NAPWA

It can cause crippling pain in your hands and feet. It’s called peripheral neuropathy and almost a third of us with HIV have it in some form. But NEIL McKELLAR-STEWART may have found some relief. read more »

We may be moving towards an era when treating HIV earlier becomes the norm, but it appears that many still don’t understand the benefits of treatment; and how far HIV medicine has come. read more »

Summer has arrived with the promise of long days of sunshine. Vicky Fisher finds these energising sun salutations (surya namaskar) are a good way to link the breath with movement while also loosening up, toning and stretching muscles, joints and internal organs. read more »

It’s official. The benefits associated with stopping smoking start immediately after you stub out your last cigarette and steadily increase over time.

Dr Kathy Petoumenos from the Kirby Institute used information gathered from the 33,308 HIV positive patients enrolledThe act of signing up participants into a study. Generally this process involves evaluating a participant with respect to the eligibility criteria of the study and going through the informed consentThe process of learning the key facts about a clinical trial before deciding whether or not to participate. It is also a continuing process throughout the study to provide information for participants. To help someone decide whether or not to participate, the doctors and nurses involved in the trial explain the details of the study. process. in the international Data Collection on Adverse Events of Anti-HIV Drugs (D:A:D) study. read more »

According to the Canadian Observational CohortIn epidemiologyThe branch of medical science that deals with the study of incidence and distribution and control of a disease in a population., a group of individuals with some characteristics in common. A cohort study is a special kind of clinical trialA clinical trial is a research study to answer specific questions about vaccines or new therapies or new ways of using known treatments. Clinical trials are used to determine whether new drugs or treatments are both safe and effective. Carefully conducted clinical trials are the fastest and safest way to find treatments that work in people. Trials are in four phases: Phase I tests a new drug or treatment in a small group; Phase II expands the study to a larger group of people; Phase III expands the study to an even larger group of people; and Phase IV takes place after the drug or treatment has been licensed and marketed. which looks at a treatment or treatment strategy in a cohort of people. collaboration, abacavir (ABC) or tenofovir (TDF) are equally effective in first-line treatment.

The authors found that in their group of treatment-naive patients starting treatment, there was no difference in time to suppression with ABC/3TC (Kivexa) versus TDF/FTC (Truvada). read more »

A new, once-daily, lower dose of the protease inhibitorA type of anti-HIV drug that works by preventing the production of an enzyme, protease, that HIV needs to replicate. darunavir (Prezista) is available on the PBS[Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme[Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] The federal government program which subsidises medication costs in Australia. Anti-HIV drugs are part of a special part of the PBS called Section 100 (S100) which is used for expensive, highly specialised drugs.] The federal government program which subsidises medication costs in Australia. Anti-HIV drugs are part of a special part of the PBS called Section 100 (S100) which is used for expensive, highly specialised drugs. from 1 December.

To date, the recommended dose has been 600mg taken twice-a-day along with 100mg of ritonavir. But this new daily dose is just 800mg boosted with a single dose of ritonavir.

The lower dosage of both drugs appears to have a much better side effectAn unwanted effect caused by the administration of drugs. Onset may be sudden or develop over time. profile. read more »

Following discussions between the Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the Consumers Health Forum (CHF) and other industry representatives, the government has agreed that all the medicines deferred by Cabinet in February will now be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme[Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] The federal government program which subsidises medication costs in Australia. Anti-HIV drugs are part of a special part of the PBS called Section 100 (S100) which is used for expensive, highly specialised drugs. effective from 1 December 2011. read more »

At the conference, Julian Elliot from The Burnet Institute in Melbourne spoke of our ‘combo-prevention future’, where a successful vaccine and cure could potentially end the epidemic. read more »

Dr Mark Bloch from Holdsworth House in Sydney presented the 48-week results of the combined ECHO and THRIVE studies which determined that the new NNRTI rilpivirine (RPV) is as effective as efavirenz (EFV) for first-line treatment.

Everyone in the studies received a nucleoside backbone to their treatment – in ECHO it was Truvada, in THRIVE it was tenfovir/3TC or abacavir/3TC. read more »