Generics deal cuts cost of AIDS drugs further
The cost of AIDS medicines in poor countries is to come down further, following a new bulk purchase arrangement negotiated with a group of generic drug manufacturers. The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative and the international drug-purchasing consortium Unitaid said Friday they had struck deals offering steeper discounts on a range of life-saving treatments. Read more
It all adds up teens and sex
Too much television, low self-esteem, low grades and poor family relationships can add up to early teenage sex, according to a new study. “If you add up all the factors, you get a much more powerful predictor of who has sex and who doesn’t,” said Dr. Janet Hyde, of the University of Wisconsin, who headed the research team. Read more
Winnipeg lab working on swine flu vaccine
Work on a new vaccine to guard against human swine flu is under way in a Winnipeg lab as health officials across the continent move to contain the growing threat that could spark a worldwide influenza outbreak. With the mysterious disease that initially cropped up in Mexico spreading to Canada, teams of scientists from the Winnipeg-based National Microbiology Lab have started work on a vaccine to protect against H1N1 swine flu and are investigating whether the existing flu shot could offer any protection from the virus. Read more
HIV may be increasing in virulence
These findings agree with those of other researchers, who have reported that patients starting treatment for HIV infection in recent years may have lower CD4+ cell counts at diagnosis and require antiretroviral therapy earlier in the course of disease, Dr. Nancy Crum-Cianflone, from the Naval Medical Center, San Diego, California, and colleagues report. Read more
Swine flu cases expected to rise
Canadian health officials expected more cases of swine flu to be confirmed Monday, while the disease has killed more than 100 in Mexico and the European Union warned travellers to think twice about heading to the Americas. Canadian authorities reported six “mild” cases of swine flu on Sunday — the first confirmed cases in Canada since an outbreak of the illness began in Mexico several days ago — and warned there could be more cases in the days ahead. Read more
Birth control touted as part of Earth Day
So, what to do to celebrate Earth Day today? For a start, no sex without birth control, suggests Hans Tammermagi, author and adjunct professor in the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. While people try to step more lightly on the Earth by using compact fluorescent bulbs, turning down the thermostat and using public transit, they should also be thinking about the dramatic impact of overpopulation, Tammermagi suggested. Read more
Fewer than half of U.S. women screened for chlamydia
Fewer than half of vulnerable U.S. women are being screened for chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted disease that often causes few symptoms but can lead to infertility, researchers reported on Thursday. Screening rates have spiked up from 25 percent in 2000 to nearly 42 percent in 2007, but that is still far too few women being screened, the team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Read more
Breast cancer and ovarian cancer
Cells in general develop and divide simply when they are required to keep our bodies running appropriately. But occasionally, the mechanisms that control cell development end working and cells break up out of control to shape tumors. This is named cancer. When it expands in the cells of breast or ovarian tissue it is called breast or ovarian cancer, respectively. Read more
Spray helps men with frustrating sexual problem
Premature ejaculation – defined by the International Society for Sexual Medicine as orgasm that occurs within about one minute of vaginal penetration in the majority of encounters – can be a “very distressing” condition for men, one that can cause frustration and make them avoid sexual intimacy, Dr. W. Wallace Dinsmore from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, UK, noted in a prepared statement. Read more
FDA eases access to morning-after pill
Seventeen-year-olds will soon have access to emergency contraception without a prescription, U.S. health regulators said on Wednesday, complying with a court order to ease restrictions on over-the-counter sales of the so-called “morning-after” pill. Last month, a U.S. court ruled the Food and Drug Administration under the Bush administration had allowed politics to cloud its decision-making process regarding availability of the Plan B drug which had been restricted to those 18 and older. Read more