THEGAYUK

Tag: HIV

Read the latest news and analysis of HIV in the UK and abroad. Browse THEGAYUK’s entire archive on news about HIV.

  • The Lancet: Causes of death shifting in people with HIV

    HIV-positive adults in high income countries face a substantially reduced risk of death from AIDS-related causes, cardiovascular disease, and liver disease compared with a decade ago, according to a large international study published in The Lancet.

    The study which involved nearly 50 000 HIV-positive adults receiving care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) at more than 200 clinics across Europe, USA, and Australia found that overall death rates have almost halved since 1999, while deaths due to AIDS-related causes and cardiovascular disease have declined by around 65% and liver-related deaths by more than 50%.
    Although deaths from most causes declined over the study period, there was no reduction in death rates from non-AIDS cancers which remained stable over time (1.6 deaths per 1000 years 1999–2000 to 2.1 in 2009–2011). Non-AIDS cancers are now the leading cause of non-AIDS deaths in people with HIV, accounting for 23% of all deaths.

    Using data from the Data collection on Adverse events of anti-HIV Drugs (D:A:D) study, the researchers looked at trends in underlying causes of death in people with HIV between 1999 and 2011, who were followed-up for a median of 6 years.
    Of the 3909 deaths that occurred over the study period, around 29% of individuals died from an AIDS-related cause, which remains the most common cause of death. Cancers (15%; mainly lung cancer) were the most frequent causes of non-AIDS deaths, followed by liver disease (13%; mainly due to hepatitis), and cardiovascular disease (11%).

    Mortality decreased from about 17.5 deaths per 1000 person-years in 1999–2000 to 9.1 deaths per 1000 years in 2009–2011—a drop of around 50%. Similar decreases in deaths related to AIDS (5.9 deaths per 1000 person-years to 2.0), liver disease (2.7 to 0.9), and cardiovascular disease (1.8 to 0.9) were also seen. The proportion of all deaths due to AIDS (34% to 23%) and liver disease (16% to 10%) declined over the decade, while the proportion of deaths due to cardiovascular disease remained constant at 10%.

    The researchers note that substantially reduced death rates from liver and cardiovascular disease cannot be fully explained by changes in patient demographics or improvements in viral suppression or CD4 count, and might result from the better management of traditional risk factors such as smoking, alcohol use, and hepatitis, or the use of less toxic ART regimens.

    They conclude by calling for further research to gain a clearer understanding of why the risk of dying from a non-AIDS cancer remains high and to assess the effect of specific antiretroviral drugs on non-AIDS cancer rates.

    According to study leader Dr Colette Smith from University College London in the UK, ‘These recent reductions in rates of AIDS-related deaths are linked with continued improvement in CD4 count and provide further evidence of the substantial net benefits of ART. But despite these positive results, AIDS-related disease remains the leading cause of death in this population. Continued efforts to ensure good ART adherence and to diagnose more individuals at an earlier stage before the development of severe immunodeficiency are important to ensure that the low death rate from AIDS is sustained and potentially decreased even further.’*

    Writing in a linked Comment, Steven Deeks and Peter Hunt from the University of California in San Francisco, USA, say, ‘The benefits of ART are unquestioned, and their beneficial effect on the HIV epidemic continues to grow. Still, clear limitations exist because many patients are not accessing treatment, and some problems persist even in those on ART, including a higher than expected risk of non-AIDS cancers and other morbidities. Finally, it needs to be emphasised that we are still early in the ART era. In the absence of a cure, most patients will need to continue on ART for decades. Continued monitoring for unexpected consequences of treatment will be needed indefinitely.’

    The study appears in a special issue of The Lancet published ahead of AIDS 2014, the 20th international AIDS conference of the IAS, taking place in Melbourne, Australia, from 20-25 July, 2014.

  • Work Positive Employment Scheme For People With HIV Extended

    Terrence Higgins Trust extends employment scheme to support people with HIV back into the workplace.

    HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust has secured funding from the Big Lottery Fund (BLF) to extend its annual back to work scheme for people living with HIV in long-term unemployment.

    The scheme, which was set up in 2011, has been relaunched under the banner Work Positive, with 25 work placements on offer in London and the south east. Placements are open to anyone living with HIV who has been unemployed for two years or more, or is receiving state benefits.

    Participants will each be given a six-month work placement within the charity, supporting them to develop the skills and experience to get them back on their chosen career path. Alongside their placement, they will undertake an intensive programme of training, coaching and mentoring, with the aim of boosting their confidence and ensuring they are work-ready.

    In the UK, around a quarter of people with HIV are currently unemployed. Thanks to modern drug treatments, many can return to work, but – if they have had a long period of ill health – they may lack confidence, or feel they no longer have the skills or stamina required to find a job in an increasingly competitive market.

    Ruth Burns, Work Positive Coordinator from Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “Since 2011, our back to work scheme has been helping people living with HIV back into the workplace, but there’s so much more we want to do. This funding from the BLF means we can now offer work placements to more people and in more locations than ever before. Having regular employment gives a sense of purpose which can transform people’s lives, particularly if they’ve been feeling isolated or depressed. We’d encourage anyone living with HIV who is ready to get back on the career ladder to get in touch and find out more.”

    Work Positive is open to anyone living with HIV who has been unemployed for two years or more or is receiving benefits. Placements have been confirmed in London, Bedford, Ipswich and Colchester, and Terrence Higgins Trust hopes to offer places at further locations across the country. The deadline for applications is Friday 15th August. People living with HIV can also access a wealth of careers advice, including online support from an advisor, by signing up to www.myhiv.org.uk.

  • Sexual health charity releases video urging condom use

    HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust has launched a short video clip for gay and bisexual men, outlining the risks of recent infection – the initial period after HIV is contracted, when a person is super-infectious but won’t yet know they have the virus – and urging men to use condoms with new or casual partners.

    The 1:30 clip ‘Ben and Will’, which can be viewed at www.tht.org.uk/BenandWill, has been released as part of It Starts With Me, the flagship campaign from Terrence Higgins Trust and HIV Prevention England (HPE). It demonstrates how men who have recently contracted HIV are often unaware of their status, and – if they have contracted HIV within the last six weeks or so – will have such a high level of the virus in their body, they will be more infectious than at any point afterwards. Among gay men, as many as eight out of ten HIV transmissions are passed on by a partner who doesn’t know he has it.

    Cary James, Head of Health Improvement at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “Too many guys are deciding not to use a condom because they believe they or their partner are HIV-negative. It’s called serosorting, but really it should be called seroguessing. If either guy has had unprotected sex since his last negative result, he could not only have picked up HIV but now be super-infectious. As tests often won’t detect HIV during these first few weeks either, it’s really important men protect themselves by continuing to use condoms.”

    In the UK, one in five gay and bisexual men with HIV remain undiagnosed, meaning there are currently more than 7,000 men in the UK’s gay community who have HIV but don’t know it. It Starts With Me focuses on a combination approach of condoms, testing and treatment to halt the spread of infection among the gay community. Using condoms and lube when having anal sex significantly reduces the risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, being passed on.
    HIV Prevention England is a partnership of community organisations headed by Terrence Higgins Trust and funded by the Department of Health to carry out national HIV prevention work in England among communities at an increased risk of infection.

    Gay and bisexual men are invited to sign up to It Starts With Me by visiting www.startswithme.org.uk . They can also join the conversation on social media at www.facebook.com/startswithme

  • FILM REVIEW | The Normal Heart

    ★★★★★ | The Normal Heart
    Larry Kramer is perpetually angry. This prominent loud-mouthed writer and gay activist has been shouting out his highly personal take on some of life’s iniquities and inequalities for the past 40 years and has made himself famously unpopular.

    It was his exasperation with the apathy of the gay community when the AIDS scare first started that made him co-found the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in his living room in 1981. And it was his unfettered bursts of outrage against an indifferent and immovable culture and a bureaucratic stonewall that got him unceremoniously forced out of the organisation just two years later.

    Retiring to Europe to lick his wounds, Kramer sat down and wrote an autobiographical piece of his whole experience of those past constantly changing years. It opened Off Broadway in 1985 when the AIDS Epidemic had really started to take a tight grip in New York (and many other major cities) and ‘The Normal Heart’ became the seminal play of the period. It would be another 6 years before Kushner’s ‘Angels of America’ would be seen.

    Now nearly some three decades later the play finally makes it to the silver screen after many false starts and broken promises, but along the way it has not lost a single iota of its potency with its powerful story that never fails to stun its audience into sheer silence.

    The movie opens on a typical care-free speedo-clad beach in Fire Island summer in the late 1970’s where sex is the first and second thing on the minds on this happy gay crowd. When one of their number suddenly collapses without warning on the sand no-one has the slightest idea that he is one of the early victims of what the New York Times will later describe as GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) i.e. the Gay Cancer.

    As the virus spreads writer Ned Weeks played by Mark Ruffalo (Kramer’s ‘stand in’) tracks down Dr Emma Brockner (Julia Roberts) who is the first physician in NY dealing solely with the epidemic and she simply cannot cope. She is overwhelmed with the increasing number of patients, with the indifference of the medical community who in denial, refuse to help or provide funds; and the apathy of the gay community who refuse to give up their newly gained hedonistic liberty to stop having sex just because this disabled doctor says it could kill them.

    Brockner recognizes a passionate true spirit in Weeks and eggs him to start trying to both persuade the gay community to change their practices and also organize an official support system.

    Even with the figures of gay men getting sick and dying escalating at an unprecedented pace Weeks is frustrated at the very little headway the newly formed GMHC is making. Finding himself as the unofficial spokesman, mainly due to the fact that he is not only the most articulate of the bunch, but his anger at a system that refuses to pitch in and help makes him a compelling anti-Establishment figure that the media are happy to cover.

    It may help them sell newspapers but it doesn’t achieve any of Week’s more lofty ambitions, and in fact only serves as the reason for the Board of GMHC to fight him tooth and nail and try and control his activities. Even with a Mayor, a President and a whole medical community that refuses to do anything to help stop all these men dying, the GMHC still wants to take a very cautious and overly polite approach so as not to upset either anyone in power or a gay community that do not want to curb their lifestyles.

    Whilst all this is going down 30-something-year-old Weeks finds love for the first time in his life in the shape of a younger New York Times Reporter Felix Turner (Matt Bomer). This unlikely seeming couple turn out to be a perfect match and their very passionate relationship is the one happy part of Week’s life even though it is sadly doomed when Turner falls ill and his young life is unseemly ended way before its prime like so many others of his generation.

    The movie ends soon after that (although the story in real life didn’t with Kramer going on to co-found ACT UP the AIDS activist organisation that unapologetically demanded help and support to help fight the plague and whose many successes included the releasing of much needed drugs and funds).

    Kramer’s anger may also have been one of the reasons that it took so long to get this on to our screens, but it was worth every minute of the wait. In Ryan Murphy, the openly gay creator of ‘Glee’ and ‘American Horror Story’, he found a filmmaker who not only put his own money where his mouth was by buying the Rights himself, but he proved to be a collaborator who created a masterpiece movie true to his vision.

    Murphy deserves credit for many things, not least the fact that he took the almost unheard of decision of casting many openly gay actors to play gay men. With not one mis-step in his selection which included the actor & director Joe Mantello as Mickey Marcus (fresh from his Tony nominated turn playing Ned Weeks in the recent Broadway revival); Jim Parsons repeating his role in the same production as Tommy Boatwright; Jonathan Groff, Taylor Kitsch, Alfred Molina, Frank De Julio, and the ultra handsome Matt Bomer as Tyler who quietly shed 40 lbs to play his dying character without any of the inflated brouhaha of a certain Oscar Winner who had trouble mentioning the word AIDS in public!

    Mark Ruffalo gets nominated as an honorary gay for his convincing portrayal of Ned Weeks who was equally passionate berating politicians as he was making love to his boyfriend. And last, but not least, Julia Roberts very competently played the part that Barbra Streisand had lusted after years, the physician who was sadly dabbed as Dr Death.

    With Murphy refusing to shy away from any of Kramer’s rhetoric or the scary visuals of the violent and cruel deaths these young men suffered, this is the story of how it really happened, warts and all. There are no flowery allegories or sightings of Angels as in the Kushner play but just sheer unadulterated screaming and angry rants at a world that we thought may actually kill us all

    If you were around at any of these times from the early 1980’s on, then this powerful heart-wrenching piece will make a lot of unpleasant memories flood back. It is shockingly disturbing and serves to remind one that the nightmares that we lived through were not imagined in the slightest and were very real indeed.

    If it hadn’t been for Larry Kramer’s loud mouth, it would been a whole lot worse. If on the other hand you are approaching this drama having been born after these events then I can only assume that this near apocalyptical scenario may even appear like an historical event that is nothing to do with you. Trust me it does. AIDS may longer be considered a gay plague, but as the closing credits of this movie remind us all too clearly, even now 6000 people are diagnosed with HIV every single day to increase the present world total of 35 million infected. It still affects as us.

    P.S. The last word goes to Murphy when he simply summed it up after this movie was Premiered in NY. with ‘You were right Larry’. I never thought otherwise.

    The Normal Heart airs on 1st June on Sky Atlantic

     

    BUY The Normal Heart on Amazon

    BUY The Normal Heart on iTunes

  • OPINION: Slam Is The New Snort

    Drug plateaus seem to be getting higher and higher, drug users are striving for the next level of euphoria. Taking shots of paint stripper in one room and slamming (injecting) meow (Mephedrone) in the next.

    Slammers are the black belt of drug users and are usually sneaky, solo, or in a syndicate when using. However, recently I have noticed a change in that people who inject find the practice quite normal and on occasion have even peacocked the process in front of others at house parties.

     

    Back at the Doll House (my debauchery den, aka Home). I allowed (very polite of them to ask in the first place) someone at a party to inject heroin on the condition that I could watch.

     

    Is that sick?

     

    Probably.

     

    My agreement only came from a selfish scheme to see it for the first time up close. I had such a fascination with the process, definitely an intrigue- But I knew with my existing addictions at the time, that really would have been the end of me.

     

    Friends or people that I know who have tried slamming have not been able to get the same rush from the things they were able to once before (snorting etc). One even saying that after injecting meow, there had been a pandora’s box after-effect of wanting to smash and grab any substance that was available to them when on the mission of destination trash.

     

    Perhaps Pandora’s box is too glamorous a term in this instance. Can of worms is probably more appropriate. On the subject of glamour, where do you see any in that tourniquet between your teeth tightening its grip to summon a juicy vein? (A slammer once told me I had beautiful veins… sorry what?). Where is the attraction of bruised and sliced arms that conjures others concern until you falsely blame your vicious bitchy cat, or that notorious door?

     

    It put me right off my special K breakfast watching someone’s skin literally crawling and quivering like something out of a sci-fi horror as they were coming up after injecting meow.

     

    They proceeded to be vacant for the next hour or so. We watched him in horror praying that we wouldn’t all of a sudden come out of a K-hole and realise we had in fact been staring at our reflections all along. Someone that slams, or anyone for that matter may ask me, how can you be so critical when you have never tried it? My immediate answer would be “I do not want to die”. What I’m really saying is, “I am a drug snob”. Both are not really valid answers. Drug users, especially those with dependence are delusional about death. Thinking it won’t happen to them because they use responsibly, or they have done the research on statistics and actually it’s alcohol that kills more people per year- anything they can scrounge to justify a few more weekends, months, years of partying. I was (somehow) able to justify continuing snorting shortly after coming to from passing out and hyperventilating. I have spent far too much time attempting to justify my drug use. I was actually really shocked when I was told / witnessed people injecting meow at parties. I just didn’t see the point in it. If the gay scene didn’t have a bad enough drug reputation with the likes of GHB, it certainly will soon with the injection of meow, and in some instances, heroin. GHB (after taking too much) and injecting substances both have really anti-social effects. You may as well be in a room on your own.

    The BBC published a story recently on Brighton & Hove potentially soon to create drug-use room facilities(“shooting galleries”), where trained health workers observe and monitor the user during the process, which proves the severity of the city’s problem if we are the pilot.

     

    Did you know that the average age now for someone to try heroin is 21?! The World Health Organisation has also stated on average, injecting drugs causes one out of every ten new HIV infections.

     

    I suppose my concern is that if we are becoming familiar with injecting drugs such as meow, and for young adults to enter the club / party / after party scenes and seeing this going on around them, this will become another part of our and their normality. Your defences are down under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and I will openly say that when slamming has been going on around me, my finger has hovered above the “f**k it” button.

     

    However some people may not have the fortunate outcome that I did, and they could end up hitting that button and injecting. And if you’ve already injected meow then why the hell not have a go at heroin?

     

    Recreational / regular users may have boundaries of where they would and wouldn’t go with drugs, but those can easily become open to question (or justified).

     

    June 26th is “World Drug Day” – A day dedicated to raising awareness of the global drug problem and illicit trafficking. This world will never be free of drugs, but what we can welcome is knowledge, and strength to keep it out of our social circles- with our next generation in mind. I would certainly not allow someone to inject in my home ever again and am annoyed at myself for allowing that to happen in the first place. I am all for these drug-use rooms Brighton & Hove may be installed as they are aiming to keep injecting separate, off the streets, and out of sight from others.

     

    Unfortunately, it’s likely that most reading this will have known or known of someone that has died through drugs- I will be remembering those that I have known on June 26th.

     

    If you’re affected by the subject of this article you can call the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard on 0300 330 0630 or visit Frank

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • Commentary | Turning Back the Clock on HIV

    Growing Old with HIV

    Life expectancy has increased remarkably in HIV+ people. This is due to the improved efficacy of antiretroviral drugs. However, according to a recently published article, “Inflammatory Co-morbidities in HIV+ Individuals: Learning Lessons from Healthy Ageing” by lead authors Dr Anna Hearps and Professor Suzanne Crowe at the Burnet Institute in Australia, this comes with a price [1].

    “Increased life expectancy in HIV+ individuals has uncovered an increased risk of acquiring age-related conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, neurocognitive decline, osteoporosis and frailty.”

    The authors linked these conditions to inflammation that causes premature ageing of the immune system. The immune system of young HIV+ people resembles that of uninfected elderly people.

    Where Does Inflammation Come From?
    Damage to the lining of the intestine during HIV infection is thought to cause leaking of bacterial products into the blood stream and this contributes to inflammation. Chronic Inflammation is a feature of ageing and is recognised as the driving force behind many age-related diseases. HIV infected individuals have high levels of inflammation even in those receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and who have undetectable viral load. In fact, as shown in the Data collection on Adverse events of Anti-HIV Drugs (DAD) study [2], a non-smoking HIV+ person on ART and a long-term smoker face the same health risk of developing heart disease.

    Therapies
    Preventing or treating inflammatory diseases by reducing inflammation seems an obvious approach. Unfortunately, as there is no “magic bullet” pill, healthy lifestyle choices remain the most effective way to control inflammation. Low-dose aspirin (baby aspirin) is commonly used as a preventative strategy for heart attack in the general population. The medical world holds its breath for results from a large Australian study (ASPREE) that has been evaluating the efficacy of low-dose aspirin treatment over a 5 year period, in preventing age-related conditions in 19,000 elderly individuals. Other drugs such as statins and hydroxychloroquine have been evaluated, but adding yet another drug to the already complex HIV regimen is not an inviting prospect for those already on a cocktail of pills. Furthermore, the long-term effects of these drugs are unknown. Some evidence suggests that probiotics and a Mediterranean diet could be beneficial although more studies are warranted.

    The Future
    The majority of studies conducted examined a limited number of biomarkers that consistently show a strong relationship with several age-related co-morbidities and therefore may have diagnostic potential. The main challenge that remains is to understand how these association studies can pinpoint the mechanisms involved in these clinical manifestations to engender novel therapeutics to delay the onset of pre-mature ageing in the HIV+ population. Most importantly, these novel strategies should be long lasting, perhaps once per week or once per month, to limit additional pill burden.

    References
    1. Hearps A.C, Martin G.E, Rajasuriar R, Crowe S.M: Inflammatory Co-morbidities in HIV+ Individuals: Learning Lessons from Healthy Ageing. Current HIV/AIDS Reports (2014).
    2. Friis-Moller N, Thiebaut R, Reiss P, Weber R, Monforte A.D, De Wit S, El-Sadr W, Fontas E, Worm S, Kirk O, et al: Predicting the risk of cardiovascular disease in HIV-infected patients: the data collection on adverse effects of anti-HIV drugs study. European journal of cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation : official journal of the European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Epidemiology & Prevention and Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology (2010), 17:491-501.

    About the author
    Dr Clovis Palmer heads the Immunometabolism research team at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne, Australia. He recently identified a new subset of immune cells and is the first to show that HIV affects the way CD4 T cells use energy – a discovery that could revolutionize the prognosis and treatment of people infected with HIV. He frequently speaks at The International AIDS Society/AIDS conferences and is a guest editor and reviewer for several top ranked scientific journals. He is the Founder of Natural Immunity-Health, a scientifically driven organization that promotes a healthy lifestyle in order to combat inflammatory conditions such as HIV and obesity. Dr Palmer’s work has also been featured in The Australian Sydney Morning Herald and The AGE: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/ideas-that-could-change-your-life-20130312-2fxo6.html, and the Star Observer: http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/study-finds-new-route-against-hiv/90705.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • A Re-Think Of HIV And Its Treatment

    A radical re-think is underway in the area of HIV, its prevention and its treatment.

    While we are seeing what feels like an ever increasing reduction in support for LGBT across the world, and something of a religious backlash underway in so-called civilised societies, we are also seeing breakthroughs in treatments and therapies for HIV, provided the people who need it are given access to the treatments.

    A consortium of groups including the European Aids Treatment Group (EATG), Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and the National Aids Manual (NAMS) issued a joint statement on 27/12/2014 to encourage, almost demand the basic human rights of individuals to choose their treatment – especially in terms of preventative treatments.

    Their statement calls for the choice to start treatment belonging to the individual concerned, and not the state, doctor or charity. This is so that treatment is seen as a benefit to the individual, and not to aid anyone else or further their agenda. HIV treatment has been proven to increase life expectancy and should be available to anyone who wants or needs it, without social stigma or fear of legal reprisals.

    The above is true in certain regimes – Greece in 2012 introduced mandatory testing for some women, in 2013 it was re-introduced and gave the police the right to stop anyone they suspect of being HIV+ and forcibly testing them. Botswana is another country currently considering mandatory testing. Add these to the recent legislative changes in Russia and these measures can only serve to drive HIV underground and prevent those who need treatment from obtaining it.

    Repressive regimes have shown time and time again that their stance against LGBT is linked to HIV, and as a result the most vulnerable in their societies are denied basic healthcare and endanger the global fight against HIV and its spread. Some of the worst regimes (Russia/Ukraine) have some of the lowest proportion of people on treatment, but the highest mortality rates.

    Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) has been shown to decrease the chances of passing the disease by 96%, as one of the biggest issues facing someone HIV+ is the risk of passing the disease to someone else. ART has been proven to effectively render the patient non-infectious. This doesn’t negate the need for standard prevention (condoms, etc) but goes a long way towards that day.

    The recent statement release by this consortium is simply that – a statement that shows the common sense approach on offer there – but one that is constantly under threat from narrow minded legislation that will, inevitably, do more damage than good.

    As the statement says, ART itself will not end the epidemic, but it is an essential component. I am no expert in this field, and more than willing to listen to anyone who is – I grew up alongside this disease, have lost friends and lovers to it and the prospect of it getting hold of newer generations when we have, within our grasp, the tools to help eradicate it, is nonsensical and abhorrent.

    Go over to the site and add your voice. If you have questions, ask them, get this topic back on the agenda and up for discussion, alongside the erosion of LGBT rights worldwide. But don’t forget, HIV is a virus that hits people, not sexualities!

    You can see and sign the statement at:

    www.HIVt4p.org

  • Gay and Bi Men In Norwich Urged To Wrap It Up

    Rise in syphilis cases among gay and bisexual men in the Norwich area.

    (more…)

  • HIV returns to bone marrow transplant “cured” men

    There’s been a setback in the fight against HIV today as two men who were previously “cured” of the virus after a Bone Marrow Transplant have had to go back on to their medications.

    In July we reported that two men in the US had been effectively ‘cured’ of HIV after the pair had a bone marrow transplant, which seemingly cleared the virus from their bodies.

    Previously Doctors at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, had cautiously announced that two men, who had a long history with HIV were effectively ‘cured’ of the virus. However today The Boston Globe reported that the two men had both tested positive for HIV again.

    The unnamed patients both had bone marrow transplants – and were asked to come off their medications to work out whether it had been the transplant or the medications that had kept their virus at undetectable levels.

    Read more at The Boston Globe

  • Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves Returns Tonight At BBC

    Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves Returns Tonight At BBC

    BBC 4 will be showing part 2 of the short mini-series Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves, tonight at 10:00PM

    (more…)

  • TV REVIEW | Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves

    TV REVIEW | Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves

    ★★★★★  Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves | A man lies dying alone in a solitary hospital room. Two nurses, wearing protective clothing from head to foot are dressing his sores and wounds.

    (more…)