The Washington Blade; Friday, February 28, 1997
Lisa Keen

Researchers at Stanford University reported last week that a drug used to treat overdoses of Tylenol and other acetaminophen painkillers might help people with HIV to live longer.

According to Reuter news service, the researchers told a conference of immunologists meeting in San Francisco that they found that patients with HIV who had normal levels of a molecule called gluthathione survive longer than those with lower levels. They said that daily doses of a drug called N-acetylcysteine (NAC), used to treat overdoses of acetaminophen, could boost a patient's gluthathione levels to normal. But they stopped short of recommending such therapy, saying research is still needed to confirm their findings.

The Reuter report noted, however, that NAC is a nontoxic dietary supplement and quoted one of the researchers as saying it "is not likely to hurt you."

The report also noted that the Stanford research suggests Tylenol and other acetaminophen drugs may be hazardous for people with HIV.

**NIAID gives indinavir-AZT-3TC a nod

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases issued a press release Monday saying its latest data shows the combination of indinavir-AZT-3TC is "significantly more effective" than just AZT-3TC alone in reducing opportunistic infections in people with advanced HIV disease.

The news is not startling. Reports for months have indicated that triple-drug combinations that include a protease inhibitor appear to work better than two-drug combinations using just nucleoside analogs like AZT and d4T. This study, said NIAID director Anthony Fauci, "provides additional evidence that combination approaches using protease inhibitors can reduce the risk of death."

**New resource guide for finding help

The HIV Community Coalition (HCC) has just released an impressive new "Resource Manual" to help local people with HIV find a clinic, a dentist, medicine, home health care, transportation, a massage, a buddy, a pet sitter, a place to live -- just about everything. The booklet includes 50 pages of easy-to-scan, well-organized, and useful information on where to find and how to contact more than 100 local AIDS service providers in the D.C. area.

HCC is a nonprofit community based membership group (membership is $15 or whatever you can afford) to help people with HIV in a wide variety of ways. One quick offer of help comes in HCC's own hotline, 1 (800) 558-AIDS (the TTY is 1-800-PWA-DEAF). Those interested can also call this number to request a copy of the booklet. The Resource Guide is also available at HCC's Web site: http://www.hccmetrodc.org.

**Home testing called 'safe and effective'

For the second time in two months, research has shown that home testing for HIV infection appears to be safe and effective.

In the Feb. 10 Archives of Internal Medicine, a team of AIDS researchers and physicians from around the country reported that a study of 1,255 people using the Home Access Express test kit found that 98 percent had collected a "testable" blood sample for processing.

Last month, the Direct Access Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, reported the same success rate for its test kit, Confide. Both tests have also proven to be very accurate, prompting an accompanying editorial to encourage their use. The editorial noted that only about 60 percent of Gay men know their HIV status.

Both tests are available at local pharmacies.

In brief ...

MARIJUANA: A panel of medical experts convened last week by the National Institutes of Health urged NIH to fund research to clarify the medicinal benefits of smoking marijuana. The Clinton administration said in January it would spend about $1 million to have the independent Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences do such a study. Meanwhile, on Feb. 14, the Internal Revenue Service issued a ruling saying that patients may not deduct the cost of medicinal marijuana as a medical expense.

GENITAL HERPES: A study from the University of New Mexico has found that 90 percent of women who took 250mg of famciclovir twice daily during genital herpes outbreaks were "recurrence free" after four months, compared to 48 percent of patients on placebo.

The study was reported in the Feb. 10 Archives of Internal Medicine.

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