Tag Archives: medicine

California’s Prop 19, which would have decriminalized the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, has failed by a wide margin. The initiative would have eliminated all criminal penalties for adults 21 and older who planted marijuana in a plot of up to 25 square feet or possessed up to an ounce for personal use. It also would have …

Scientists at the University of Minnesota believe that two existing FDA-approved cancer medications may work jointly to eliminate HIV infections. The two drugs, decitabine and gemcitabine — both FDA approved and currently used in pre-cancer and cancer therapy — were found to eliminate HIV infection in the mouse model by causing the virus to mutate itself to death — an …

Researchers at Yale have published a study touting the horse tranquilizer Ketamine as an effective anti-depressant at low doses. The drug’s make-happy effect begins almost immediately, unlike regular anti-depressants which can take weeks to work. Ketamine, a general anesthetic usually administered to children and pets but perhaps best known as a horse tranquilizer, is also highly effective in low doses …

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was released from the hospital yesterday one month after being fitted fitted with a heart pump called a ventricular assist device. The battery-powered pump is mainly used for short periods by a heart transplant candidate awaiting a donor organ. Such devices are being studied for use by people with severe heart failure who aren’t candidates …

A study released at the AIDS 2010 conference in Vienna claims that using widely-prescribed HIV medications as a preventive for new infections (PrEP) is safe for HIV-negative men who have sex with men. Please note that effectiveness in preventing infection results have not yet been released on this study. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir (found in Viread, Truvada and Atripla) …

The terrible economy has been especially hard on the ADAP system, the AIDS Drugs Assistance Program that provides life saving medications to the HIV-positive. More people are now on ADAP waiting lists that at any time since the program began. Eleven states have closed enrollment in the federal program, most recently Florida, which has the nation’s third-largest population of people …

According to a Washington Blade piece just posted by Lou Chibarro, some longtime supporters of ADAP in Congress are reluctant to approve supplemental funding this year for fear of angering the Tea Party. The AIDS Drug Assistance Program keeps tens of thousands of people alive by providing them with free or low cost HIV medications. William Arnold, executive director of …

Here is the complete documentary from HBO about the miraculous effect of HAART therapy on Africans suffering from HIV. Clip description: Executive produced by Spike Jonze, this (RED), HBO & Anonymous Content 30-minute documentary follows the story of HIV positive people in Africa who were at death’s door and in as little as 40 days undergo a remarkable transformation to …

The New York Assembly is considering a bill that would require residents to opt-out of organ donation. Under the bill, all adults in the state would be enrolled as potential organ donors unless they specifically choose to decline. New York State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky nearly lost his daughter, Willie, at 4 years old when she needed a kidney transplant, and …

“The approach to prevention and treatment of HIV in the U.S. has undergone a radical and dangerous shift over the past few months. The new concept, called ‘Test and Treat’ (TNT) or ‘Testing with Linkage to Care’ (TLC) will dramatically increase HIV testing, identify more people with HIV and “link” them to care. Those are worthy objectives. “The danger is …

President Obama tonight ordered the Department of Health & Human Services to prohibit hospitals from discriminating against LGBT couples when it comes to visitations rights. Administration officials and gay activists, who have been quietly working together on the issue, said the new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding, a move that covers the vast majority …

The Nebraska legislature has passed a bill requiring mental illness screenings for women who seek abortion, purportedly to determine if they were pressured into their decision. The bill had the backing of anti-abortion activists seeking to place additional roadblocks and delays into women’s reproductive choices. Republican Gov. Dave Heineman’s office said Monday he will sign the bill Tuesday, along with …

As I mentioned earlier this month, St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan’s West Village is set to close in bankruptcy very shortly. New York Magazine’s David France reflects on St. Vincent’s role in the early years of the AIDS pandemic. The obituary for St. Vincent’s, when it is finally written, will recall that the hospital’s greatest moment—and its darkest—came in the …

St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan’s West Village voted to close itself last night after failing to resolve an estimated $700M in debt. The famed hospital served the gay community as a sort of ground zero during the early years of the AIDS pandemic. The exact timing for the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan, which has about 400 inpatient beds, …

Many HIV+ patients delay beginning anti-retroviral therapy for years after they become aware of their infection, waiting for signs that their immune system has begun to falter before starting treatment. San Francisco’s Department of Health has just endorsed starting HAART treatment immediately upon diagnosis. Behind the policy switch is mounting evidence that patients who start early are more likely to …

Urologist Dr. Jack Cassell of Mount Dora, Florida has posted a sign telling patients to go elsewhere if they voted for Barack Obama. A doctor who considers the national health-care overhaul to be bad medicine for the country posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek care “elsewhere.” “I’m not turning …

Researchers have learned that HIV can lie dormant for years in bone marrow, evading drug therapy and later activating to cause disease. The issue of “hidden” HIV has been one of the biggest obstacles to attempts to completely clear the virus from the body. Dr. Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan and her colleagues report in this week’s edition …

Via Pep411.com, here’s a short instructive film about Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). This latest project is targeted to help young men of color, but of course applies to everybody. This clip may be slightly NSFW due to male-on-male making out. PEP stands for Post Exposure Prophylaxis. It is HIV medications, usually 3 or 4 pills, that you take after you think …

The National Institute of Health is inviting public comment on an unprecedented planned study of LGBT health issues. An insider writes us on how to help: The Institute of Medicine (IOM), part of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), has been asked by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct a report on LGBT health. Nothing like this has …