Health : Health Buzz: Early HIV Treatment Protects Partners

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Health Buzz: Early HIV Treatment Protects Partners Posted: 13 May 2011 07:30 AM PDT Study: Early HIV Treatment Protects Against Virus Spread Treating HIV infections right away, before patients are too sick, could lower their chances of spreading the AIDS virus to sexual partners—averting millions of infections. So suggests a major international study supported by the National Institutes of Health that could convince doctors and healthcare policymakers to offer medication sooner. In a trial of 1,763 couples with one infected partner, those who started oral antiretroviral drugs immediately upon diagnosis were 96 percent less likely to transmit the AIDS-causing virus to their uninfected partner than those who started therapy later, according to preliminary findings announced Thursday. The study began in 2005 and was expected to continue through 2015, but the results were so clear that researchers stopped four years ahead of schedule. Since HIV drugs are expensive—$12,000 or more a year—and can cause side effects like nausea and liver damage, patients often don't start treatment until they're far sicker. "This breakthrough is a serious game changer and will drive the prevention revolution forward," Michel Sidibé, the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, said in a press statement. "It makes HIV treatment a new priority prevention option." Don't Ignore the Symptoms: Sexual Problems, STDs Affect Millions Condom Use Lowest...Among Adults Over 40? 10 HIV/AIDS Beliefs—Which Ones Are True? As if waging war against an incurable virus that plagues 33 million people globally weren't enough, researchers, doctors, and public health officials continue to battle yet another elusive problem: misinformation. "It really does obstruct the fight," says Rowena Johnston, vice president and director of research at amfAR, a nonprofit that funds HIV/AIDS research. Broaching topics like sex and drug use­­—the major vehicles for transmission—is "taboo" for many, she says, "so a challenge certainly is getting people to talk openly and honestly about what HIV is and isn't." And part of a candid conversation, she says, should be devoted to debunking the myths many have come to believe, including the following: 1. If I had HIV, I would know. Not the case, says Kimberly Hagen, assistant director for the Center for AIDS Research at Emory University in Atlanta. About 1.1 million people in the United States are HIV-positive, and as many as 1 in 5 don't know it, estimates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of them feel perfectly healthy. And those who have symptoms may confuse them with run-of-the-mill flu. Denial also plays a role, say experts. "There is a universal tendency with HIV," says Hagen, to try to say, "'This is something that will affect someone else and not me.' And so you say that you can't get it doing the things that you do—you can only get it doing the things that other people do. That may be the biggest myth." 2. I don't have to worry because I'm not in a high-risk group. While prostitutes, men who have sex with men, and needle sharers are considered at high risk by the CDC, the virus is an equal-opportunity bug. "Many people don't perceive themselves to be at risk and so don't understand why testing is important," says Joel Gallant, associate director of the AIDS Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. One example: Heterosexuals account for a third of new HIV transmissions each year, the CDC reports, and a woman might not know her male partner has slept with men in the past or has shared needles with an infected user. Monogamous relationships don't guarantee absolute safety unless you've both been tested and are HIV-negative. In rare instances, women who have sex with women can pass on the virus. And the number of people 50 and older living with HIV/AIDS is on the rise, partly due to newly diagnosed infections, says Paul Weidle, acting chief of the epidemiology branch in the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. There are no hallmark characteristics to watch out for, no physical attribute that will "set off an alarm in your head saying 'this person has HIV,'" says Hagen. [Read more: 10 HIV/AIDS Beliefs—Which Ones Are True?] A Young Woman's Battle With HIV A Caution About Rapid HIV Testing Don't Ignore the Symptoms: Sexual Problems, STDs Affect Millions Since sexually transmitted diseases often are announced only by nonspecific signs (like abdominal pain and fever), they may easily be mistaken for other illnesses. That's not good, experts say: Certain STDs, undiagnosed and untreated, can wreak havoc, bringing serious and even life-threatening consequences. Here's a list of serious STDs—and one that's just a nuisance: 1. Chlamydia. Nicknamed the "silent disease," chlamydia often does its damage unnoticed; indeed, it produces virtually no symptoms in about half the men and three quarters of the women who get it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that can mean trouble, especially for women: Infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and dangerous ectopic pregnancies can result if the infection isn't stopped with antibiotics. While men rarely experience complications, the infection can spread to the tube that shuttles sperm, leading to pain, fever, and a remote chance of sterility. Once a woman has been infected with chlamydia, she is up to five times more likely to contract HIV if exposed to the virus. To avoid serious problems, the CDC urges—at a minimum—annual screening tests for all sexually active women ages 25 and under, as well as tests for all pregnant women. A mother's untreated chlamydia infections can invade a newborn's eyes and respiratory tract, which is why it's the leading cause of pink eye and pneumonia in infants, according to the CDC. [Read more: Don't Ignore the Symptoms: Sexual Problems, STDs Affect Millions.] Seniors: More Sex, More STDs? Rise in Sexually Transmitted Diseases Poses Biggest Risk to Young Women This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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