HIV treatment

HIV treatment features

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  Treatment: what really works best?

  The new edition of the HIV treatment guidelines from the British HIV Association (BHIVA) is now out for public consultation. HTU editor Gus Cairns was one of the...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  ART and TB prevention

  This edition explores what is known about the potential benefits and limits of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for TB prevention and control....

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  What will it take to put millions more South Africans onto antiretroviral therapy?

  “The rapid expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) programmes within a limited budget will require innovative and cost-effective approaches to service delivery,” Professor Yunus Moosa of the University of...

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Treatment is prevention: now, how do we make it work?

  A large international study using antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) as a prevention method has closed four years early because it has found that giving ARVs to HIV-positive people...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Treatment as prevention works!

  A large randomised study of treatment as prevention has closed more than three years early after interim analysis of the data showed that antiretroviral treatment reduced the...

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  What do treatment as prevention study results mean for treatment?

  The findings of HPTN 052, the randomised study that recently demonstrated that providing early antiretroviral therapy (ART) to HIV positive individuals reduced transmission of the virus to their...

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  HIV gene therapy

  In April’s HTU, we featured a news story, reporting that a group of patients had had their CD4 counts boosted by a form of gene therapy – and...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  HIV drug prescribing in London: changes from this month

  From April 2011, the preferred first- and second-line drug regimens for HIV-positive people in London are changing. The change in prescribing practice will not initially affect people...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Towards a cure for all: How we might do it

  In the second part of this two-part feature, Gus Cairns investigates current research into finding a cure for HIV....

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Towards a cure for all (part one)

  For the first time, someone has been cured of HIV infection. It was a brutal and expensive procedure but, as Gus Cairns reports, in the first of a...

  From:HIV treatment update

HIV treatment in your own words

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  Diagnosed far from home

  ...

  From:In your own words

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  Life on HIV treatment – a personal perspective

  I’ve been taking HIV treatment for ten years – that's longer than the average life expectancy of someone with HIV when I was diagnosed back in 1991. I’ve...

  From:In your own words

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  Starting treatment

  Following my HIV diagnosis in August 2001, my doctor estimated that I would be looking to start therapy in around six years. But following a...

  From:In your own words

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  Finally undetectable!

  After almost 15 years of HIV, and six years of viral load testing, I heard on Thursday, June 21st 2001 that my viral load had...

  From:In your own words

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  Jewelled friends

  I have a pretty little carved wooden pill box which I’d bought in Eureka, California. It holds my tablet set for the evening if I’m...

  From:In your own words

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  Headaches

  In October 2000 I arrived in the UK from Zimbabwe. I went to live in Bristol with my then partner. Things went okay, and I...

  From:In your own words

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  Holiday hassles and HRT

  A much-needed holiday. Tickets, passports, driving licence – all go in my hand luggage. I leave the toiletry bag out till the last minute. I...

  From:In your own words

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  Starting treatment wasn't as scary as I thought!

  I started learning about HIV treatment soon after I was first diagnosed. I had ‘the chat’ with someone, after I got my results – I...

  From:In your own words

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  Getting into the habit

  I try to take my HIV drugs at the same time every day, just before bed. I used to set an alarm on my mobile,...

  From:In your own words

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  Peripheral neuropathy – the sting in the tail

  To begin: It is estimated that between 30% and 40% of HIV patients will develop neuropathy. In the United States alone, there are 20 million sufferers (from...

  From:In your own words

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  Living with peripheral neuropathy

  I didn’t know, at first, why my feet hurt so bad. I would wake up every 90 minutes or so every night. Because of the ‘way’ they...

  From:In your own words

HIV treatment news from aidsmap

• Is a viral load just below 50 copies/ml low enough to ensure the long-term success of HIV therapy?

  Suppressing viral load to below 50 copies/ml may not be enough to ensure the long-term success of antiretroviral therapy, according to a UK study published in the March edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. Using ultra-sensitive viral load assays, ...

  16 January 2012 | Michael Carter

• HIV treatment integrated into general health care delivers 'equal or better' results in MSF programmes

  Outcomes for people taking antiretroviral treatment in Médecins sans Frontières’ (MSF) integrated general healthcare programmes were as good or better than those in vertical HIV programmes, researchers report in a nine-country study published in the advance online edition of the ...

  13 January 2012 | Carole Leach-Lemens

• Limited evidence that vitamin D supplements of any benefit for patients with HIV

  There is only scant evidence that vitamin D supplementation is of benefit for patients with HIV, according to UK investigators writing in the January 28th  edition of AIDS. The authors conducted a systematic review of studies examining the prevalence ...

  10 January 2012 | Michael Carter

• Guidelines published on management of interactions between anti-epileptic and anti-HIV drugs

  Doses adjustments are required when certain antiretrovirals and anti-epileptic drugs are taken together, according to guidelines published in Neurology.  The guidelines were developed by a team of investigators who reviewed all the published studies reporting on interactions between anti-HIV and ...

  09 January 2012 | Michael Carter

• Europeans find high prevalence of lipodystrophy in HIV-positive children

  A European study published in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes has found a high prevalence of body fat changes and elevated lipids in HIV-positive children. Treatment with d4T (stavudine, Zerit) and a ...

  05 January 2012 | Michael Carter

• Study identifies issues affecting the quality of life of patients living with HIV

  Fears about transmitting HIV to others, worries about the future, self-esteem problems, difficulty sleeping and treatment issues are now important quality of life concerns for people living with HIV that are not measured by existing resources, according to a ...

  04 January 2012 | Michael Carter

• Similar HIV treatment outcomes among UK gay men across ethnic groups

  HIV treatment outcomes among gay men in the UK are similar across ethnic groups, investigators report in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The study showed that gay men from black and minority ...

  03 January 2012 | Michael Carter

• Would early treatment for everyone be better? Study poses the question

  A US study has found that patients infected with HIV in the previous six months who were given 36 weeks (8.3 months) of antiretroviral therapy (ART) were only a third as likely to need to go back on ...

  21 December 2011 | Gus Cairns

• Adding rituximab to chemotherapy regimens improves outcomes for AIDS-related lymphomas

  The addition of rituximab to chemotherapy regimens for the treatment of AIDS-related lymphomas improves both overall survival and progression-free survival, German investigators report in the online edition of AIDS. Therapy with rituximab appeared to be safe, and no deaths were ...

  14 December 2011 | Michael Carter

• Co-infection with hepatitis B worsens HIV-related outcomes

  Co-infection with hepatitis B virus increases the risk of AIDS or death for patients newly diagnosed with HIV, investigators from the US military report in the online edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Individuals with chronic hepatitis B infection were ...

  13 December 2011 | Michael Carter

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HIV treatment news selected from other sources

• Malawi Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS wants ARV D4T phased out

  Malawi Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (Manet+) has expressed concern over the delay by government in completely phasing out antiretroviral (ARVs) with stavudine (D4T), a drug which is believed to have more negative side effects.

  01 February 2012 | Daily Times

• HIV Is 'Like Diabetes'? Let's Stop Kidding Ourselves

  My antenna perked up when I read a gay man's comment that HIV infection is essentially no big deal anymore. "It's like diabetes these days," he said. As an HIV-positive 53-year-old, familiar with the health details of some near and dear diabetics, I'd say this: we need to choose our analogies carefully.

  31 January 2012 | Huffington Post

• Guidelines stress caution when combining anti-epileptic, HIV drugs

  New guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology will help physicians better choose seizure drugs for people on HIV/AIDS medication, avoiding deadly drug interactions and preventing critical anti-HIV drugs from becoming less effective, possibly leading to a more virulent strain of the disease.

  04 January 2012 | Medical Xpress

• Top 10 HIV and Hepatitis Stories of 2011

  In our last issue for 2011, HIVandHepatitis.com reviews some the year's major news highlights.

  03 January 2012 | HIVandHepatitis.com

• Isentress (raltegravir): pediatric dosing recommendations and 2 chewable tablet formulations for pediatric dosing

  The Food and Drug Administration approved dosing recommendations for Isentress (raltegravir) for pediatric patients ages 2 to 18 years and weighing at least 10 kg. In addition a 100 mg scored chewable tablet and 25 mg chewable tablet was approved for use in pediatric patients.

  22 December 2011 | EATG / FDA

• Testing nasal vaccine for HIV treatment

  Researchers are working to find out whether a HIV vaccine developed by a Norwegian biotech company can be administered nasally.

  19 December 2011 | Health Canal

• Immediate ART during Early HIV Infection May Delay Disease Progression

  People who started combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) within 6 months of HIV infection were less likely to experience large CD4 cell decreases or AIDS-related illnesses during follow-up, although viral load set point could not be evaluated, researchers reported.

  19 December 2011 | HIVandHepatitis.com

• Salix submits FDA application for Crofelemer for the Treatment of HIV-Associated Diarrhea

  Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. said Wednesday that it submitted Crofelemer, its potential treatment for HIV-associated diarrhea, to the Food and Drug Administration for approval.

  14 December 2011 | CNBC

• Boosting Agent Cobicistat Comparable to Norvir in Phase III Study

  Compared with Norvir (ritonavir), people living with HIV using Gilead Sciences’ novel boosting agent cobicistat were just as likely to see their viral loads drop to undetectable levels and no more likely to discontinue therapy due to side effects, according to preliminary results from a Phase III study comparing both drugs in combination with Reyataz (atazanavir) and Truvada (tenofovir plus emtricitabine). 

  06 December 2011 | AIDSMeds

• Europe approves Gilead's HIV combo Eviplera

  The European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for Gilead Sciences' combination drug Eviplera, for HIV-1 infection. Eviplera is a once-daily single-tablet that combines Gilead's Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) and Johnson & Johnson and

  05 December 2011 | Pharma Times

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