasmin, which arrived on the market about a decade ago, and its sister 'Yaz' products have been promoted as causing less weight gain and swelling than older-generation pills.
'Drospirenone oral contraceptives may also have advantages for some women with acne or premenstrual dysphoric disorder,' Nanda said in an email, referring to a severe form of PMS that causes physical symptoms and severe mood swings.
FDA WARNING
Earlier, industry-funded studies of Yasmin, Yaz and related pills had found no elevated blood clot risk versus other Pill formulations. But several studies since 2009 have linked the newer contraceptives to relatively higher risks.
In a review of records from more than 800,000 U.S. women, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that for every 10,000 women on drospirenone pills, there would be about 10 cases of blood clots over a year. That compared with six per 10,000 among women on older versions of the Pill.
Earlier this year, the FDA said it would add information on the possible risk to the products' labels.
According to ACOG, women should be aware of that information. But the choice of whether to use drospirenone pills, or any other form of birth control, should be up to women and their doctors, the group says.
Nanda said it's also important to remember that pregnancy carries a greater risk of blood clots than any birth control pill does.
For every 10,000 pregnant women, between five and 20 will develop a blood clot. And the risk goes up in the few weeks after delivery - to between 40 and 65 cases per 10,000 women.
Nanda advised discussing all your birth control options with your provider.
'Oral contraceptives are but one method in a mix that includes several, including long-acting IUDs and implants,' Nanda said.
In fact, IUDs (or intrauterine devices) and contraceptive implants are considered the most effective forms of reversible birth control. That's because the devices are put in place by your doctor and last for several years; they don't rely on a couple's ability to use them 'perfectly,' like birth control pills and condoms do.
As for blood clot risks, some women are at greater risk than others and may need to avoid any type of birth control pill. Smokers who are age 35 or older are among them.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/RDhkoW Obstetrics & Gynecology, November 2012.
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
In new recommendations, the group says that women should be aware of the 'possible minimally increased risk' of blood clots with birth control pills containing the hormone drospirenone.
Those include big-selling brands like Yaz, Yasmin, Beyaz and Safyral, along with their generic equivalents.
It has long been known that women on the Pill have a small, but higher-than-average risk of blood clots. And some recent studies have suggested that the risk is relatively higher with pills containing drospirenone.
But because of 'study weaknesses,' it's not certain whether that is the case, said Dr. Kavita Nanda, who helped draft the new ACOG recommendations.
And the absolute risk of blood clots with any birth control pill is small, ACOG says in a report in its journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
For every 10,000 women using birth control pills over a year, there would be anywhere from three to nine cases of blood clots called venous thromboemboli. That compares with one to five cases for every 10,000 women who are not pregnant and not on the Pill.
With drospirenone-containing pills, some studies suggest there would be 10 cases per 10,000 women each year.
Venous thromboemboli usually form in the leg veins, but can travel to the lungs, where they cause a sometimes life-threatening condition called pulmonary embolism.
Drospirenone is a synthetic form of progesterone that's different from the versions used in older 'generations' of the Pill. Yasmin, which arrived on the market about a decade ago, and its sister 'Yaz' products have been promoted as causing less weight gain and swelling than older-generation pills.
'Drospirenone oral contraceptives may also have advantages for some women with acne or premenstrual dysphoric disorder,' Nanda said in an email, referring to a severe form of PMS that causes physical symptoms and severe mood swings.
FDA WARNING
Earlier, industry-funded studies of Yasmin, Yaz and related pills had found no elevated blood clot risk versus other Pill formulations. But several studies since 2009 have linked the newer contraceptives to relatively higher risks.
In a review of records from more than 800,000 U.S. women, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that for every 10,000 women on drospirenone pills, there would be about 10 cases of blood clots over a year. That compared with six per 10,000 among women on older versions of the Pill.
Earlier this year, the FDA said it would add information on the possible risk to the products' labels.
According to ACOG, women should be aware of that information. But the choice of whether to use drospirenone pills, or any other form of birth control, should be up to women and their doctors, the group says.
Nanda said it's also important to remember that pregnancy carries a greater risk of blood clots than any birth control pill does.
For every 10,000 pregnant women, between five and 20 will develop a blood clot. And the risk goes up in the few weeks after delivery - to between 40 and 65 cases per 10,000 women.
Nanda advised discussing all your birth control options with your provider.
'Oral contraceptives are but one method in a mix that includes several, including long-acting IUDs and implants,' Nanda said.
In fact, IUDs (or intrauterine devices) and contraceptive implants are considered the most effective forms of reversible birth control. That's because the devices are put in place by your doctor and last for several years; they don't rely on a couple's ability to use them 'perfectly,' like birth control pills and condoms do.
As for blood clot risks, some women are at greater risk than others and may need to avoid any type of birth control pill. Smokers who are age 35 or older are among them.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/RDhkoW Obstetrics & Gynecology, November 2012.
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
Analysis: Creative drug pricing flourishes in hard-up Europe
LONDON (Reuters) - Fifty percent off the first three months of cancer medicine. Buy a course of eye treatment and get extra injections free. A money-back guarantee if your erectile dysfunction pills don't work.
'Special offers' on prescription medicines are all the rage in state-backed healthcare systems across Europe as governments struggle to balance the books.
Such money-off and pay-for-performance schemes are being fuelled by both austerity budgets and competition from cheap generics, which are forcing drugmakers to be more inventive in showing that their expensive new medicines still offer value for money.
The complex schemes do nothing for transparency - something the European Union advocates in medicine pricing - but they often suit both governments and companies, with the latter keen to avoid commercially damaging cuts in list prices.
'Global companies do not want their list prices to drop because that will have a knock-on effect as different countries increasingly reference each other over drug prices,' said Brian Godman, a researcher at Sweden's Karolinska Institute.
'The only way round that is for companies to enter into some form of arrangement with the authorities,' according to Godman, who works with various health authorities across Europe researching drug pricing and reimbursement options.
Reference pricing is a growing headache for drugmakers because Greece and other indebted EU states are slashing the prices they pay for drugs, in some cases by more than a quarter, triggering a downward spiral internationally as other countries follow suit.
As a result, Europe's already fragmented pharmaceutical market is becoming increasingly opaque, although one thing is clear: the pressure on medicine prices across the continent is not going to end any time soon.
Drug companies are already hurting, with GlaxoSmithKline, for example, cutting its sales outlook for 2012 in July due to lower European prices.
NICE OR NASTY?
Many of today's complicated pricing arrangements have their origins in pioneering work by Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which was set up in 1999 to systematically assess the cost-effectiveness of new drugs.
Its refusal to accept some pricey products has angered patients, and the tough line has forced drugmakers to find novel ways to make medicines affordable - either by offering discounts or making payment conditional on measurable benefits.
It is an approach now being adopted from Spain to Poland, resulting in a patchwork of schemes that can cause frustration among doctors struggling to assess the true cost of treatments.
'It is spreading pretty quickly,' said Patrick Flochel, global pharmaceuticals leader at Ernst & Young. 'There is a big push everywhere with healthcare reforms.'
Britain remains the leader, but Italy has emerged as the second biggest market for so-called risk-sharing schemes, which have been embraced enthusiastically by the Italian Medicines Agency. One reason for this is that drug spending in Italy is tied by law to total healthcare expenditure.
Cancer drugs are a major focus, reflecting the dilemma posed by costly new treatments that may help some patients but often only extend life by only a few months.
Cancer accounts for 15 of the 25 special schemes detailed on NICE's website whereby drugs companies can offer patients ways to access high-cost drugs. It also dominates in Italy, where arrangements typically call for provision of cancer drugs at a 50 percent discount for the first two or three months.
For companies, getting the value proposition right in cancer is a delicate balancing act - and it can only get trickier.
Roche, the world's biggest cancer drugmaker, recently pushed into new territory with the U.S. launch of Perjeta, a new breast cancer drug designed to be used with its existing product Herceptin. It is the first example of a costly targeted cancer combination therapy from a single company.
The result is a treatment that is effective but extremely expensive, with a typical 18-month course of Perjeta plus Herceptin costing approximately $188,000.
Despite that price tag, Perjeta is winning sales in the United States. Europe, however, where the drug has yet to be launched, is likely to prove a lot more challenging.
Roche - which already has German and Italian schemes that cap the maximum price per patient of Avastin, another cancer medicine - will have to weigh more novel pricing schemes as such new combinations hit the market.
'The 10,000-foot view is that we just follow the science and do what's right for patients, and then figure out a commercial model that can work,' Hal Barron, head of global product development, said in a recent interview.
HEAD-TO-HEAD STUDIES
Others have cut different kinds of deals.
GlaxoSmithKline struck an agreement with NICE in 2010 offering Britain's health service a straight discount plus an additional rebate if its new kidney cancer drug Votrient failed to match Pfizer's Sutent in a head-to-head trial.
To GSK's relief, Votrient was as good as the Pfizer rival when results were finally reported at a conference last month.
Novartis, meanwhile, pays for extra treatment with its eye drug Lucentis if British patients need more than 14 injections, while in Denmark various schemes tie payments to results for several drugs, including erectile dysfunction pills.
Tying payments to clinical results is an enticing idea for payers, though these schemes are complex to administer.
'There are genuine risk-sharing schemes, where there is real payment according to performance, and then there are a whole host of schemes which are essentially price cuts,' said Gary Johnson, managing director of consultancy Inpharmation. 'It's fair to say the price-cut type scheme is probably dominant.'
(Editing by Will Waterman)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
'Special offers' on prescription medicines are all the rage in state-backed healthcare systems across Europe as governments struggle to balance the books.
Such money-off and pay-for-performance schemes are being fuelled by both austerity budgets and competition from cheap generics, which are forcing drugmakers to be more inventive in showing that their expensive new medicines still offer value for money.
The complex schemes do nothing for transparency - something the European Union advocates in medicine pricing - but they often suit both governments and companies, with the latter keen to avoid commercially damaging cuts in list prices.
'Global companies do not want their list prices to drop because that will have a knock-on effect as different countries increasingly reference each other over drug prices,' said Brian Godman, a researcher at Sweden's Karolinska Institute.
'The only way round that is for companies to enter into some form of arrangement with the authorities,' according to Godman, who works with various health authorities across Europe researching drug pricing and reimbursement options.
Reference pricing is a growing headache for drugmakers because Greece and other indebted EU states are slashing the prices they pay for drugs, in some cases by more than a quarter, triggering a downward spiral internationally as other countries follow suit.
As a result, Europe's already fragmented pharmaceutical market is becoming increasingly opaque, although one thing is clear: the pressure on medicine prices across the continent is not going to end any time soon.
Drug companies are already hurting, with GlaxoSmithKline, for example, cutting its sales outlook for 2012 in July due to lower European prices.
NICE OR NASTY?
Many of today's complicated pricing arrangements have their origins in pioneering work by Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which was set up in 1999 to systematically assess the cost-effectiveness of new drugs.
Its refusal to accept some pricey products has angered patients, and the tough line has forced drugmakers to find novel ways to make medicines affordable - either by offering discounts or making payment conditional on measurable benefits.
It is an approach now being adopted from Spain to Poland, resulting in a patchwork of schemes that can cause frustration among doctors struggling to assess the true cost of treatments.
'It is spreading pretty quickly,' said Patrick Flochel, global pharmaceuticals leader at Ernst & Young. 'There is a big push everywhere with healthcare reforms.'
Britain remains the leader, but Italy has emerged as the second biggest market for so-called risk-sharing schemes, which have been embraced enthusiastically by the Italian Medicines Agency. One reason for this is that drug spending in Italy is tied by law to total healthcare expenditure.
Cancer drugs are a major focus, reflecting the dilemma posed by costly new treatments that may help some patients but often only extend life by only a few months.
Cancer accounts for 15 of the 25 special schemes detailed on NICE's website whereby drugs companies can offer patients ways to access high-cost drugs. It also dominates in Italy, where arrangements typically call for provision of cancer drugs at a 50 percent discount for the first two or three months.
For companies, getting the value proposition right in cancer is a delicate balancing act - and it can only get trickier.
Roche, the world's biggest cancer drugmaker, recently pushed into new territory with the U.S. launch of Perjeta, a new breast cancer drug designed to be used with its existing product Herceptin. It is the first example of a costly targeted cancer combination therapy from a single company.
The result is a treatment that is effective but extremely expensive, with a typical 18-month course of Perjeta plus Herceptin costing approximately $188,000.
Despite that price tag, Perjeta is winning sales in the United States. Europe, however, where the drug has yet to be launched, is likely to prove a lot more challenging.
Roche - which already has German and Italian schemes that cap the maximum price per patient of Avastin, another cancer medicine - will have to weigh more novel pricing schemes as such new combinations hit the market.
'The 10,000-foot view is that we just follow the science and do what's right for patients, and then figure out a commercial model that can work,' Hal Barron, head of global product development, said in a recent interview.
HEAD-TO-HEAD STUDIES
Others have cut different kinds of deals.
GlaxoSmithKline struck an agreement with NICE in 2010 offering Britain's health service a straight discount plus an additional rebate if its new kidney cancer drug Votrient failed to match Pfizer's Sutent in a head-to-head trial.
To GSK's relief, Votrient was as good as the Pfizer rival when results were finally reported at a conference last month.
Novartis, meanwhile, pays for extra treatment with its eye drug Lucentis if British patients need more than 14 injections, while in Denmark various schemes tie payments to results for several drugs, including erectile dysfunction pills.
Tying payments to clinical results is an enticing idea for payers, though these schemes are complex to administer.
'There are genuine risk-sharing schemes, where there is real payment according to performance, and then there are a whole host of schemes which are essentially price cuts,' said Gary Johnson, managing director of consultancy Inpharmation. 'It's fair to say the price-cut type scheme is probably dominant.'
(Editing by Will Waterman)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Women describe circumstances that led to abortion
CHICAGO (AP) - They say they were using birth control, but it failed.
One woman would have had the baby but the man she was in a relationship with didn't want her to. Another was having an affair with a married man and viewed a pregnancy as unthinkable. A third woman's health would be at risk if she continued her pregnancy.
Nearly 1 million women have abortions in the U.S. each year. What leads them to that choice?
'There's this false idea that certain types of women have abortions and different types of women have babies,' says bioethicist and gynecologist Dr. Lisa Harris. 'They're really the same types of women at different points in their lives.'
It's hard to find women willing to talk about it. The Associated Press contacted eight abortion providers and three groups that work with abortion patients. No women were willing to talk.
Ultimately, the AP found three women through a nonpolitical online support group, http://www.afterabortion.com, for those who struggle emotionally after their abortions. They may not be typical of the majority who have abortions.
A fourth woman who considered abortion but didn't have one agreed to talk after her doctor asked her to consider AP's request.
The women spoke by phone and e-mail on condition of anonymity for privacy reasons, and because of shame, concern over hurting loved ones, or fear of harassment from abortion foes. AP verified their names, ages, locations, and abortion circumstances as much as possible through a public records database, phone calls and other sources.
These are their stories:
___
A 24-year-old woman in Chicago, working as a bookkeeper, discovered she was pregnant earlier this year.
She'd been using a contraceptive patch that she thought was almost 100 percent effective. A missed period was the first clue it had failed.
'I was kind of in shock. I took like five home tests, five days in a row. Everyday was positive,' she said.
She went to her gynecologist to confirm the pregnancy and talk about options.
'The moment I said that I was thinking about not keeping it, she stood up out of her chair and said, 'This is a Catholic hospital. I could get in so much trouble for talking to you.''
Illinois has lenient laws, no required waiting period, and there are several abortion clinics in the Chicago area. The woman found that while 'abortions are easy to get in Chicago, advice about them is not.'
She scoured online sites seeking objective information and made an appointment at a center that advertised confidential counseling and free ultrasounds. It turned out to be a religious anti-abortion group.
'The first thing they did was hand me a Bible. They started showing me these pictures and videos' of aborted fetuses, she said.
She said she wanted to leave. But she also wanted that free ultrasound, hoping against hope that it would show she had miscarried. Watching the video was part of the center's requirement.
After the ultrasound, the counselor said she was 9 weeks pregnant and gave her a tiny doll supposedly the same size.
The young woman said she would have considered continuing the pregnancy and putting the baby up for adoption, but that the man she was in a relationship with pressured her into going through with an abortion.
On June 23, she went to a private clinic where there were about 20 women in the small, strangely silent waiting room. 'Every once in a while you'd see a woman start to cry,' she said.
It turned out she was 14 weeks pregnant, farther along than the anti-abortion counselor had told her. She paid $1,250 for the abortion. Her insurance wouldn't cover it.
She said she developed an infection that kept her out of work for several weeks. That's unusual. Fewer than 2 percent of women get obstetric infections after an abortion and the risk is much higher after childbirth, according to an analysis of national data published earlier this year. The woman said because of the long absence, she lost her job but has since found another one.
___
A 21-year-old retail worker in Rockford, Ill., was engaged to be married when she had an abortion on Feb. 23, 2011. Her doctor had told her a pregnancy could kill her.
She said she had a rare but benign brain tumor, and surgery had failed to remove all of it. There is evidence that hormonal changes in pregnancy can fuel growth of these tumors.
Now married, she said she probably would have continued the pregnancy if it hadn't put her life in danger. She was raised in a religious family and worries how her parents will react if they find out about the abortion.
She said she and her fiancé used condoms and she was on the pill when she discovered she was pregnant. Her first reaction after taking a home pregnancy test was, 'This has to be wrong!' She took a second test and got the same results.
Two weeks later, when she was about five weeks along, she used $550 in savings for a surgical abortion at Rockford's only abortion clinic. It later closed.
So early in pregnancy, she could have used the abortion pill instead of having a medical procedure. But that would have required a return visit to the clinic, something she said she wanted to avoid.
Abortion protesters were picketing outside when the young couple arrived in the parking lot that morning. One protester was particularly persistent.
'She was just blatantly yelling at my fiancé and I. I turned around and said, 'Listen, lady, you don't know what everyone is going through.' She was just saying that I was already a mom and I have all these options - the opposite of what my doctor was telling me.
'I looked at her and told her, 'I'm doing this to save my life.''
___
An unplanned pregnancy during an affair with a married man is what led a 36-year-old Minneapolis area teacher to have an abortion, on Aug. 3.
They had been using spermicide for birth control, a method described as about 75 percent effective with typical use.
A missed period and pregnancy test confirmed her fears.
'I cried for like 36 hours,' she said. Estranged from her husband, and with a young daughter, she said continuing the pregnancy was unthinkable.
Though she and the man she was having a relationship with were raised Catholic, she considers herself 'pro-choice - I just never thought I'd have to make that choice myself.'
Minnesota requires a 24-hour waiting period, so she called an area clinic to schedule the abortion, spoke to a doctor and went in for the procedure the next day.
She had friends and her partner had relatives who had protested at the same clinic. But on this day she didn't recognize any of the activists there.
The protesters tried to hand her pamphlets as she drove into the parking lot, but she closed her car windows.
She was only five weeks pregnant, so chose to have a medical abortion, meaning she could use the 'abortion pill.' That involved taking one pill at the clinic, and four others within the next 72 hours to finish the process. Her private insurance covered it, costing her only a $25 out-of-pocket co-payment.
Before the abortion, a clinic worker took an ultrasound and asked if she wanted to see the image. 'I did want to see it,' she said. 'Just because I didn't get to keep this one doesn't make it any less my child.'
'A pregnancy under any other circumstances would have been welcomed and rejoiced in my life,' she said.
___
A 31-year-old mother in South Dakota learned how difficult it is to get an abortion there when a doomed pregnancy led her to consider it.
In two previous pregnancies, the fetus was afflicted with a rare, inherited and ultimately fatal condition called achondrogenesis, her doctor said. It causes deadly deformities. One of the babies died an hour after birth; the other was stillborn.
The Rapid City woman gave birth to two healthy children after that and decided to have another child.
But early in the pregnancy this year she learned this fetus was afflicted, too. The woman said she was worried she would develop breathing problems that had plagued her during one of her earlier pregnancies. But the condition wasn't life-threatening, her doctor said.
The woman's husband has a chronic illness, and with two children to raise, she said she was worried about endangering her health.
'That was my main reason for considering abortion this time. I needed to be here for my kids,' she said.
Her baby was delivered stillborn Oct. 14 during an emergency cesarean section. Complications developed and she lost a lot of blood but is recovering, her husband said.
Few South Dakota doctors perform abortions and the state's only abortion clinic is a nearly six-hour drive to the east, in Sioux Falls. Her obstetrician, Dr. Marvin Buehner, treats high-risk pregnancies and does a few abortions each year when pregnancy endangers the mother's life or health. But his hospital prohibits abortions otherwise.
Also, Medicaid pays for abortions in South Dakota only when the mother's life is at risk, or in cases of rape or incest. An abortion would require traveling across the state, paying for lodging during the required two-day waiting period, plus hundreds of dollars for the procedure.
'In South Dakota, you have to be almost close to death' to get an abortion, she said. 'That kind of worries me.'
Her religion helps her cope and she is philosophical. She believes she will be reunited with her lost babies in heaven.
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One woman would have had the baby but the man she was in a relationship with didn't want her to. Another was having an affair with a married man and viewed a pregnancy as unthinkable. A third woman's health would be at risk if she continued her pregnancy.
Nearly 1 million women have abortions in the U.S. each year. What leads them to that choice?
'There's this false idea that certain types of women have abortions and different types of women have babies,' says bioethicist and gynecologist Dr. Lisa Harris. 'They're really the same types of women at different points in their lives.'
It's hard to find women willing to talk about it. The Associated Press contacted eight abortion providers and three groups that work with abortion patients. No women were willing to talk.
Ultimately, the AP found three women through a nonpolitical online support group, http://www.afterabortion.com, for those who struggle emotionally after their abortions. They may not be typical of the majority who have abortions.
A fourth woman who considered abortion but didn't have one agreed to talk after her doctor asked her to consider AP's request.
The women spoke by phone and e-mail on condition of anonymity for privacy reasons, and because of shame, concern over hurting loved ones, or fear of harassment from abortion foes. AP verified their names, ages, locations, and abortion circumstances as much as possible through a public records database, phone calls and other sources.
These are their stories:
___
A 24-year-old woman in Chicago, working as a bookkeeper, discovered she was pregnant earlier this year.
She'd been using a contraceptive patch that she thought was almost 100 percent effective. A missed period was the first clue it had failed.
'I was kind of in shock. I took like five home tests, five days in a row. Everyday was positive,' she said.
She went to her gynecologist to confirm the pregnancy and talk about options.
'The moment I said that I was thinking about not keeping it, she stood up out of her chair and said, 'This is a Catholic hospital. I could get in so much trouble for talking to you.''
Illinois has lenient laws, no required waiting period, and there are several abortion clinics in the Chicago area. The woman found that while 'abortions are easy to get in Chicago, advice about them is not.'
She scoured online sites seeking objective information and made an appointment at a center that advertised confidential counseling and free ultrasounds. It turned out to be a religious anti-abortion group.
'The first thing they did was hand me a Bible. They started showing me these pictures and videos' of aborted fetuses, she said.
She said she wanted to leave. But she also wanted that free ultrasound, hoping against hope that it would show she had miscarried. Watching the video was part of the center's requirement.
After the ultrasound, the counselor said she was 9 weeks pregnant and gave her a tiny doll supposedly the same size.
The young woman said she would have considered continuing the pregnancy and putting the baby up for adoption, but that the man she was in a relationship with pressured her into going through with an abortion.
On June 23, she went to a private clinic where there were about 20 women in the small, strangely silent waiting room. 'Every once in a while you'd see a woman start to cry,' she said.
It turned out she was 14 weeks pregnant, farther along than the anti-abortion counselor had told her. She paid $1,250 for the abortion. Her insurance wouldn't cover it.
She said she developed an infection that kept her out of work for several weeks. That's unusual. Fewer than 2 percent of women get obstetric infections after an abortion and the risk is much higher after childbirth, according to an analysis of national data published earlier this year. The woman said because of the long absence, she lost her job but has since found another one.
___
A 21-year-old retail worker in Rockford, Ill., was engaged to be married when she had an abortion on Feb. 23, 2011. Her doctor had told her a pregnancy could kill her.
She said she had a rare but benign brain tumor, and surgery had failed to remove all of it. There is evidence that hormonal changes in pregnancy can fuel growth of these tumors.
Now married, she said she probably would have continued the pregnancy if it hadn't put her life in danger. She was raised in a religious family and worries how her parents will react if they find out about the abortion.
She said she and her fiancé used condoms and she was on the pill when she discovered she was pregnant. Her first reaction after taking a home pregnancy test was, 'This has to be wrong!' She took a second test and got the same results.
Two weeks later, when she was about five weeks along, she used $550 in savings for a surgical abortion at Rockford's only abortion clinic. It later closed.
So early in pregnancy, she could have used the abortion pill instead of having a medical procedure. But that would have required a return visit to the clinic, something she said she wanted to avoid.
Abortion protesters were picketing outside when the young couple arrived in the parking lot that morning. One protester was particularly persistent.
'She was just blatantly yelling at my fiancé and I. I turned around and said, 'Listen, lady, you don't know what everyone is going through.' She was just saying that I was already a mom and I have all these options - the opposite of what my doctor was telling me.
'I looked at her and told her, 'I'm doing this to save my life.''
___
An unplanned pregnancy during an affair with a married man is what led a 36-year-old Minneapolis area teacher to have an abortion, on Aug. 3.
They had been using spermicide for birth control, a method described as about 75 percent effective with typical use.
A missed period and pregnancy test confirmed her fears.
'I cried for like 36 hours,' she said. Estranged from her husband, and with a young daughter, she said continuing the pregnancy was unthinkable.
Though she and the man she was having a relationship with were raised Catholic, she considers herself 'pro-choice - I just never thought I'd have to make that choice myself.'
Minnesota requires a 24-hour waiting period, so she called an area clinic to schedule the abortion, spoke to a doctor and went in for the procedure the next day.
She had friends and her partner had relatives who had protested at the same clinic. But on this day she didn't recognize any of the activists there.
The protesters tried to hand her pamphlets as she drove into the parking lot, but she closed her car windows.
She was only five weeks pregnant, so chose to have a medical abortion, meaning she could use the 'abortion pill.' That involved taking one pill at the clinic, and four others within the next 72 hours to finish the process. Her private insurance covered it, costing her only a $25 out-of-pocket co-payment.
Before the abortion, a clinic worker took an ultrasound and asked if she wanted to see the image. 'I did want to see it,' she said. 'Just because I didn't get to keep this one doesn't make it any less my child.'
'A pregnancy under any other circumstances would have been welcomed and rejoiced in my life,' she said.
___
A 31-year-old mother in South Dakota learned how difficult it is to get an abortion there when a doomed pregnancy led her to consider it.
In two previous pregnancies, the fetus was afflicted with a rare, inherited and ultimately fatal condition called achondrogenesis, her doctor said. It causes deadly deformities. One of the babies died an hour after birth; the other was stillborn.
The Rapid City woman gave birth to two healthy children after that and decided to have another child.
But early in the pregnancy this year she learned this fetus was afflicted, too. The woman said she was worried she would develop breathing problems that had plagued her during one of her earlier pregnancies. But the condition wasn't life-threatening, her doctor said.
The woman's husband has a chronic illness, and with two children to raise, she said she was worried about endangering her health.
'That was my main reason for considering abortion this time. I needed to be here for my kids,' she said.
Her baby was delivered stillborn Oct. 14 during an emergency cesarean section. Complications developed and she lost a lot of blood but is recovering, her husband said.
Few South Dakota doctors perform abortions and the state's only abortion clinic is a nearly six-hour drive to the east, in Sioux Falls. Her obstetrician, Dr. Marvin Buehner, treats high-risk pregnancies and does a few abortions each year when pregnancy endangers the mother's life or health. But his hospital prohibits abortions otherwise.
Also, Medicaid pays for abortions in South Dakota only when the mother's life is at risk, or in cases of rape or incest. An abortion would require traveling across the state, paying for lodging during the required two-day waiting period, plus hundreds of dollars for the procedure.
'In South Dakota, you have to be almost close to death' to get an abortion, she said. 'That kind of worries me.'
Her religion helps her cope and she is philosophical. She believes she will be reunited with her lost babies in heaven.
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Friday, October 19, 2012
London sanitation show aims to make "poo" hot topic
LONDON (Reuters) - Human defecation remains a taboo subject, despite the fact that 2.5 billion people lack toilets, causing a global health crisis that kills more than a million children each year.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) hopes a new exhibition opening on Thursday will make sanitation easier to discuss. The show is part of its efforts to help fight diseases causing diarrhea, which kill more children than malaria, HIV/AIDS and measles combined.
'People don't talk about poo enough, and if we don't talk about poo, how are we going to solve the problem of diarrheal diseases?' asked Val Curtis, director of the LSHTM's Hygiene Centre.
'We want to make shit sexy - make talking about shit possible,' Curtis told AlertNet, a humanitarian news service run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that proper handwashing with soap could prevent 600,000 deaths a year from diseases like diarrhea and respiratory infections.
'You've got to know your enemy and look your enemy in the face. Some people say it's not acceptable for academics to go around talking about shit, but it's not acceptable for 600,000 children to be dying unnecessarily because we don't talk about shit,' she said.
The month-long exhibition, which includes a selection of toilet designs, scientific tools for the study of faeces and a small golden poo sculpture seated on a red cushion, is timed to coincide with Global Handwashing Day on October 15 and World Toilet Day on November 19. The school expects at least 4,000 people to see the show.
The poo sculpture is the model for The Golden Poo Award 2012 - the Oscar of the sanitation sector, organized by PooP Creative Ltd and the London Short Film Festival.
A film titled 'Men, Loos and Number Twos' won the 'Number One Award', and another short film, 'Pushing4Change', won the 'Number Two Award'. They are being used in awareness-raising campaigns.
'The Golden Poo awards were based around the idea that we wanted to be a little bit shocking and get people thinking about this issue, but do it in an amusing way,' Curtis said. 'We gave awards to heroes of sanitation and also to films about poo.'
WORM TOILET
As well as promoting the LSHTM's wider efforts to improve hygiene, the exhibition features the composting 'Tiger Worm Toilet', which has a filter layer of worms that digest solid waste, helping break it down and allowing easy odor-free disposal.
The toilet doesn't use very much water - around two liters per flush - so it places less demand on natural water sources and power than conventional septic tank or sewage systems.
The LSHTM, a university specializing in public health and tropical medicine, is also researching the human waste found in pit latrines in Africa and Vietnam to help find new ways to dispose of it. It is also looking at human behavior to figure out the best way of getting people to increase handwashing.
'If you ask people if they wash their hands with soap, about 90 percent say they do, but actually if you go and measure it - as we have in 20 countries - the average rate of handwashing with soap after going to the toilet is about 17 percent,' Curtis said.
The school has its roots in the Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical Diseases, which was founded in London's Putney Heath area in 1926.
It was named after British doctor Ronald Ross who won a Nobel Prize for his discovery that the female Anopheles mosquito transmits malaria between human beings.
The school is now in London's Bloomsbury district, renowned for its literary heritage.
(AlertNet is a humanitarian news website run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation)
(Writing by Julie Mollins, editing by Paul Casciato)
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) hopes a new exhibition opening on Thursday will make sanitation easier to discuss. The show is part of its efforts to help fight diseases causing diarrhea, which kill more children than malaria, HIV/AIDS and measles combined.
'People don't talk about poo enough, and if we don't talk about poo, how are we going to solve the problem of diarrheal diseases?' asked Val Curtis, director of the LSHTM's Hygiene Centre.
'We want to make shit sexy - make talking about shit possible,' Curtis told AlertNet, a humanitarian news service run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that proper handwashing with soap could prevent 600,000 deaths a year from diseases like diarrhea and respiratory infections.
'You've got to know your enemy and look your enemy in the face. Some people say it's not acceptable for academics to go around talking about shit, but it's not acceptable for 600,000 children to be dying unnecessarily because we don't talk about shit,' she said.
The month-long exhibition, which includes a selection of toilet designs, scientific tools for the study of faeces and a small golden poo sculpture seated on a red cushion, is timed to coincide with Global Handwashing Day on October 15 and World Toilet Day on November 19. The school expects at least 4,000 people to see the show.
The poo sculpture is the model for The Golden Poo Award 2012 - the Oscar of the sanitation sector, organized by PooP Creative Ltd and the London Short Film Festival.
A film titled 'Men, Loos and Number Twos' won the 'Number One Award', and another short film, 'Pushing4Change', won the 'Number Two Award'. They are being used in awareness-raising campaigns.
'The Golden Poo awards were based around the idea that we wanted to be a little bit shocking and get people thinking about this issue, but do it in an amusing way,' Curtis said. 'We gave awards to heroes of sanitation and also to films about poo.'
WORM TOILET
As well as promoting the LSHTM's wider efforts to improve hygiene, the exhibition features the composting 'Tiger Worm Toilet', which has a filter layer of worms that digest solid waste, helping break it down and allowing easy odor-free disposal.
The toilet doesn't use very much water - around two liters per flush - so it places less demand on natural water sources and power than conventional septic tank or sewage systems.
The LSHTM, a university specializing in public health and tropical medicine, is also researching the human waste found in pit latrines in Africa and Vietnam to help find new ways to dispose of it. It is also looking at human behavior to figure out the best way of getting people to increase handwashing.
'If you ask people if they wash their hands with soap, about 90 percent say they do, but actually if you go and measure it - as we have in 20 countries - the average rate of handwashing with soap after going to the toilet is about 17 percent,' Curtis said.
The school has its roots in the Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical Diseases, which was founded in London's Putney Heath area in 1926.
It was named after British doctor Ronald Ross who won a Nobel Prize for his discovery that the female Anopheles mosquito transmits malaria between human beings.
The school is now in London's Bloomsbury district, renowned for its literary heritage.
(AlertNet is a humanitarian news website run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation)
(Writing by Julie Mollins, editing by Paul Casciato)
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
India's Cipla gets tentative U.S. nod for HIV tablets
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian drugmaker Cipla has received a tentative U.S. FDA approval for its HIV treatment tablets, which have a combination of lamivudine, nevirapine and zidovudine drugs, the drug regulator's website showed.
Cipla sells the combination drug under the brand name 'Duovir N' outside the United States.
The company plans to use a different brand name in the U.S. for this drug, S. Radhakrishnan, a director on Cipla board told Reuters.
(Reporting by Kaustubh Kulkarni; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
This news article is brought to you by DATING AND RELATIONSHIP ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
Cipla sells the combination drug under the brand name 'Duovir N' outside the United States.
The company plans to use a different brand name in the U.S. for this drug, S. Radhakrishnan, a director on Cipla board told Reuters.
(Reporting by Kaustubh Kulkarni; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
This news article is brought to you by DATING AND RELATIONSHIP ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Girls may not have riskier sex after HPV vaccination: study
(Reuters) - Girls who had been vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) weren't more likely to get other sexually transmitted infections or to become pregnant, according to a U.S. study.
This goes against worries on the part of some that getting the vaccine, which is supposed to ultimately help prevent cervical cancer, would encourage girls to become sexually active or engage in riskier sex than they otherwise would.
'Some parents have expressed it as a concern,' said Saad Omer, an infectious diseases and vaccine researcher from Emory University in Atlanta who worked on the study, which was published in Pediatrics.
'Parents can be reassured at least based on the evidence that young girls who receive HPV vaccines did not show increased signs (of) clinical outcomes of sexual activity.'
The vaccine, which has been recommended for 11- and 12-year-old girls in the United States since 2006, is still controversial, and only about half of girls start the series of shots. One argument against it has been that it will make pre-teens feel a false sense of security when it comes to sex.
For the study, Omer and his colleagues analyzed databases from Kaiser Permanente Georgia, a managed care organization covering the Atlanta area. Out of 1,398 girls who were 11 or 12 when they saw their doctors in 2006 and 2007, 493 got at least one dose of the HPV vaccine.
Based on records of their primary care visits, 107 of the girls included in the study were given a pregnancy test through 2010, and 55 were tested for Chlamydia. Girls who did or didn't get the HPV vaccine were equally likely to be tested for both.
Two girls in each group got pregnant during the study. One girl who'd been vaccinated was diagnosed with Chlamydia, compared to three unvaccinated girls.
Omer's team didn't have any data on how many of the girls were sexually active during the study period. The researchers also couldn't tell if the sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy tests were part of standard clinical procedures or if girls were tested because they were sexually active or had symptoms.
Divya Patel, an ob-gyn researcher from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, called the study a 'really good first stab' at looking at the behavioral effects of HPV vaccinations, but felt it didn't convey the full picture.
For example, it's possible that girls as young as 11 and 12 aren't even told what the vaccine is for, or only hear about it in the context of cervical cancer.
'I'd be really surprised if kids this age are knowing that, 'I got a vaccine for HPV and it's a sexually transmitted disease,' said Patel, who wasn't involved in the study.
Future studies like this one, but in different locations and in older girls, will be needed to help piece together what's going on.
Researchers agreed there are other issues limiting the popularity of the HPV vaccine besides concern about a spike in sexual risk-taking.
'I think that perception of risk (with HPV) is not quite there. People don't really consider themselves at risk, or they're not concerned,' Patel said, noting that perhaps this was because it was so common. 'We need to be aware of how to prevent it, and vaccination is the best way.' SOURCE: http://bit.ly/jsoh2P
(Reporting from New York by Genevra Pittman at Reuters Health; editing by Elaine Lies)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
This goes against worries on the part of some that getting the vaccine, which is supposed to ultimately help prevent cervical cancer, would encourage girls to become sexually active or engage in riskier sex than they otherwise would.
'Some parents have expressed it as a concern,' said Saad Omer, an infectious diseases and vaccine researcher from Emory University in Atlanta who worked on the study, which was published in Pediatrics.
'Parents can be reassured at least based on the evidence that young girls who receive HPV vaccines did not show increased signs (of) clinical outcomes of sexual activity.'
The vaccine, which has been recommended for 11- and 12-year-old girls in the United States since 2006, is still controversial, and only about half of girls start the series of shots. One argument against it has been that it will make pre-teens feel a false sense of security when it comes to sex.
For the study, Omer and his colleagues analyzed databases from Kaiser Permanente Georgia, a managed care organization covering the Atlanta area. Out of 1,398 girls who were 11 or 12 when they saw their doctors in 2006 and 2007, 493 got at least one dose of the HPV vaccine.
Based on records of their primary care visits, 107 of the girls included in the study were given a pregnancy test through 2010, and 55 were tested for Chlamydia. Girls who did or didn't get the HPV vaccine were equally likely to be tested for both.
Two girls in each group got pregnant during the study. One girl who'd been vaccinated was diagnosed with Chlamydia, compared to three unvaccinated girls.
Omer's team didn't have any data on how many of the girls were sexually active during the study period. The researchers also couldn't tell if the sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy tests were part of standard clinical procedures or if girls were tested because they were sexually active or had symptoms.
Divya Patel, an ob-gyn researcher from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, called the study a 'really good first stab' at looking at the behavioral effects of HPV vaccinations, but felt it didn't convey the full picture.
For example, it's possible that girls as young as 11 and 12 aren't even told what the vaccine is for, or only hear about it in the context of cervical cancer.
'I'd be really surprised if kids this age are knowing that, 'I got a vaccine for HPV and it's a sexually transmitted disease,' said Patel, who wasn't involved in the study.
Future studies like this one, but in different locations and in older girls, will be needed to help piece together what's going on.
Researchers agreed there are other issues limiting the popularity of the HPV vaccine besides concern about a spike in sexual risk-taking.
'I think that perception of risk (with HPV) is not quite there. People don't really consider themselves at risk, or they're not concerned,' Patel said, noting that perhaps this was because it was so common. 'We need to be aware of how to prevent it, and vaccination is the best way.' SOURCE: http://bit.ly/jsoh2P
(Reporting from New York by Genevra Pittman at Reuters Health; editing by Elaine Lies)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
Jewish Groups Challenge Circumcision Law
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HIV Drug Nelfinavir Shows Promise in Fighting HER-2 Positive Breast Cancer
FIRST PERSON | A recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that the HIV drug Nelfinavir exhibits promise in fighting HER-2 breast cancer. This is an important study as HER-2 breast cancer is extremely aggressive and difficult to control. HER-2 breast cancers have a higher rate of recurrence than other types of breast cancer.
HER-2 positive
Breast cancers that overproduce the amount of the human epidural growth receptor 2 are considered HER-2 positive. The cells multiply faster than normal cells because of the over-expression of the HER-2 protein.
I have HER-2 positive breast cancer. Treatment for my cancer consists of 18 doses of the drug Herceptin. It is administered through a port in my chest. Treatment takes about half an hour. I have received 11 of the 18. Right now, everything is on hold because it looks like I am beginning to have trouble with tolerating Herceptin.
Current treatment options
HER-2 positive breast cancers have limited choices with treatments. Currently three drugs are available: Tykerb, which is taken in tablet form; Herceptin, which is administered through an IV; and a new drug called Perjeta, which is administered through an IV but it is hard to find.
If a patient cannot use Herceptin -- which is the drug of choice -- Tykerb may be prescribed instead. If Perjeta is available, this is another option, but Perjeta is only for HER-2 positive metastatic disease (cancer that has spread to other areas of the body.) If it turns out that I cannot continue with Herceptin, I may not be able to use Tykerb because the side effects of the two drugs are very similar. Perjeta is not an option for me because my cancer is contained to the breast tissue.
Nelfinavir
New research shows that the HIV drug Nelfinavir has a negative impact on HER-2 positive breast cancer cells. In particular, it is effective at destroying these cells even when drugs like Herceptin and Tykerb fail. Nelfinavir works by inhibiting the HSP90 function of HER-2 positive breast cancer cells.
Studies like this are extremely promising for those of use who have hard-to-treat, aggressive cancers. Nelfinavir is already approved for use. This means that getting clinical trials to test the drug for use on HER-2 positive cancers will be faster and easier than developing a new drug. People like me need drugs like Nelfinavir to be approved for HER-2 positive cancers because our treatment options become limited if we run into trouble tolerating currently available drugs.
Lynda Altman was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2011. She writes a series for Yahoo! Shine called "My Battle With Breast Cancer."
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HPV Vaccine Not Linked to Promiscuity
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Sunday, October 14, 2012
Girls may not have riskier sex after HPV vaccination
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Girls who had been vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) weren't more likely to get other sexually transmitted infections or to become pregnant, in a new study from Georgia.
That goes against worries on the part of some that getting the vaccine - which is supposed to ultimately help prevent cervical cancer - would encourage girls to become sexually active or engage in riskier sex than they otherwise would.
'Some parents have expressed it as a concern,' said Saad Omer, an infectious diseases and vaccine researcher from Emory University in Atlanta who worked on the study.
'Parents can be reassured at least based on the evidence that young girls who receive HPV vaccines did not show increased signs (of) clinical outcomes of sexual activity,' he told Reuters Health.
The vaccine, which has been recommended for 11- and 12-year-old girls in the U.S. since 2006, is still controversial, and only about half of girls start the series of shots.
One of the arguments against it has been that vaccination will make pre-teens feel a false sense of security when it comes to sex.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now calls for boys to get vaccinated as well.
For the new study, Omer and his colleagues analyzed databases from Kaiser Permanente Georgia, a managed care organization covering the Atlanta area. Out of 1,398 girls who were 11 or 12 when they saw their doctors in 2006 and 2007, 493 got at least one dose of the HPV vaccine.
Based on records of their primary care visits, 107 of the girls included in the study were given a pregnancy test through 2010, and 55 were tested for Chlamydia.
Girls who did or didn't get the HPV vaccine were equally likely to be tested for both.
Two girls in each group got pregnant during the study. One girl who'd been vaccinated was diagnosed with Chlamydia, compared to three unvaccinated girls, according to findings published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
Omer's team didn't have any data on how many of the girls were sexually active during the study period. The researchers also couldn't tell if the STI and pregnancy tests were part of standard clinical procedures or if girls were tested because they were sexually active or had symptoms.
Divya Patel, an ob-gyn researcher from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, called the study a 'really good first stab' at looking at the behavioral effects of HPV vaccination.
'But I felt that it didn't convey the full picture,' she added.
For example, it's possible girls as young as 11 and 12 aren't even told what the vaccine is for, or only hear about it in the context of cervical cancer.
'I'd be really surprised if kids this age are knowing that, 'I got a vaccine for HPV and it's a sexually transmitted disease,'' Patel, who wasn't involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.
Looking at pregnancy tests from primary care doctors' offices is also limiting, she said, because girls might be more likely to go to school health clinics, or buy a test off the shelves, in those situations.
She said future studies like this one, but in different locations and in older girls, will be needed to help piece together what's going on.
The researchers agreed that there are other issues limiting the popularity of the HPV vaccine besides concerns about a spike in sexual risk-taking.
'I think that perception of risk (with HPV) is not quite there. People don't really consider themselves at risk, or they're not concerned,' maybe because it's so common, Patel said.
'We need to be aware of how to prevent it, and vaccination is the best way to do that.'
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/jsoh2P Pediatrics, online October 15, 2012.
This news article is brought to you by GIRLS TEACH DATING - where latest news are our top priority.
That goes against worries on the part of some that getting the vaccine - which is supposed to ultimately help prevent cervical cancer - would encourage girls to become sexually active or engage in riskier sex than they otherwise would.
'Some parents have expressed it as a concern,' said Saad Omer, an infectious diseases and vaccine researcher from Emory University in Atlanta who worked on the study.
'Parents can be reassured at least based on the evidence that young girls who receive HPV vaccines did not show increased signs (of) clinical outcomes of sexual activity,' he told Reuters Health.
The vaccine, which has been recommended for 11- and 12-year-old girls in the U.S. since 2006, is still controversial, and only about half of girls start the series of shots.
One of the arguments against it has been that vaccination will make pre-teens feel a false sense of security when it comes to sex.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now calls for boys to get vaccinated as well.
For the new study, Omer and his colleagues analyzed databases from Kaiser Permanente Georgia, a managed care organization covering the Atlanta area. Out of 1,398 girls who were 11 or 12 when they saw their doctors in 2006 and 2007, 493 got at least one dose of the HPV vaccine.
Based on records of their primary care visits, 107 of the girls included in the study were given a pregnancy test through 2010, and 55 were tested for Chlamydia.
Girls who did or didn't get the HPV vaccine were equally likely to be tested for both.
Two girls in each group got pregnant during the study. One girl who'd been vaccinated was diagnosed with Chlamydia, compared to three unvaccinated girls, according to findings published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
Omer's team didn't have any data on how many of the girls were sexually active during the study period. The researchers also couldn't tell if the STI and pregnancy tests were part of standard clinical procedures or if girls were tested because they were sexually active or had symptoms.
Divya Patel, an ob-gyn researcher from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, called the study a 'really good first stab' at looking at the behavioral effects of HPV vaccination.
'But I felt that it didn't convey the full picture,' she added.
For example, it's possible girls as young as 11 and 12 aren't even told what the vaccine is for, or only hear about it in the context of cervical cancer.
'I'd be really surprised if kids this age are knowing that, 'I got a vaccine for HPV and it's a sexually transmitted disease,'' Patel, who wasn't involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.
Looking at pregnancy tests from primary care doctors' offices is also limiting, she said, because girls might be more likely to go to school health clinics, or buy a test off the shelves, in those situations.
She said future studies like this one, but in different locations and in older girls, will be needed to help piece together what's going on.
The researchers agreed that there are other issues limiting the popularity of the HPV vaccine besides concerns about a spike in sexual risk-taking.
'I think that perception of risk (with HPV) is not quite there. People don't really consider themselves at risk, or they're not concerned,' maybe because it's so common, Patel said.
'We need to be aware of how to prevent it, and vaccination is the best way to do that.'
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/jsoh2P Pediatrics, online October 15, 2012.
This news article is brought to you by GIRLS TEACH DATING - where latest news are our top priority.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Facebook Community Can Help Cut STIs
Click here to listen to this podcast
Facebook might be the way many young adults spread gossip about their latest hookups. But it might also turn out to be an effective means to limit the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Because new research finds increased condom use among those who "Facebook liked' a sexual health news source.
Researchers recruited 18-to-24 year olds and had each recruit up to three friends. These clusters were asked randomly to 'like' either an experimental news community promoting sexual health or a control community that provided general interest news for that age group. Of the 942 people following the sex health group for two months, 68 percent reported using a condom in their most recent sex act, compared with 56 percent in the control group. The findings are in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. [Sheana Bull et al, Social Media-Delivered Sexual Health Intervention: A clustered randomized controlled trial]
Previous attempts to make sex safer via Facebook social media campaigns have often failed, perhaps because they felt like a health class lesson. But public health researchers have not let that stop them from trying to make condom use more 'likable'-at least in the digital realm.
-Katherine Harmon
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]
Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
© 2012 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE.
Facebook might be the way many young adults spread gossip about their latest hookups. But it might also turn out to be an effective means to limit the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Because new research finds increased condom use among those who "Facebook liked' a sexual health news source.
Researchers recruited 18-to-24 year olds and had each recruit up to three friends. These clusters were asked randomly to 'like' either an experimental news community promoting sexual health or a control community that provided general interest news for that age group. Of the 942 people following the sex health group for two months, 68 percent reported using a condom in their most recent sex act, compared with 56 percent in the control group. The findings are in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. [Sheana Bull et al, Social Media-Delivered Sexual Health Intervention: A clustered randomized controlled trial]
Previous attempts to make sex safer via Facebook social media campaigns have often failed, perhaps because they felt like a health class lesson. But public health researchers have not let that stop them from trying to make condom use more 'likable'-at least in the digital realm.
-Katherine Harmon
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]
Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
© 2012 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE.
Free birth control tied to drop in abortions
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - During a four-year experiment that offered the women of St. Louis, Missouri, free contraceptives - including expensive long-term implants - rates of teen pregnancy and repeat abortions in the area dropped dramatically, according to a new study.
Researchers say the project, begun in 2007, was intended to model the likely benefits of mandatory insurance coverage for contraception under the Affordable Care Act.
'We believe that this is a major step to reducing unintended pregnancy in the United States,' said lead author Dr. Jeffrey Peipert, a professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Peipert and his colleagues write in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology that unintended pregnancies lead to one million births each year, at a cost to tax payers of $11 billion.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 825,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2008, the latest year for which figures are available.
Birth control can prevent unwanted pregnancies, but a number of obstacles often face women who want to use contraception - particularly the long-term but reversible kind such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and hormonal implants inserted under the skin of the arm.
Both methods can prevent pregnancy for years and are considered to be the most effective forms of birth control.
But they come with a large upfront price tag, around $700, said Peipert, which prevents some women from choosing a long-acting birth control.
Doctors and nurses can also present obstacles, he added.
'Many doctors and nurse practitioners are reluctant to use IUDs in women who are at risk for infection. They also fear it can cause infertility. Many of these are myths we need to get past,' Peipert told Reuters Health.
To address such barriers to access, and to promote long-acting contraceptive methods, Peipert and his colleagues set up the Contraceptive CHOICE Project, with funding from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, in St. Louis.
Between 2007 and 2011, a total of 9,256 women enrolled and were offered any FDA-approved contraceptive they wanted after counseling about the various choices, their effectiveness, risks and benefits.
The researchers also educated doctors and nurses in the program about long-acting birth control, and urged them to encourage women to opt for these methods.
Among the women who participated in the project, 63 percent had previously had an unintended pregnancy and 41 percent had had an abortion.
Most women - 75 percent - chose a long-acting method of contraception.
Overall, abortions, repeat abortions and teen pregnancies all dropped in St. Louis while rates elsewhere in Missouri remained stable, Peipert's team found.
From 2008 to 2010, for instance, the number of abortions in the St. Louis metropolitan area declined by 20 percent, while the rate of abortions in the rest of Missouri remained unchanged.
Similarly, in St. Louis the proportion of abortions requested by women who had had one previously fell from 47 percent in 2006 to 39 percent in 2010.
In comparison, repeat abortions in Kansas City, Missouri, rose from 46 percent to 51 percent during the same time period.
Peipert's group also found that rates of teen pregnancy were substantially lower among girls participating in the project. Among teen girls aged 15 to 19 enrolled in Contraceptive CHOICE, the number of pregnancies translated to a rate of 6.3 per 1,000. That compares to the national average for 15-19 year-olds of 34 out of every 1,000 girls.
The study cannot prove that improved access to birth control caused the drop in abortions and teen pregnancies.
But Peipert said he hopes that with the insurance coverage changes for birth control under the Affordable Care Act, long-acting contraceptives will become more accessible to women.
The healthcare law requires insurance companies to offer birth control without co-pays. Some women may have already seen this change to their benefits, but others will have to wait until their new insurance plan year.
'It is possible for us, with our current medical knowledge and evidence and clinical services, to address the unintended pregnancy rate in the U.S.,' said Cynthia Harper, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study.
Harper said that the program's focus not only on cost barriers but information barriers among health care providers and women made it successful.
In particular, women were counseled on the effectiveness of each birth control method, an approach Harper said isn't always taken in the doctor's office.
'Patient education is important, and women don't have a very good sense of the effectiveness of contraception,' she told Reuters Health.
'The unintended pregnancy rate has been high for decades, and this shows we can make progress and it's not beyond our grasp,' said Harper.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/QWcLrV Obstetrics & Gynecology, online October 3, 2012.
This news article is brought to you by GLAMOROUS FASHION NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Researchers say the project, begun in 2007, was intended to model the likely benefits of mandatory insurance coverage for contraception under the Affordable Care Act.
'We believe that this is a major step to reducing unintended pregnancy in the United States,' said lead author Dr. Jeffrey Peipert, a professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Peipert and his colleagues write in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology that unintended pregnancies lead to one million births each year, at a cost to tax payers of $11 billion.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 825,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2008, the latest year for which figures are available.
Birth control can prevent unwanted pregnancies, but a number of obstacles often face women who want to use contraception - particularly the long-term but reversible kind such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and hormonal implants inserted under the skin of the arm.
Both methods can prevent pregnancy for years and are considered to be the most effective forms of birth control.
But they come with a large upfront price tag, around $700, said Peipert, which prevents some women from choosing a long-acting birth control.
Doctors and nurses can also present obstacles, he added.
'Many doctors and nurse practitioners are reluctant to use IUDs in women who are at risk for infection. They also fear it can cause infertility. Many of these are myths we need to get past,' Peipert told Reuters Health.
To address such barriers to access, and to promote long-acting contraceptive methods, Peipert and his colleagues set up the Contraceptive CHOICE Project, with funding from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, in St. Louis.
Between 2007 and 2011, a total of 9,256 women enrolled and were offered any FDA-approved contraceptive they wanted after counseling about the various choices, their effectiveness, risks and benefits.
The researchers also educated doctors and nurses in the program about long-acting birth control, and urged them to encourage women to opt for these methods.
Among the women who participated in the project, 63 percent had previously had an unintended pregnancy and 41 percent had had an abortion.
Most women - 75 percent - chose a long-acting method of contraception.
Overall, abortions, repeat abortions and teen pregnancies all dropped in St. Louis while rates elsewhere in Missouri remained stable, Peipert's team found.
From 2008 to 2010, for instance, the number of abortions in the St. Louis metropolitan area declined by 20 percent, while the rate of abortions in the rest of Missouri remained unchanged.
Similarly, in St. Louis the proportion of abortions requested by women who had had one previously fell from 47 percent in 2006 to 39 percent in 2010.
In comparison, repeat abortions in Kansas City, Missouri, rose from 46 percent to 51 percent during the same time period.
Peipert's group also found that rates of teen pregnancy were substantially lower among girls participating in the project. Among teen girls aged 15 to 19 enrolled in Contraceptive CHOICE, the number of pregnancies translated to a rate of 6.3 per 1,000. That compares to the national average for 15-19 year-olds of 34 out of every 1,000 girls.
The study cannot prove that improved access to birth control caused the drop in abortions and teen pregnancies.
But Peipert said he hopes that with the insurance coverage changes for birth control under the Affordable Care Act, long-acting contraceptives will become more accessible to women.
The healthcare law requires insurance companies to offer birth control without co-pays. Some women may have already seen this change to their benefits, but others will have to wait until their new insurance plan year.
'It is possible for us, with our current medical knowledge and evidence and clinical services, to address the unintended pregnancy rate in the U.S.,' said Cynthia Harper, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study.
Harper said that the program's focus not only on cost barriers but information barriers among health care providers and women made it successful.
In particular, women were counseled on the effectiveness of each birth control method, an approach Harper said isn't always taken in the doctor's office.
'Patient education is important, and women don't have a very good sense of the effectiveness of contraception,' she told Reuters Health.
'The unintended pregnancy rate has been high for decades, and this shows we can make progress and it's not beyond our grasp,' said Harper.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/QWcLrV Obstetrics & Gynecology, online October 3, 2012.
This news article is brought to you by GLAMOROUS FASHION NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Indonesia acts to over-ride patents on HIV drugs
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's government has taken steps to over-ride patents for HIV drugs, following the lead of other Asian states that have allowed the production of cheap generic drugs that cut into the sales of global pharmaceutical companies.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono quietly issued a decree last month authorizing the use of patents for seven HIV/AIDS and hepatitis medicines held by the likes of Merck & Co, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott and Gilead.
The companies affected did not provide immediate comment.
The decree states Indonesia implemented the measures to 'meet the urgent need for antiviral and antiretroviral treatments'.
An estimated 310,000 people are living with HIV in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy. The prevalence rate among the 15 to 49-year-old population is 0.2 percent, according to 2009 statistics from the U.N. Aids website.
Unreported cases mean that the true figure could be higher.
Under World Trade Organization rules member countries are permitted to take measures to over-ride patents when it is deemed necessary to protect public health.
Yudhoyono signed the decree without fanfare on September 3 and it was only recently highlighted by Western groups campaigning for increased access to drugs in the developing world.
The issuing of the decree follows a decision by India in March to strip German drugmaker Bayer of its exclusive rights to a cancer drug.
India's highest court also heard final arguments last month in a landmark case over drug patents involving Novartis's leukaemia drug Glivec that could change the rules for the country's healthcare sector and potentially curb its global role as a supplier of cut-price generic medicines.
At the same time, China in June overhauled parts of its intellectual property laws to allow local production of patented medicines in another initiative likely to unnerve foreign pharmaceutical companies.
The amended patent law allows Beijing to issue compulsory licenses to eligible companies to produce generic versions of patented drugs during state emergencies, or unusual circumstances, or in the interests of the public.
If implemented to the full, the measure taken by Indonesia would introduce widespread generic competition and generate big cost savings in the world's fourth most populous country.
It is not the first time that Indonesia has made an order giving government control over HIV drugs but the latest decree goes further than earlier ones in 2004 and 2007.
'Indonesia has set an important precedent, not just for the people living with HIV within its country, who have been campaigning for this, but also for other developing countries,' said Michelle Childs of Medecins Sans Frontieres.
'This is one of the widest licenses issued by a government and rightly reflects the reality that a range of treatment options are needed,' Childs said.
(Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in London; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono quietly issued a decree last month authorizing the use of patents for seven HIV/AIDS and hepatitis medicines held by the likes of Merck & Co, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott and Gilead.
The companies affected did not provide immediate comment.
The decree states Indonesia implemented the measures to 'meet the urgent need for antiviral and antiretroviral treatments'.
An estimated 310,000 people are living with HIV in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy. The prevalence rate among the 15 to 49-year-old population is 0.2 percent, according to 2009 statistics from the U.N. Aids website.
Unreported cases mean that the true figure could be higher.
Under World Trade Organization rules member countries are permitted to take measures to over-ride patents when it is deemed necessary to protect public health.
Yudhoyono signed the decree without fanfare on September 3 and it was only recently highlighted by Western groups campaigning for increased access to drugs in the developing world.
The issuing of the decree follows a decision by India in March to strip German drugmaker Bayer of its exclusive rights to a cancer drug.
India's highest court also heard final arguments last month in a landmark case over drug patents involving Novartis's leukaemia drug Glivec that could change the rules for the country's healthcare sector and potentially curb its global role as a supplier of cut-price generic medicines.
At the same time, China in June overhauled parts of its intellectual property laws to allow local production of patented medicines in another initiative likely to unnerve foreign pharmaceutical companies.
The amended patent law allows Beijing to issue compulsory licenses to eligible companies to produce generic versions of patented drugs during state emergencies, or unusual circumstances, or in the interests of the public.
If implemented to the full, the measure taken by Indonesia would introduce widespread generic competition and generate big cost savings in the world's fourth most populous country.
It is not the first time that Indonesia has made an order giving government control over HIV drugs but the latest decree goes further than earlier ones in 2004 and 2007.
'Indonesia has set an important precedent, not just for the people living with HIV within its country, who have been campaigning for this, but also for other developing countries,' said Michelle Childs of Medecins Sans Frontieres.
'This is one of the widest licenses issued by a government and rightly reflects the reality that a range of treatment options are needed,' Childs said.
(Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in London; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
NYC, rabbis clash over circumcision ritual
NEW YORK (AP) - A group of rabbis are clashing with New York City health officials over the safety of an ancient circumcision ritual.
Three rabbis and three Jewish groups asked a federal court Thursday to block enforcement of a new regulation requiring written parental consent for a rite called 'metzitzah b'peh,' in Hebrew, which city health experts said can spread infection and has killed two children since 2004.
During the ritual, the person performing the circumcision attempts to cleanse the wound by sucking blood from the cut and spitting it aside.
The saliva contact puts the infant at increased risk of getting herpes simplex, a virus that is carried harmlessly by a large majority of adults but that can be deadly in newborns.
New York City's Health Department said it has documented 11 cases of the infection since 2000 among children believed to have undergone the ritual. Ten required hospitalization. Two developed brain damage. Two died.
The deaths prompted some doctors to call for the practice to be banned entirely, but the city's Board of Health adopted a compromise approach instead last month. Under the new rule, mohelim performing the circumcision would be required inform parents that the city believed the procedure was dangerous and have them sign a consent form.
No one would collect the forms, and the mohelim would be required to keep them for a year before destroying them.
In their lawsuit filed Thursday, rabbis Samuel Blum, Ahron Leiman and Shloime Eichenstein said the city had exaggerated the potential for harm and infringed on their religious freedom.
If the regulation were to take effect, rabbis 'will be forced to serve as the Department's mouthpiece for dispensing opinion and 'advice' that directly undermines the required religious ritual that these mohelim regularly perform, in violation of their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religious exercise,' the suit said.
The lawsuit, joined by the Central Rabbinical Congress of the USA and Canada, Agudath Israel of America and the International Bris Association, also argued that the city's safety studies were flawed and that the procedure, when performed properly, was 'very safe.' It said compelling the rabbis to warn against the procedure was unconstitutional.
In a statement responding to the suit, the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, called the regulation 'lawful, appropriate and necessary.'
'The city's highest obligation is to protect its children; therefore, it is important that parents know the risks associated with the practice,' he said.
Concerns about the safety of metzitzah b'peh go back to at least the mid-19th century, when most Jews abandoned or modified the rite because of concerns about its role in spreading disease. Today, most Reform, Conservative and modern Orthodox mohels use gauze, or a sterile tube, to pull blood from the wound.
The ritual is still practiced widely, however, in New York City's large population of ultra-Orthodox Jews. After the regulation was adopted in September, some rabbis vowed to ignore it, saying the government had no business regulating a religious practice.
This news article is brought to you by GLAMOROUS FASHION NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Three rabbis and three Jewish groups asked a federal court Thursday to block enforcement of a new regulation requiring written parental consent for a rite called 'metzitzah b'peh,' in Hebrew, which city health experts said can spread infection and has killed two children since 2004.
During the ritual, the person performing the circumcision attempts to cleanse the wound by sucking blood from the cut and spitting it aside.
The saliva contact puts the infant at increased risk of getting herpes simplex, a virus that is carried harmlessly by a large majority of adults but that can be deadly in newborns.
New York City's Health Department said it has documented 11 cases of the infection since 2000 among children believed to have undergone the ritual. Ten required hospitalization. Two developed brain damage. Two died.
The deaths prompted some doctors to call for the practice to be banned entirely, but the city's Board of Health adopted a compromise approach instead last month. Under the new rule, mohelim performing the circumcision would be required inform parents that the city believed the procedure was dangerous and have them sign a consent form.
No one would collect the forms, and the mohelim would be required to keep them for a year before destroying them.
In their lawsuit filed Thursday, rabbis Samuel Blum, Ahron Leiman and Shloime Eichenstein said the city had exaggerated the potential for harm and infringed on their religious freedom.
If the regulation were to take effect, rabbis 'will be forced to serve as the Department's mouthpiece for dispensing opinion and 'advice' that directly undermines the required religious ritual that these mohelim regularly perform, in violation of their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religious exercise,' the suit said.
The lawsuit, joined by the Central Rabbinical Congress of the USA and Canada, Agudath Israel of America and the International Bris Association, also argued that the city's safety studies were flawed and that the procedure, when performed properly, was 'very safe.' It said compelling the rabbis to warn against the procedure was unconstitutional.
In a statement responding to the suit, the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, called the regulation 'lawful, appropriate and necessary.'
'The city's highest obligation is to protect its children; therefore, it is important that parents know the risks associated with the practice,' he said.
Concerns about the safety of metzitzah b'peh go back to at least the mid-19th century, when most Jews abandoned or modified the rite because of concerns about its role in spreading disease. Today, most Reform, Conservative and modern Orthodox mohels use gauze, or a sterile tube, to pull blood from the wound.
The ritual is still practiced widely, however, in New York City's large population of ultra-Orthodox Jews. After the regulation was adopted in September, some rabbis vowed to ignore it, saying the government had no business regulating a religious practice.
This news article is brought to you by GLAMOROUS FASHION NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
HIV death rates fall, but disparities remain: study
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New drug treatments have dramatically improved survival for people infected with HIV, but a new study finds that African Americans and less educated Americans have not seen the same gains as others, suggesting differences in access to available treatments.
'There have been substantial declines in HIV death rates, but not everyone has benefited equally from the drugs that have been available since 1996,' said Edgar Simard, the study's lead author and a senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta.
The drugs currently used against HIV are collectively known as highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART. They help suppress the virus in a person's blood, which helps the immune system stay strong and may delay the onset of AIDS.
But, the authors note in the Archives of Internal Medicine, while HIV fell to 24th leading cause of death for whites, it rose to be the ninth leading cause of death for blacks.
Using data from 26 states, the researchers analyzed rates of deaths attributed to HIV of 91,307 white, black and Hispanic men and women between the ages of 25 and 64 years old.
They also wanted to see how sex, race and socioeconomic status influenced death rates and used education level as a rough proxy for poverty.
Looking at two time periods, 1993 to 1995 and 2005 to 2007 - before and after HAART became available - they found that overall HIV death rates fell for most groups.
The most pronounced declines were in groups that started out with higher death rates in the 1990s.
For example, the most educated black men, with 16 or more years of schooling, saw the greatest decline, from about 118 deaths per 100,000 men in the mid-1990s to about 15 deaths per 100,000 in the mid-2000s.
For the most educated white men, the decline was smaller, but their death rate was lower to start with. It fell from about 26 deaths per 100,000 to about 2 deaths per 100,000.
More sobering statistics, however, were found for the least educated black men and women - those who completed 12 or fewer years of schooling.
Between the two time periods, HIV death rates among the least educated black women remained essentially the same at around 27 to 29 deaths per 100,000 women.
For the least educated black men, rates fell from about 122 deaths per 100,000 to about 53 deaths per 100,000.
Though death rates for the poorest black men fell by more than half, the authors point out, they are still higher than the rates the poorest white men started out with in the 1990s.
A LONG WAY TO GO
Overall, the disparities between the most and least educated people have gotten worse, the researchers write.
The report highlights black men and minority women, especially those who are poor, as the people who are most vulnerable to death from HIV.
That, the researchers say, may be because they don't know they have HIV, don't know about HIV prevention or they don't have access to the healthcare system.
'(The findings) suggest that it's really those that have the least amount of access who are really worst off, and our efforts need to target those people,' said Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington, DC.
Dr. William Cunningham, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study, said there needs to be research dedicated to targeting vulnerable populations to figure out how to get them into treatment and encourage them to stay with it.
'We need the knowledge. We need to know what to do. It's the same approach we use for everything else... We know it works, so we follow it. If we don't know how to change it, then we're just grasping in the dark,' Cunningham told Reuters Health.
Kates, who was not involved with the new research, said the tools are available to achieve an AIDS-free generation, but warned there is still a long way to go.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/Th1qiV and http://bit.ly/VQnOFZ Archives of Internal Medicine, online October 8, 2012.
This news article is brought to you by LINUXOS.PRO - where latest news are our top priority.
'There have been substantial declines in HIV death rates, but not everyone has benefited equally from the drugs that have been available since 1996,' said Edgar Simard, the study's lead author and a senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta.
The drugs currently used against HIV are collectively known as highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART. They help suppress the virus in a person's blood, which helps the immune system stay strong and may delay the onset of AIDS.
But, the authors note in the Archives of Internal Medicine, while HIV fell to 24th leading cause of death for whites, it rose to be the ninth leading cause of death for blacks.
Using data from 26 states, the researchers analyzed rates of deaths attributed to HIV of 91,307 white, black and Hispanic men and women between the ages of 25 and 64 years old.
They also wanted to see how sex, race and socioeconomic status influenced death rates and used education level as a rough proxy for poverty.
Looking at two time periods, 1993 to 1995 and 2005 to 2007 - before and after HAART became available - they found that overall HIV death rates fell for most groups.
The most pronounced declines were in groups that started out with higher death rates in the 1990s.
For example, the most educated black men, with 16 or more years of schooling, saw the greatest decline, from about 118 deaths per 100,000 men in the mid-1990s to about 15 deaths per 100,000 in the mid-2000s.
For the most educated white men, the decline was smaller, but their death rate was lower to start with. It fell from about 26 deaths per 100,000 to about 2 deaths per 100,000.
More sobering statistics, however, were found for the least educated black men and women - those who completed 12 or fewer years of schooling.
Between the two time periods, HIV death rates among the least educated black women remained essentially the same at around 27 to 29 deaths per 100,000 women.
For the least educated black men, rates fell from about 122 deaths per 100,000 to about 53 deaths per 100,000.
Though death rates for the poorest black men fell by more than half, the authors point out, they are still higher than the rates the poorest white men started out with in the 1990s.
A LONG WAY TO GO
Overall, the disparities between the most and least educated people have gotten worse, the researchers write.
The report highlights black men and minority women, especially those who are poor, as the people who are most vulnerable to death from HIV.
That, the researchers say, may be because they don't know they have HIV, don't know about HIV prevention or they don't have access to the healthcare system.
'(The findings) suggest that it's really those that have the least amount of access who are really worst off, and our efforts need to target those people,' said Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington, DC.
Dr. William Cunningham, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study, said there needs to be research dedicated to targeting vulnerable populations to figure out how to get them into treatment and encourage them to stay with it.
'We need the knowledge. We need to know what to do. It's the same approach we use for everything else... We know it works, so we follow it. If we don't know how to change it, then we're just grasping in the dark,' Cunningham told Reuters Health.
Kates, who was not involved with the new research, said the tools are available to achieve an AIDS-free generation, but warned there is still a long way to go.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/Th1qiV and http://bit.ly/VQnOFZ Archives of Internal Medicine, online October 8, 2012.
This news article is brought to you by LINUXOS.PRO - where latest news are our top priority.
Vaccine to treat cervical cancer shows early promise
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A new type of cervical cancer vaccine made by Inovio Pharmaceuticals has shown early promise as a potential treatment for pre-cancerous changes in the cervix, researchers at the company said on Wednesday.
Instead of preventing infections caused by certain strains of the human papillomavirus or HPV, as is the aim of Merck's Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix vaccine, the Inovio vaccine is designed to train the immune system to kill cells that spur cancer growth in women who are already infected.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women globally, causing 493,000 new cases and 274,000 deaths each year. About 10 to 25 percent of women who develop moderate to severe pre-cancerous lesions in their cervix, known as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, are able to clear them on their own.
'It was not clear why that happens,' said Joseph Kim, chief executive of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, which funded the study.
But many of these women tend to have higher levels of immune system cells known as T cells against two HPV-specific, cancer-causing genes known as E6 and E7 oncogenes.
The company set out to develop a vaccine to train a patient's immune system to make large quantities of these cells which could specifically target and kill these oncogenes.
'That is what this study has shown,' Kim said of research published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The team studied the effects of three injections of the vaccine, dubbed VGX-3100, in 18 women whose cancers had already been treated surgically. The vaccine produced potent T cells in 14 of the 18 women, which lasted for two years.
'These T cells were not only abundant in number; they were able to do what they were designed to do. They were able to seek out and kill the target cells,' Kim said.
The study found no major side effects in any of the three doses tested. Lab tests showed more than 90 percent of the women who responded developed T cells which were able to kill the target cells, suggesting it might work as a cancer treatment.
But because surgery to remove abnormal cells works well in women with pre-cancerous lesions, the bar for success is high.
A therapeutic vaccine for this indication made by French company Transgene SA that was formerly licensed by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG was discontinued earlier this year because not enough women benefited.
Inovio's vaccine works a bit like gene therapy in that it inserts a bit of specific DNA into patients' cells, which triggers an immune response.
Rather than using the conventional method of a hollowed out virus to sneak genes into cells, Inovio uses a process called electroporation, which delivers a brief electrical pulse along with the vaccine to coax cells into opening their doors to the vaccine.
'It reversibly opens and closes cell membranes, which are also charged, allowing DNA to get into cells,' Kim said.
'Once it is inside, it starts to use cellular machinery to churn out the vaccine.'
Inovio is now testing its vaccine in a phase 2 trial of 150 women with previously untreated pre-cancerous lesions, and results are expected in by the end of 2013.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; editing by Todd Eastham)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
Instead of preventing infections caused by certain strains of the human papillomavirus or HPV, as is the aim of Merck's Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix vaccine, the Inovio vaccine is designed to train the immune system to kill cells that spur cancer growth in women who are already infected.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women globally, causing 493,000 new cases and 274,000 deaths each year. About 10 to 25 percent of women who develop moderate to severe pre-cancerous lesions in their cervix, known as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, are able to clear them on their own.
'It was not clear why that happens,' said Joseph Kim, chief executive of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, which funded the study.
But many of these women tend to have higher levels of immune system cells known as T cells against two HPV-specific, cancer-causing genes known as E6 and E7 oncogenes.
The company set out to develop a vaccine to train a patient's immune system to make large quantities of these cells which could specifically target and kill these oncogenes.
'That is what this study has shown,' Kim said of research published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The team studied the effects of three injections of the vaccine, dubbed VGX-3100, in 18 women whose cancers had already been treated surgically. The vaccine produced potent T cells in 14 of the 18 women, which lasted for two years.
'These T cells were not only abundant in number; they were able to do what they were designed to do. They were able to seek out and kill the target cells,' Kim said.
The study found no major side effects in any of the three doses tested. Lab tests showed more than 90 percent of the women who responded developed T cells which were able to kill the target cells, suggesting it might work as a cancer treatment.
But because surgery to remove abnormal cells works well in women with pre-cancerous lesions, the bar for success is high.
A therapeutic vaccine for this indication made by French company Transgene SA that was formerly licensed by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG was discontinued earlier this year because not enough women benefited.
Inovio's vaccine works a bit like gene therapy in that it inserts a bit of specific DNA into patients' cells, which triggers an immune response.
Rather than using the conventional method of a hollowed out virus to sneak genes into cells, Inovio uses a process called electroporation, which delivers a brief electrical pulse along with the vaccine to coax cells into opening their doors to the vaccine.
'It reversibly opens and closes cell membranes, which are also charged, allowing DNA to get into cells,' Kim said.
'Once it is inside, it starts to use cellular machinery to churn out the vaccine.'
Inovio is now testing its vaccine in a phase 2 trial of 150 women with previously untreated pre-cancerous lesions, and results are expected in by the end of 2013.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; editing by Todd Eastham)
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German cabinet approves bill allowing circumcision of boys
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's cabinet approved a draft law on Wednesday protecting the right to circumcise infant boys, which it says will end months of legal uncertainty after a local court banned the practice, causing outrage among Muslims and Jews.
The June ruling by a Cologne district court that circumcision constitutes 'bodily harm' sparked an emotional national debate about religious freedom and the procedure itself.
An embarrassed German government pledged to bring in new legislation by the autumn to safeguard the right of parents to have their sons circumcised.
'It was always our intention to lift this ruling,' German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference.
Parliament must still approve the bill for it to become law.
The speed with which national lawmakers agreed to draw up a new law underscored sensitivity to charges of intolerance in a country haunted by its Nazi past.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country risked becoming a laughing stock if Jews were not allowed to practice their rituals.
The bill states that the operation should take place with the most effective pain relief possible and only if parents have been fully informed about the nature of the procedure. It makes no mention of religious motivations for circumcision.
The court ban had applied only to the Cologne region but doctors across the country refused to carry out operations because of what they saw as a risk of legal action.
'It was very important that our government reacted so quickly and responsibly. The proposal is balanced and suitable for lifting the legal uncertainty,' said Charlotte Knobloch, a German Jewish leader.
She expressed her relief that 'Germany would not become the one country in the world where Jewish people cannot practice their religion' and added she hoped the damaging public debate about circumcision would end.
About 120,000 Jews are registered as living in Germany along with around 4 million Muslims, many of them from Turkey.
The Cologne court, ruling in the case of a Muslim boy who suffered bleeding after circumcision, said the practice inflicted bodily harm and should not be carried out on young boys, although it could be performed on older males with their consent.
Anticipating the government bill, Berlin city authorities announced last month that parents were free to have their sons circumcised without fear of prosecution and the operations resumed in the German capital.
(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson, editing by Gareth Jones and Anthony Barker)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
The June ruling by a Cologne district court that circumcision constitutes 'bodily harm' sparked an emotional national debate about religious freedom and the procedure itself.
An embarrassed German government pledged to bring in new legislation by the autumn to safeguard the right of parents to have their sons circumcised.
'It was always our intention to lift this ruling,' German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference.
Parliament must still approve the bill for it to become law.
The speed with which national lawmakers agreed to draw up a new law underscored sensitivity to charges of intolerance in a country haunted by its Nazi past.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country risked becoming a laughing stock if Jews were not allowed to practice their rituals.
The bill states that the operation should take place with the most effective pain relief possible and only if parents have been fully informed about the nature of the procedure. It makes no mention of religious motivations for circumcision.
The court ban had applied only to the Cologne region but doctors across the country refused to carry out operations because of what they saw as a risk of legal action.
'It was very important that our government reacted so quickly and responsibly. The proposal is balanced and suitable for lifting the legal uncertainty,' said Charlotte Knobloch, a German Jewish leader.
She expressed her relief that 'Germany would not become the one country in the world where Jewish people cannot practice their religion' and added she hoped the damaging public debate about circumcision would end.
About 120,000 Jews are registered as living in Germany along with around 4 million Muslims, many of them from Turkey.
The Cologne court, ruling in the case of a Muslim boy who suffered bleeding after circumcision, said the practice inflicted bodily harm and should not be carried out on young boys, although it could be performed on older males with their consent.
Anticipating the government bill, Berlin city authorities announced last month that parents were free to have their sons circumcised without fear of prosecution and the operations resumed in the German capital.
(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson, editing by Gareth Jones and Anthony Barker)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Gambia says cures more HIV patients with herbs
BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh said that dozens of HIV/AIDS patients in the tiny West African state have been cured using his secret concoction of boiled herbs.
Jammeh first announced he had found a natural remedy to cure AIDS in 2007, stirring anger among Western medical experts who claimed he was giving false hope to the sick.
'Who am I to expect that everybody would praise me,' Jammeh said in a state television broadcast on Sunday evening, announcing that 68 patients had been cured and discharged from a treatment center.
'Just as the Prophet Mohammed prevailed and established Islam (...)I also prevailed to cure HIV/AIDS to the point that 68 are being discharged today,' he said.
The World Health Organisation and the United Nations have said Jammeh's HIV/AIDS treatment is alarming mainly because patients are required to cease their anti-retroviral drugs making them more prone to infection.
The president said the cured group was the seventh batch of HIV/AIDS patients undergoing his herbal remedy to have been discharged since the treatments began five years ago.
Jammeh came to power in Gambia, a sliver of land on Africa's west coast that is popular with sun-seeking European tourists, in a bloodless military coup in 1994.
He is accused by activists of human rights abuses during his rule, and most recently drew international criticism for executing nine death row inmates by firing squad.
Jammeh said on Sunday that his government would fully integrate 'natural medicine' to all the country's hospitals, to complement Western medical techniques.
Other African leaders have drawn criticism for extolling the power of natural remedies to combat AIDS.
The administration of former South African President Thabo Mbeki was ridiculed for denying there was a link between HIV and AIDS while prescribing meaningless treatments such as beet root instead of internationally proven medicines.
The HIV rate in Gambia is relatively low compared to other African states, with 2 percent of the country's roughly 1.8 million people infected, according to the United Nations.
(Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Rosalind Russell)
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Jammeh first announced he had found a natural remedy to cure AIDS in 2007, stirring anger among Western medical experts who claimed he was giving false hope to the sick.
'Who am I to expect that everybody would praise me,' Jammeh said in a state television broadcast on Sunday evening, announcing that 68 patients had been cured and discharged from a treatment center.
'Just as the Prophet Mohammed prevailed and established Islam (...)I also prevailed to cure HIV/AIDS to the point that 68 are being discharged today,' he said.
The World Health Organisation and the United Nations have said Jammeh's HIV/AIDS treatment is alarming mainly because patients are required to cease their anti-retroviral drugs making them more prone to infection.
The president said the cured group was the seventh batch of HIV/AIDS patients undergoing his herbal remedy to have been discharged since the treatments began five years ago.
Jammeh came to power in Gambia, a sliver of land on Africa's west coast that is popular with sun-seeking European tourists, in a bloodless military coup in 1994.
He is accused by activists of human rights abuses during his rule, and most recently drew international criticism for executing nine death row inmates by firing squad.
Jammeh said on Sunday that his government would fully integrate 'natural medicine' to all the country's hospitals, to complement Western medical techniques.
Other African leaders have drawn criticism for extolling the power of natural remedies to combat AIDS.
The administration of former South African President Thabo Mbeki was ridiculed for denying there was a link between HIV and AIDS while prescribing meaningless treatments such as beet root instead of internationally proven medicines.
The HIV rate in Gambia is relatively low compared to other African states, with 2 percent of the country's roughly 1.8 million people infected, according to the United Nations.
(Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Rosalind Russell)
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Canada court says not revealing HIV not always a crime
(Reuters) - Canada's top court said on Friday that failing to tell a sexual partner you have HIV is only sexual assault if there is 'a realistic possibility' of transmitting the virus that causes AIDS.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the government's argument that everyone who has HIV should be required to disclose that condition to all sexual partners in any circumstance.
Several groups involved in the case, including the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the Canadian AIDS Society, took issue with the court's standard of a 'realistic possibility', saying it is too severe, and calling the decision 'a major step backwards for public health and human rights'.
The HIV groups said in a release that the risk of spreading HIV is made negligible just by using condoms, and that the court's decision 'blatantly ignores solid science'.
In 1998, the court found that not telling a partner about one's HIV status was a form of aggravated sexual assault if there was 'significant risk of bodily harm'. On Friday, the court clarified what might constitute a significant risk.
It said someone with a low viral load who uses a condom has not put their partner at significant risk. Viral load measures the severity of HIV infection, and some treatments reduce the level, making transmission less likely.
The court noted that standards might change in future cases since its decision does not preclude the law from 'adapting to future advances in treatment' or risk factors it had not directly considered.
It said that risk of transmission, rather than actual transmission, is not a crime in many other countries, and that this 'sounds a note of caution against extending the criminal law beyond its appropriate reach in this complex and emerging area of law'.
Forcing everyone to disclose their HIV status would risk sending people who have no put anyone at risk to prison, the court said.
(Reporting by Allison Martell; Editing by Peter Galloway)
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the government's argument that everyone who has HIV should be required to disclose that condition to all sexual partners in any circumstance.
Several groups involved in the case, including the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the Canadian AIDS Society, took issue with the court's standard of a 'realistic possibility', saying it is too severe, and calling the decision 'a major step backwards for public health and human rights'.
The HIV groups said in a release that the risk of spreading HIV is made negligible just by using condoms, and that the court's decision 'blatantly ignores solid science'.
In 1998, the court found that not telling a partner about one's HIV status was a form of aggravated sexual assault if there was 'significant risk of bodily harm'. On Friday, the court clarified what might constitute a significant risk.
It said someone with a low viral load who uses a condom has not put their partner at significant risk. Viral load measures the severity of HIV infection, and some treatments reduce the level, making transmission less likely.
The court noted that standards might change in future cases since its decision does not preclude the law from 'adapting to future advances in treatment' or risk factors it had not directly considered.
It said that risk of transmission, rather than actual transmission, is not a crime in many other countries, and that this 'sounds a note of caution against extending the criminal law beyond its appropriate reach in this complex and emerging area of law'.
Forcing everyone to disclose their HIV status would risk sending people who have no put anyone at risk to prison, the court said.
(Reporting by Allison Martell; Editing by Peter Galloway)
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Study: Free birth control leads to fewer abortions
WASHINGTON (AP) - Free birth control led to dramatically lower rates of abortions and teen births, a large study concluded Thursday, offering strong evidence for how a bitterly contested Obama administration policy could benefit women's health.
The project tracked more than 9,000 women in St. Louis, many of them poor or uninsured. They were given their choice of a range of contraceptive methods at no cost - from birth control pills to goof-proof options like the IUD or a matchstick-sized implant.
When price wasn't an issue, women flocked to the most effective contraceptives - the implanted options, which typically cost hundreds of dollars up-front to insert. These women experienced far fewer unintended pregnancies as a result, reported Dr. Jeffrey Peipert of Washington University in St. Louis in a study published Thursday.
The effect on teen pregnancy was striking: There were 6.3 births per 1,000 teenagers in the study. Compare that to a national rate of 34 births per 1,000 teens in 2010.
There also were substantially lower rates of abortion, when compared with women in the metro area and nationally: 4.4 to 7.5 abortions per 1,000 women in the study, compared with 13.4 to 17 abortions per 1,000 women overall in the St. Louis region, Peipert calculated. That's lower than the national rate, too, which is almost 20 abortions per 1,000 women.
In fact, if the program were expanded, one abortion could be prevented for every 79 to 137 women given a free contraceptive choice, Peipert's team reported in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The findings of the study, which ran from 2008 to 2010, come as millions of U.S. women are beginning to get access to contraception without copays under President Barack Obama's health care law. Women's health specialists said the research foreshadows that policy's potential impact.
'As a society, we want to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortion rates. This study has demonstrated that having access to no-cost contraception helps us get to that goal,' said Alina Salganicoff, director of women's health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
'It's just an amazing improvement,' Dr. James T. Breeden, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said of the results. 'I would think if you were against abortions, you would be 100 percent for contraception access.'
The law requires that Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives be available for free for women enrolled in most workplace insurance plans, a change that many will see as new plan years begin on Jan. 1.
The policy is among the law's most contentious provisions because it exempts churches that oppose contraception but requires religious-affiliated organizations, such as colleges or hospitals, to provide the coverage for their workers. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and many conservative groups say that violates religious freedom, and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has voiced similar criticism.
This week, a federal judge in St. Louis dismissed a lawsuit challenging the contraception mandate; nearly three dozen similar suits have been filed around the country.
Thursday's data didn't sway the critics.
Jeanne Monahan of the conservative Family Research Council suggested contraceptive use can encourage riskier sexual behavior.
'Additionally, one might conclude that the Obama administration's contraception mandate may ultimately cause more unplanned pregnancies since it mandates that all health plans cover contraceptives, including those that the study's authors claim are less effective,' Monahan said.
Here's why this is a public health issue: Nearly half of the nation's 6 million-plus pregnancies each year are unintended. An estimated 43 percent of them end in abortion. Low-income women are far more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy than their wealthier counterparts.
'We shouldn't have, in my view, a tiered system where the women with money can get family planning and the women without cannot,' said Peipert, noting that 39 percent of the women in his study had trouble paying basic expenses.
About half of unplanned pregnancies occur in women who use no contraception. As for the other half, condoms can fail and so can birth control pills or other shorter-acting methods if the woman forgets to use them or can't afford a refill.
In contrast, you can forget about pregnancy for three years with Implanon, the implant inserted under the skin of the arm. An IUD, a tiny T-shaped device inserted into the uterus, can last for five to 10 years, depending on the brand. Change your mind, and the doctor removes either device before it wears out.
Only about 5 percent of U.S. women use long-acting contraceptives, far fewer than in other developed countries. Peipert said insurance hasn't always covered the higher upfront cost to insert them, even though years of birth control pills can add up to the same price.
Yet three-quarters of his study participants chose an IUD or Implanon, and a year later 85 percent were sticking that choice - compared to about half who had initially chosen the pill, patch or other shorter-acting method.
Cost isn't the only barrier. Doctors don't always mention long-acting methods, maybe because of a long-outdated belief that IUDs aren't for young women or just because they assume women want the most commonly prescribed pill.
That was the case for Ashley England, 26, of Nashville, Tenn., who enrolled in the study while in graduate school in St. Louis. She had taken birth control pills for years but struggled with a $50 monthly copay. She switched to a five-year IUD, and loves that she and her husband don't have to think about contraception.
'No one had ever presented all the options equally,' England said. 'It's not telling you what to do. It's giving you a choice unhindered by money.'
___
EDITOR'S NOTE - Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE.
The project tracked more than 9,000 women in St. Louis, many of them poor or uninsured. They were given their choice of a range of contraceptive methods at no cost - from birth control pills to goof-proof options like the IUD or a matchstick-sized implant.
When price wasn't an issue, women flocked to the most effective contraceptives - the implanted options, which typically cost hundreds of dollars up-front to insert. These women experienced far fewer unintended pregnancies as a result, reported Dr. Jeffrey Peipert of Washington University in St. Louis in a study published Thursday.
The effect on teen pregnancy was striking: There were 6.3 births per 1,000 teenagers in the study. Compare that to a national rate of 34 births per 1,000 teens in 2010.
There also were substantially lower rates of abortion, when compared with women in the metro area and nationally: 4.4 to 7.5 abortions per 1,000 women in the study, compared with 13.4 to 17 abortions per 1,000 women overall in the St. Louis region, Peipert calculated. That's lower than the national rate, too, which is almost 20 abortions per 1,000 women.
In fact, if the program were expanded, one abortion could be prevented for every 79 to 137 women given a free contraceptive choice, Peipert's team reported in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The findings of the study, which ran from 2008 to 2010, come as millions of U.S. women are beginning to get access to contraception without copays under President Barack Obama's health care law. Women's health specialists said the research foreshadows that policy's potential impact.
'As a society, we want to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortion rates. This study has demonstrated that having access to no-cost contraception helps us get to that goal,' said Alina Salganicoff, director of women's health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
'It's just an amazing improvement,' Dr. James T. Breeden, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said of the results. 'I would think if you were against abortions, you would be 100 percent for contraception access.'
The law requires that Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives be available for free for women enrolled in most workplace insurance plans, a change that many will see as new plan years begin on Jan. 1.
The policy is among the law's most contentious provisions because it exempts churches that oppose contraception but requires religious-affiliated organizations, such as colleges or hospitals, to provide the coverage for their workers. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and many conservative groups say that violates religious freedom, and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has voiced similar criticism.
This week, a federal judge in St. Louis dismissed a lawsuit challenging the contraception mandate; nearly three dozen similar suits have been filed around the country.
Thursday's data didn't sway the critics.
Jeanne Monahan of the conservative Family Research Council suggested contraceptive use can encourage riskier sexual behavior.
'Additionally, one might conclude that the Obama administration's contraception mandate may ultimately cause more unplanned pregnancies since it mandates that all health plans cover contraceptives, including those that the study's authors claim are less effective,' Monahan said.
Here's why this is a public health issue: Nearly half of the nation's 6 million-plus pregnancies each year are unintended. An estimated 43 percent of them end in abortion. Low-income women are far more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy than their wealthier counterparts.
'We shouldn't have, in my view, a tiered system where the women with money can get family planning and the women without cannot,' said Peipert, noting that 39 percent of the women in his study had trouble paying basic expenses.
About half of unplanned pregnancies occur in women who use no contraception. As for the other half, condoms can fail and so can birth control pills or other shorter-acting methods if the woman forgets to use them or can't afford a refill.
In contrast, you can forget about pregnancy for three years with Implanon, the implant inserted under the skin of the arm. An IUD, a tiny T-shaped device inserted into the uterus, can last for five to 10 years, depending on the brand. Change your mind, and the doctor removes either device before it wears out.
Only about 5 percent of U.S. women use long-acting contraceptives, far fewer than in other developed countries. Peipert said insurance hasn't always covered the higher upfront cost to insert them, even though years of birth control pills can add up to the same price.
Yet three-quarters of his study participants chose an IUD or Implanon, and a year later 85 percent were sticking that choice - compared to about half who had initially chosen the pill, patch or other shorter-acting method.
Cost isn't the only barrier. Doctors don't always mention long-acting methods, maybe because of a long-outdated belief that IUDs aren't for young women or just because they assume women want the most commonly prescribed pill.
That was the case for Ashley England, 26, of Nashville, Tenn., who enrolled in the study while in graduate school in St. Louis. She had taken birth control pills for years but struggled with a $50 monthly copay. She switched to a five-year IUD, and loves that she and her husband don't have to think about contraception.
'No one had ever presented all the options equally,' England said. 'It's not telling you what to do. It's giving you a choice unhindered by money.'
___
EDITOR'S NOTE - Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE.
FDA cracks down on websites selling bad drugs
(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it has cracked down on thousands of online pharmacies for selling potentially unsafe, unapproved or fake medicines, including the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra and antiviral Tamiflu.
The FDA, working with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies from about 100 countries, said on Thursday that it took action against more than 4,100 Internet pharmacies, bringing civil and criminal charges, removing offending websites and seizing drugs worldwide.
The move was part of the fifth annual International Internet Week of Action, a global effort to fight the online sale and distribution of potentially counterfeit and illegal medicine.
Action taken between September 25 and October 2 resulted in the shutdown of more than 18,000 illegal pharmacy websites and the seizure of 3.7 million doses of counterfeit medicines worth an estimated $10.5 million, the agency said.
Homeland Security Investigations, which took part in the coordinated effort titled Pangea, said preliminary results show the actions also accounted for 79 arrests.
'Consumers in the United States and around the world face a real threat from Internet pharmacies that illegally sell potentially substandard, counterfeit, adulterated or otherwise unsafe medicines,' FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in a statement.
'This week's efforts show that strong international enforcement efforts are required to combat this global public health problem,' she added.
Among the targeted online pharmacies was Canadadrugs, which earlier this year had been a subject of the investigation into fake versions of the cancer drug Avastin that found their way into U.S. oncology clinics. Canadadrugs denied any connection to the counterfeit Avastin.
An FDA warning letter obtained by Reuters accused Canadadrugs of selling drugs for unapproved uses and medicines made by unapproved manufacturers, among other infractions.
Warning letters to other online pharmacies cited the sale of 'female Viagra,' which does not exist, and unapproved variations on well-known erectile dysfunction drugs with names like 'Viagra Professional' and 'Cialis Super Active.'
The goal of the annual effort, which involved law enforcement, customs and regulatory authorities from 100 countries, was to identify producers and distributors of illegal pharmaceutical products and medical devices and remove these products from the supply chain.
The FDA said it targeted websites selling potentially dangerous medicines, including those with active ingredients approved by FDA for use only under the supervision of a licensed health care practitioner or containing active ingredients that had been withdrawn from U.S. markets due to safety issues.
In addition to Tamiflu and Viagra, the agency targeted sales of domperidone, which was removed from the U.S. market in 1998 because it may cause serious heart problems or death, and isotretinoin, previously marketed in the United States as the acne treatment Accutane, which has been liked to birth defects.
The FDA is working with its foreign counterparts to address the remaining websites that continue to offer unapproved or misbranded prescription medicines to U.S. consumers, the agency said.
(Reporting By Debra Sherman in Chicago and Bill Berkrot in New York; Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Bernard Orr)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
The FDA, working with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies from about 100 countries, said on Thursday that it took action against more than 4,100 Internet pharmacies, bringing civil and criminal charges, removing offending websites and seizing drugs worldwide.
The move was part of the fifth annual International Internet Week of Action, a global effort to fight the online sale and distribution of potentially counterfeit and illegal medicine.
Action taken between September 25 and October 2 resulted in the shutdown of more than 18,000 illegal pharmacy websites and the seizure of 3.7 million doses of counterfeit medicines worth an estimated $10.5 million, the agency said.
Homeland Security Investigations, which took part in the coordinated effort titled Pangea, said preliminary results show the actions also accounted for 79 arrests.
'Consumers in the United States and around the world face a real threat from Internet pharmacies that illegally sell potentially substandard, counterfeit, adulterated or otherwise unsafe medicines,' FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in a statement.
'This week's efforts show that strong international enforcement efforts are required to combat this global public health problem,' she added.
Among the targeted online pharmacies was Canadadrugs, which earlier this year had been a subject of the investigation into fake versions of the cancer drug Avastin that found their way into U.S. oncology clinics. Canadadrugs denied any connection to the counterfeit Avastin.
An FDA warning letter obtained by Reuters accused Canadadrugs of selling drugs for unapproved uses and medicines made by unapproved manufacturers, among other infractions.
Warning letters to other online pharmacies cited the sale of 'female Viagra,' which does not exist, and unapproved variations on well-known erectile dysfunction drugs with names like 'Viagra Professional' and 'Cialis Super Active.'
The goal of the annual effort, which involved law enforcement, customs and regulatory authorities from 100 countries, was to identify producers and distributors of illegal pharmaceutical products and medical devices and remove these products from the supply chain.
The FDA said it targeted websites selling potentially dangerous medicines, including those with active ingredients approved by FDA for use only under the supervision of a licensed health care practitioner or containing active ingredients that had been withdrawn from U.S. markets due to safety issues.
In addition to Tamiflu and Viagra, the agency targeted sales of domperidone, which was removed from the U.S. market in 1998 because it may cause serious heart problems or death, and isotretinoin, previously marketed in the United States as the acne treatment Accutane, which has been liked to birth defects.
The FDA is working with its foreign counterparts to address the remaining websites that continue to offer unapproved or misbranded prescription medicines to U.S. consumers, the agency said.
(Reporting By Debra Sherman in Chicago and Bill Berkrot in New York; Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Bernard Orr)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIP ADVICE.
FDA cracks down on thousands of websites for selling bad drugs
(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it has cracked down on thousands of online pharmacies for selling potentially unsafe, unapproved or fake pharmaceuticals, including the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra and antiviral Tamiflu.
The FDA, working with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies from about 100 countries, said it took action against more than 4,100 Internet pharmacies, bring civil and criminal charges, removing offending websites and seizing drugs worldwide.
The move was part of the fifth annual International Internet Week of Action, a global effort to fight the online sale and distribution of potentially counterfeit and illegal medicine.
Action taken between September 25 and October 2 resulted in the shutdown of more than 18,000 illegal pharmacy websites and the seizure of $10.5 million worth of drugs.
The goal of this annual effort, which involved law enforcement, customs and regulatory authorities from 100 countries, was to identify producers and distributors of illegal pharmaceutical products and medical devices and remove these products from the supply chain.
The FDA targeted websites selling unapproved and potentially dangerous medicines. In addition to Tamiflu and Viagra, the agency targeted Domperidone, which was removed from the U.S. market in 1998 because it may cause serious adverse side effects, and Isotretinoin, previously marketed as Accutane in the United States, used to treat severe acne and carries risks, such as birth defects.
(Reporting By Debra Sherman; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
The FDA, working with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies from about 100 countries, said it took action against more than 4,100 Internet pharmacies, bring civil and criminal charges, removing offending websites and seizing drugs worldwide.
The move was part of the fifth annual International Internet Week of Action, a global effort to fight the online sale and distribution of potentially counterfeit and illegal medicine.
Action taken between September 25 and October 2 resulted in the shutdown of more than 18,000 illegal pharmacy websites and the seizure of $10.5 million worth of drugs.
The goal of this annual effort, which involved law enforcement, customs and regulatory authorities from 100 countries, was to identify producers and distributors of illegal pharmaceutical products and medical devices and remove these products from the supply chain.
The FDA targeted websites selling unapproved and potentially dangerous medicines. In addition to Tamiflu and Viagra, the agency targeted Domperidone, which was removed from the U.S. market in 1998 because it may cause serious adverse side effects, and Isotretinoin, previously marketed as Accutane in the United States, used to treat severe acne and carries risks, such as birth defects.
(Reporting By Debra Sherman; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
Monday, October 1, 2012
HPV Vaccine Found to Have Minimal Side Effects
This news article is brought to you by GLOBAL WEATHER NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
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