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An estimated 1.2 million Americans have HIV, which attacks the immune system and, unless treated with antiviral drugs, develops into AIDS, a fatal condition in which the body cannot fight off infections. A panel of The Food and Drug Administration advisers voted recently to recommend that Truvada, which was created by Gilead Sciences, should be approved as a preventative treatment for people who are at high risk of contracting HIV through sexual intercourse. If Truvada is approved, it would be a key breakthrough in the 30-year fight against AIDS. There have been no other drugs proven to prevent HIV and a vaccine is believed to be decades away. However, while the panel of FDA advisers backed the pill, concerns were raised over whether the wide availability of the drug would discourage safe sex and would, in fact, increase the incidence of HIV. The panel also questioned Truvada's effectiveness in women because studies have shown that when used by women the rates of protection were lower. Gilead Sciences Inc, based in California, has marketed Truvada since 2004 as a treatment for people who are infected with the virus. The medication is a combination of two older HIV drugs, Emtriva and Viread. Doctors usually prescribe the medications as part of a drug cocktail that makes it harder for the virus to reproduce. Patients with low viral levels have reduced symptoms and are far less likely to develop AIDS. Researchers first reported that Truvada could prevent people from contracting HIV in 2010. A three-year study found that daily doses cut the risk of infection in healthy gay and bisexual men by 44 percent, when accompanied by condoms and counselling. A separate study found that Truvada reduced infection by 75 percent in heterosexual couples in which one partner was infected with HIV and the other was not. Because Truvada is already on the market to manage HIV, some doctors already prescribe it as a preventive measure. But FDA approval would allow Gilead Sciences to formally market its drug for that use. Some patient advocacy groups say the drug is an important new option to prevent HIV, alongside condoms, counseling and other measures. Additionally, some researchers say the prevention pill is not the chemical equivalent of condoms, which they say remain the best weapon against AIDS. Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk | | |
| The following are insights of a registered psychotherapist with more than 25 years of couples counselling experience:
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A ‘NORMAL’ MARRIAGEShe has seen relationships where one partner is gay, others where the pair never have sex and others where the partners have separate homes and take separate holidays. She saw one couple who took a year-long sabbatical from each other. These set-ups would be unacceptable to many, but if something works, then who’s to say it’s not ‘normal’? IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MUCH SEX YOU'RE HAVING Everyone thinks everyone else is having more sex than they are. Despite the myths we are bombarded with, there are plenty of couples she has seen who have sex once a fortnight, once a month or once every three or even six months. The important thing is that both partners are happy with their situation. YOU AREN'T THAT SHOCKING There will always be another couple with more outrageous problems than yours. She saw one couple in their 40s where the wife discovered her husband dressed as a woman. She was ashamed and embarrassed, but in the end, they agreed that every Thursday she’d go out with friends and he could do his thing. It’s all about compromise. COMMUNICATE One woman thought she was a great communicator because she ‘spoke her mind’. In fact, she was aggressive and insensitive. Her husband had an affair — it was the only way he could get through to her. In most cases of infidelity, the couple has deep-rooted communication problems. Try listening in a way that’s neither too passive nor aggressive. SAVING YOUR RELATIONSHIP The key is whether you both want to save it. This is the single most important thing determining how successful counselling will be. Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk | | |
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Thousands of heart attack survivors are too worried to have sex because they fear it will trigger another attack. The myth that sex is a dangerous activity for heart patients is blighting their sex lives, only about one per cent of all heart attacks occur during sex. Researchers blame doctors for not talking to patients about when they can safely resume sexual activity which leaves them in limbo. A new study suggests more than half of men and two thirds of women don’t get any advice on sex when they leave hospital. This makes them up to 40 per cent more likely to have a non-existent sex life a year later, say researchers. Just two in five men and one in four women talked to their doctor about sex in the year following the attack. The findings from a US study of 1,879 people who survived heart attacks after hospital treatment are published in the American Journal of Cardiology. But experts say it is a common problem affecting heart attack survivors who need reassurance that a sex life doesn’t have to be a thing of the past. In contrast, men who didn’t get such advice were 30 per cent more likely to report a loss of sexual activity during the year while women were 40 per cent more at risk. There are 124,000 heart attacks in the UK each year. Of these, more than 50,000 take place in adults under 75 years. Medical advice to patients says it’s safe to have sex around the time when they are resuming normal physical activities. Research suggests the risk of a heart attack resulting from sex in heart patients is extremely low. Without counselling, patients are left to make their own, often flawed, assumptions about risk associated with sexual activity at least with their usual partner. In reality, only about one per cent of all heart attacks occur during sex. Far less than 1 per cent of heart attack survivors die due to a sexual encounter, according to other research. Current guidelines developed by groups of leading cardiologists state that stable heart patients without complications can resume sexual activity with their usual partner within one week to 10 days. Earlier this year a report from the American Heart Association said if patients can engage in moderate exercise such as walking up a couple of flights of stairs, they are generally healthy enough for sex. Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk | | |
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The ingredient that gives hot sauce its heat could play a role in the future of weight loss, say scientists. Unfortunately it's not as simple as simply eating more chilies at dinner. Instead the ingredient capsaicin, which gives peppers their burning sensation, has been used to improve a slimming surgery technique. Scientists at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston were studying whether they could find an alternative to vagotomy where the vagus nerve that connects the gut and the brain is cut. The surgery, which is used to treat ulcers, has the added benefit of reducing the risk of obesity-related diseases. However, it has never been used specifically for weight-loss due to the number of possible side-effects such as delayed gastric emptying. A team, led by Dr Ali Tavakkoli, analysed an alternative technique called vagal de-afferentation using obese rats. Rather than remove the vagal nerve completely, surgeons use capsaicin to destroy only certain nerve fibres. They found this type of surgery reduced the amount of 'beer belly' fat which pads out the space between abdominal organs by seven per cent over 11 months compared to the control rats. Although a vagotomy achieved a 19 per cent reduction in fat in rats it was associated with far more side-effects. The researchers note that more work needs to be done on whether these surgeries can be used on humans, and whether capsaicin could be applied directly to human vagal fibres. The study results, however, provide promise of what the future can hold. The study is published in the May issue of Digestive Diseases and Sciences. Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk | | |
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