HIV Treatment: ALERTS! articles from October - December 2004

HIV Treatment: ALERTS! archives from October - December 2004

Welcome.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... It's election time. Four years can be a very long time, and much has happened in the world since the last presidential election. HIV/AIDS is no exception. In the last 4 years, millions more people have become infected worldwide, and thousands...

Entry inhibitors: hope on the horizon?
October 1, 2004... Entry. It's what must happen for HIV to infect cells. Blocking HIV entry means the virus does not get inside the T cell. The only approved medication that does this is Fuzeon, which must be injected into the skin twice daily. Even so, other HIV...

Statins to treat HIV?(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Statins are a widely prescribed group of drugs used to treat high cholesterol. Sometimes, statins are also given to HIV+ individuals to treat lipodystrophy. A recent report in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (200, p. 541, 2004) describes...

Breast enlargement in men.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... About 2% to 3% of HIV+ men have a condition called gynecomastia (pronounced guy-ni-ko-MAS-tee-uh), which means abnormal breast enlargement. This condition can also occur in HIV-negative men during puberty or when men are elderly or overweight....

Grapefruit juice warnings continue.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Many HIV+ individuals take statins to treat high cholesterol. This group of medications includes Zocor, Lipitor, Pravachol, Mevacor, Crestor, and Lescol. Unfortunately, some foods found in many refrigerators may interact with these drugs and...

New treatments for pain.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Neuropathy is a condition where people experience nerve damage, muscle weakness, pain, and numbness. Typically peripheral nerves, such as those in the arms and legs, are affected. Some types of HIV medications, particularly the nucleoside...

Treatment for diarrhea.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Excessive diarrhea and wasting are not that common in the US, but are major problems in developing countries. These problems can also cause decreased absorption of HIV medications into the body, resulting in virus that can become resistant to...

Giving kids a fighting chance.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... When to treat HIV+ infants and to do so are still unanswered questions. A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (350:24, p. 2471, 2004) examined 3 different HIV regimens in 52 children. Children were grouped according to...

High risk of anal cancer.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Anal cancer is a very real risk for HIV+ people, especially for men who have sex with men. In addition to HIV, human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted disease, also increases this risk. However, a recent study published in the...

CMV: a marker of disease progression?(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Cytomegalovirus (or CMV, an opportunistic infection) is still very real threat HIV+ individuals, according to a study published in The Lancet (363, p. 2116, 2004). In this study, 374 HIV+ patients whose T cell count was less than 100 had their...

Niacin for dyslipidemia.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Dyslipidemia (abnormal levels of fats in the blood) occurs in many HIV+ people and may be a side effect of HIV medications. The vitamin supplement niacin has been studied as a treatment for dyslipidemia, but it can cause side effects such as...

Co-infection complications.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Usual treatment for chronic hepatitis C is 6 months to 1 year of pegylated (longer-lasting) or standard interferon combined with ribavarin. Relapse (return) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) occurs in about 15% to 20% of patients who are HCV+ but...

Triple PI therapy for salvage.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Researchers report in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (36, p. 921, 2004) that an HIV treatment consisting of 3 protease inhibitors (PIs) may help salvage patients. These patients require new types of treatments because they...

Get vaccinated.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A study in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (36, p. 869, 2004) reports the high rate of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the HIV+ community in the US. When researchers examined blood samples from 240 HIV+ patients, they found that...

Breathing problems.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a health condition where there is high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, a major blood vessel in the lungs. Though somewhat rare, PAH affects HIV+ individuals more frequently than the general...

Effects of smoking on cervical cancer risk.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Smoking is known to be unhealthy, but a recent study shows that it may also increase a woman's risk of developing cervical cancer, especially if she is HIV+. This study, published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases (189, p. 1821, 2004),...

Fuzeon recommendations.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Recommendations published in the journal AIDS (18, p. 1137, 2004) suggest taking the HIV medication Fuzeon only when T cell counts are over 100 and viral load is below 100,000 copies. The risks of pneumonia and skin reactions at the injection...

Videx+Viread interactions.(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The combination of the HIV medications, Videx and Viread, is linked to an increased risk of inflammation of the pancreas, according to a report in The Lancet (364, p. 65, 2004). For a variety of reasons, this combination may not be the best...

Pneumococcal disease: is it still a threat?(Treatment News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases (38, p. 1632, 2004) reported that even with the availability of potent combination HIV therapy (HAART), HIV+ individuals are still at risk for pneumococcal (pronounced...

Sculptra approved.(FDA Bits)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In August, The Food and Drug Administration approved Sculptra, an injectable filler to correct facial lipoatrophy (loss of fat) in HIV+ people. Sculptra stimulates the production of the body's own skin proteins to help fill in where fat has...

Hepatitis caution with Viread.(FDA Bits)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... New precautions have been added to the labeling for Viread. Though Viread has activity against both HIV and hepatitis B, the safety and effectiveness of Viread in patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis B has not been established, according...

Reyataz update.(FDA Bits)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... * Boosting with Norvir is now officially recommended in patients taking Reyataz, and especially in protease-inhibitor experienced patients. Also, because of the known interactions between Reyataz and Viread, labeling changes recommend the...

Fewer pills for Viracept.(FDA Bits)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A new 825-mg formulation of the HIV protease inhibitor Viracept is now available. Patients taking this new version only need to take 2 pills twice daily instead of 5 pills twice a day using the previous 250-mg formulation. Viracept should be...

New fixed-dose combinations.(FDA Bits)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In August, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 2 fixed-dose combinations of existing HIV medications. These new combinations are Epzicom (Ziagen + Epivir) from GlaxoSmithKline and Truvada (Viread + Emtriva) from Gilead Sciences, Inc. These...

AIDS fraud continues.(FDA Bits)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Warning letters were issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the products Eurocel (www.myhealthfirst.com) and Viralsol (www.viralsol.com) claiming to be therapeutic against HIV (and other diseases) with no clinical data to support...

2004 Calendar.(FDA Bits)(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... For updated information on CFA programs, visit www.centerforaids.org/cfa_calendar.htm NOVEMBER 2 Journal Club Noon at The Center for AIDS 1407 Hawthorne Brown bag lunch 4 Conversacion Nuevos tratamientos para el VIH: ?Que es lo...

Genotype test: should you or shouldn't you?(Bottom Lines)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A genotype test is a genetic test of your virus to see if it has any mutations. Certain mutations may make HIV medications less effective. Usually, this type of test is not done on patients who are about to start taking HIV medications for the...

Making the write choices.(Bottom Lines)
October 1, 2004... The impact of emotional stress and depression on the HIV+ patient is well established. In fact, a report in the American Journal of Public Health (94, p. 1133, 2004) found that AIDS-related deaths were increased in HIV+ women with chronic...

A vitamin (and mineral) a day can help keep HIV at bay.(HIV 101)
October 1, 2004... Nutrition can affect a person's ability to survive with HIV/AIDS. Staying nutritionally fit is difficult for everyone, but for HIV+ people the task is even more challenging. Both HIV disease and HIV medications can have negative effects on...

Q & A.(Patient/doctor: Patrick McNamara, MD, answers questions about starting meds, controlling diarrhea, and a new approach to treating facial wasting)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Q: I am a 27-year-old male who just tested HIV+ last March. My T cells are 345 now (down from 372 in March) and my viral load is 23,000. I am not on meds. Some friends tell me to wait a bit longer, and others say to start right away. I am...

SMART study.(Clinical Trial Information)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The SMART Study continues enrollment in Houston and around the world. SMART stands for Strategies for the Management of Anti-Retroviral Therapy. The study will involve 6000 patients and last for at least 8 years. The goal of the study is to...

Heart Positive study.(Clinical Trial Information)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Montrose Clinic and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston are participating in a study called "Heart Positive." The study aims to answer important questions about how to reduce heart disease and diabetes risk in people with HIV, especially...

Baylor College of Medicine.(Clinical Trial Information)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Researchers are looking into ways fat cells and fat metabolism are different in people with HIV. People with lipodystrophy have problems with fat metabolism. Leptin is a substance in the body that helps control fat breakdown. Levels of leptin...

Definitions.(Glossary)
October 1, 2004... Adherence: how well someone takes medication as directed, with respect to number and timing of doses. Antibodies: types of protein that specifically bind to a cell or virus; usually antibodies are produced by the body's immune system...

Useful resources.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Need to find an HIV-experienced healthcare provider in your area? Check out the online directory available from the HIV Medicine Association. www.hivma.org (click on "Directories" or "HIV Healthcare Resources" and then click on "HIV Provider...