Washington Blade - November 15, 2002

WASHINGTON - The government approved a new 20-minute HIV test Nov. 7 that promises on-the-spot diagnosis of the AIDS virus, according to the Associated Press. Most previous HIV tests take days to provide results, and at least 8,000 people a year who test positive never return for the news. Federal AIDS experts said the OraQuick test will help thousands seek treatment and help to dampen the spread of the disease. To use OraQuick, a health worker puts a spot of blood into a vial with developing solution and dips in the sticklike testing device like common pregnancy tests. The test provides results with 99.6 percent accuracy, the FDA said. AIDS activists said a rapid test easy enough for social workers would increase testing availability, but for now it is offered only by certified health workers because of a law that requires a federal waiver, Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said. Manufacturer OraSure Technologies Inc. has not asked for the waiver, but Thompson urged the company to do so.

Gay sheep could explain biology of gays, report asserts

WASHINGTON - Male sheep that mate exclusively with other males have different brain structures from other sheep, U.S. researchers have found, according to Reuters Health. The differences are similar to those seen in some gay humans, but probably don't fully explain the causes of sexual orientation, the team at Oregon Health & Science University said. "Whether this is a big component of what contributes in humans, that's still debatable," said Charles Roselli, who led the study. "There have been reports in humans that a certain area of the hypothalamus ... was found to be larger in heterosexual men than in homosexual men," Roselli said. "With an animal model you can be more selective and do more controlled studies. In a sense, we confirmed what been found in humans." The brain cells in this area of heterosexual rams also made greater amounts of an enzyme called aromatase, which is active with the hormone testosterone. Roselli said exposure to hormones while still in the mother's womb may affect the brain and cause differences in sexual orientation. More experiments will continue, he added.

San Fran voters approve exploration of medical marijuana program

SAN FRANCISCO - Some 63 percent of voters here approved a measure Nov. 5 pushing city officials to explore the establishment of a marijuana growing and distribution program for medical treatment, according to the Associated Press. The ballot proposal was the first of its kind in the country. "I think it speaks very strongly to the city's interest in pursuing the idea further," said supervisor Mark Leno, who proposed the measure. It does not mean that San Francisco will immediately start growing marijuana, but gives officials the right to probe it. Leno said the next steps are the formation of a research committee to make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors within a year. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, but legal under California law if it's part of a medical treatment. It is likely that federal officials would try to shutter any program the city approved.

Many HIV patients change meds over side effects, report shows

NEW YORK - Within a given year, more than 10 percent of HIV-positive patients skip doses of their medications, change the dosage or cease treatment because of ill side effects without a doctor's supervision, according to a new study in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiencies. Dr. Katherine Heath of the Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver said that patients who change their own regimen can actually increase the virus's ability to resist treatment because traces of the remaining virus may contain mutations, according to Reuters Health. "So when it comes back, it comes back big," Heath said. The researcher noted that the overall number of patients who change their treatment is likely larger than the estimate.

Gates gives $100 million to fight AIDS in India

NEW DELHI, India - Microsoft Chair Bill Gates visited people with AIDS on Monday and pledged $100 million to fight the spread of the disease in India, according to the Associated Press. "It's a very brave thing to speak out, and it's a problem that needs a lot of brave people," Gates told Naveen Kumar, an HIV-positive man who told him how he has been rejected by public-health facilities in India. The monetary grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest given by the foundation to a country for AIDS. Indian officials criticized Gates when he cited a recent U.S. National Intelligence Council report predicting the number of HIV-infections in India will rise 500 percent by 2010. Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha, who will chair the board overseeing the grant, described the projections as "completely inaccurate." Gates has been criticized by Indian AIDS prevention workers, who accuse him of siding with a report that they said lacks evidence.

From staff and wire reports

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