This article stems from our recent experience covering a large AIDS conference in Washington, D.C. About a thousand people attended, including about 20 AIDS treatment activists from several cities. In such situations, activists sometimes meet before the conference to share information about what is hot, what is new and
Persons with T-helper counts under 50 who have a sudden weakness in the legs -- especially if there is any loss of bladder control -- should get medical attention immediately to see if they have a neurological CMV infection called CMV polyradiculopathy. If so, they need to start treatment immediately with ganciclovir (
IL-12, a newly-discovered substance which is naturally present in the body in small amounts, has been found to restore certain immune responses which are diminished or lost in HIV infection.(1) This result, recently published by researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, was found in cells of HIV-positive donor
The debilitations of HIV are not always physical. Many people with HIV infection experience mental and emotional troubles that may contribute to the decline of their physical health, and yet be missed by physicians who are trained to focus on tangible illness. Like physical disease, however, psychiatric symptoms are of
The following is a directory of AIDS activist groups, buyers clubs, and PWA coalitions. It includes local and regional contacts for individuals who want to get involved with AIDS activism or for those seeking experimental treatments or community support services. We have only listed phone numbers we could verify; some
Where is AIDS treatment activism heading for the future? We see several themes. (1) If mainstream research continues steps toward improvement, the slow shift from confrontation toward other kinds of advocacy will continue. The key to getting things done is the professional consensus of physicians, researchers, and offi
Two separate trials of novel KS treatments are now recruiting at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda, Maryland. One is testing Taxol, which is best known as a treatment for ovarian cancer. Another is testing TNP-470, one of a new class of drugs which works by inhibiting blood vessel growth, when such growth
New drugs and drug combinations are providing some serious ammunition for treating an infection that was once counted among the most elusive of opportunistic diseases, Mycobacterium avium complex ( MAC ). MAC is an umbrella description of a number of strains of mycobacteria that many people with low CD4 cell counts can
In a potentially important laboratory study published December 1, a research team at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School found that two different drugs (the Tat inhibitor recently abandoned by Hoffmann-La Roche [Ro 24-7429], and pentoxifylline, a prescription drug) worked much better together in a l
In a major new effort to overcome the obstacles to effective AIDS drug development, a high-level task force including government agencies, the pharmaceutical industry, other physicians and scientists, and the AIDS community, will recommend and implement ways to avoid past roadblocks and streamline the discovery and tes
Poppers are nitrite inhalants, originally made for treating certain heart conditions, which came to be used as sexual stimulants in the gay community. Due to concern about the dangers of long-term use, especially by people with HIV, they were banned by Federal law in 1988 (amended in 1990, to specify a broader class o
In the U.S. and some other countries, AIDS activists have influenced official policies, to the great benefit of people with AIDS. But there have been little international grassroots advocacy -- coordinated efforts by activists in different countries to work with the foreign-policy arms of their own governments, and/or
The Tenth International Conference on AIDS will take place in Yokohama, Japan , August 7-12, 1994. It will be the first time this meeting, the major AIDS conference of the year, is held in Asia. Researchers who are preparing submissions should note that the deadline for abstracts is February 28, 1994 -- and abstracts m
A small Canadian company, Allelix Biopharmaceuticals, is embarking on initial human safety trials of a new kind of compound that inhibits the action of HIV s tat gene. A single-dose test of human tolerance of the substance will take place in Canada this fall. HIV s tat, or transactivator, gene regulates the replication
Isis Pharmaceuticals of Carlsbad, California is set to begin initial human trials of a radically new drug to treat CMV retinitis. CMV ( cytomegalovirus ) retinitis causes blindness if left untreated; it eventually infects the retinas of 20 percent or more of people with advanced AIDS.
With a particularly severe flu season predicted, Forest Pharmaceuticals of St. Louis has received FDA approval to market a new drug aimed specifically at the influenza A virus. The new drug, rimantadine (brand name: Flumadine), supplements an older anti-influenza medication, amantadine. Both drugs are believed to be ab
Severe weight loss is a common and serious problem in people with advanced AIDS. Its relation to mortality has long been noted. Four years ago, an article by Donald Kotler, M.D., and colleagues(1) described a nutritional assessment of 32 deceased AIDS patients. The investigators found that these persons final weight wa
Due to the great number of requests for the Jon Greenberg Library of Alternative Treatments for HIV Disease -- which contains more than 2,000 pages of documentation -- AIDS Project Los Angeles will no longer be able to send copies free. Instead, APLA will now charge $30 for the complete library. (For a description of t
IL-2 (Proleukin), which is now an approved drug used in cancer treatment, is a substance found in the body which stimulates the growth of T-cells, among other effects. Early efforts to use IL-2 in HIV treatment, to increase the T- helper count, were not very successful. Recently there has been more success with an i
This trial is recruiting persons with T-helper count between 50 and 350, who are currently taking AZT and have been taking it for at least three months before their first dose in this trial, and who are symptomatic -- in category B or C of the CDC 1993 Revised Classification System for HIV Infection (meaning that the
The high prices of many prescription drugs create serious obstacles to receiving necessary care, for persons with no health insurance or inadequate insurance. To help respond to this problem, almost every pharmaceutical company of significant size doing business in the U.S. has set up some sort of assistance program fo
Background Accurate blood tests for HIV activity, and for other markers of disease severity or progression, are critically important for developing new drugs. Reliable tests might shorten the time required to show which drugs are good candidates from years to months, allowing many more potential treatments to be tested
The first human trial of an antisense compound for HIV has started in France . On October 13, Hybridon, Inc. of Worcester, Massachusetts, announced that it has begun a single-dose safety study which will test escalating doses of its compound GEM 91 in up to 24 patients. Hybridon is working in collaboration with ANRS, t
A study of HIV-positive intravenous drug users found that those with a vitamin A deficiency (about 15 percent of the HIV-positive persons studied) had a death rate several times as high as those who did not have a vitamin A deficiency. While this study does not prove that correcting the deficiency will improve survival
This winter s flu season is likely to be particularly severe, the U.S. Public Health Service warns. Three to five times the usual 10,000 to 20,000 flu-related deaths may occur. Worse yet, the harsh Beijing strain of influenza that first appeared in February mutated at the end of last year s flu season, and no one is im
The controversy over Army researchers plans to conduct a massive trial of therapeutic vaccines (reported in AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #183) continues on its apparently unstoppable course, exhausting everyone involved. The controversy started a year ago when lobbyists hired by MicroGeneSys Corp. convinced Congress to allocate
The First International Conference on Engineered Vaccines for Cancer and AIDS, which was held in San Francisco at the beginning of the month, was a study in contrasts. On the one hand, increasing skills in genetic engineering allow complex manipulations of micro-organisms that result in a wide array of immune-stimulati
President Clinton s proposal for health care reform will clearly be a major improvement over the current system for people with HIV, cancer, and other major illnesses. But there are also potential problems, and areas not yet clarified. In addition, we do not know what will finally emerge from Congress when Clinton is f
Several years ago, AIDS TREATMENT NEWS decided to seek out the experiences of physicians who had been treating HIV long enough and intensively enough that their opinions might be especially valuable for people living with HIV or AIDS, as well as for researchers and other physicians. Lisa Capaldini, M.D., General Intern
A new protease inhibitor developed by Merck Research Laboratories is beginning its first phase II trial, which will take place at three East Coast sites. L-524 (L-735,524) has been in small human trials since February 1993. In laboratory tests, it gives 95 percent inhibition of HIV spread in cell cultures at concentrat
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #183, September 17, 1993
John S. James
The Treatment Education Program of AIDS Project Los Angeles has published a 46-page booklet, BE GOOD TO YOURSELF: A SELF- CARE MANUAL FOR INMATES LIVING WITH HIV. It focuses on what can be done with treatments which are likely to be accessible to prisoners. These approaches are therefore accessible to most people witho
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #183, September 17, 1993
John S. James
A special issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Life, Death, and the Immune System, now on the newsstands, provides an excellent tutorial and background on how the immune system works. It is especially helpful for giving the background information needed to understand technical discussions of AIDS -- including the technical te
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #183, September 17, 1993
John S. James
A research test (not now available commercially) found Epstein-Barr virus DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid from 17 of 17 patients who were diagnosed at autopsy with primary CNS lymphoma -- but in only 1 of 68 HIV-positive patients without detectable lymphoma at autopsy. The authors concluded that the test was 100 percent
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #183, September 17, 1993
John S. James
A study by physicians at the Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, measured serum potassium levels in 25 patients who were given high-dose TMP-SMX for treatment of pneumocystis, compared with 26 patients not given that drug. They concluded that high-dose TMP-SMX could result in life-threatening hyper
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #183, September 17, 1993
John S. James
Ateviridine (U-87301E) is an experimental drug being developed by Upjohn Laboratories. It is one of the BHAP (bisheteroarylpiperzine) chemicals synthesized by that company and tested for anti-HIV activity. Two BHAP drugs, U- 87301E and U-90152, are now in clinical trials. (U-90152, sometimes called super BHAP, is act
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #183, September 17, 1993
John S. James
The third large trial of AZT , by the European-Australian Collaborative Group, was published in the July 29 New England Journal of Medicine. The results are not new, having been presented in conferences and known to physicians for some time, but the fully peer reviewed publication provides an opportunity for a closer l
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #183, September 17, 1993
John S. James
MEGACE (megestrol acetate), a drug long approved as a palliative treatment for certain cancers, was approved by the FDA on September 10 for treatment of unexplained significant weight loss, or loss of appetite, in persons with AIDS. Because of the large doses used with AIDS (which are inconvenient to take with the MEGA
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #183, September 17, 1993
John S. James
Cosalane, developed by researchers at Purdue University and the U.S. National Cancer Institute, is not yet ready for human testing, but is interesting because it represents a new class of drugs and new ideas for developing an HIV treatment. The work is supported by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Cosalane was devel
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #183, September 17, 1993
John S. James
Three East Coast AIDS organizations are seeking professional and community input on what should be done concerning a bitterly controversial trial of an AIDS treatment vaccine. Decisions must be made quickly; otherwise, the trial will go ahead as currently planned and test only a single vaccine. Neither this outcome, no
[Note: The following article is one of the longest to appear in AIDS TREATMENT NEWS. We publish it not because of any judgment about the value of DNCB in treatment of HIV disease, but because a number of people are now making decisions about whether or not to use this controversial treatment, and they need information.
On August 31, as this issue went to press, the U.S. National Cancer Institute published a request for proposals (from pharmaceutical companies) to develop a new anti-HIV chemical which is generating more than usual interest among those familiar with it. Because of the urgency, applications must be received within two m
Letters and calls to both your U. S. Senators are needed before September 8 to support President Clinton s nominee for U. S. Surgeon General, M. Joycelyn Elders, M. D. Dr. Elders has achieved outstanding results as Arkansas State Health Commissioner, but is now the target of a right-wing campaign against her. The Ameri
The IX International Conference on AIDS, Berlin, June 6-11, 1993, included thousands of presentations. This mass of information is difficult to organize, report, or otherwise know what to do with. But there are some overall organizing principles: * Much, if not most, of the information is unlikely to be useful to anyo
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS sent the following letter to the U. S. Food and Drug Administration in response to its request for public comments on its plans to increase regulation of nutritional supplements and related compounds. This particular public comment period has now passed (see AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #178, July 9, 1993, a
A major epidemiological study published this month suggests that a number of nutrients, whether obtained from food or nutritional supplements, might reduce progression to AIDS in persons with HIV. The study is difficult to interpret, and it does not prove that any nutrient is helpful in preventing progression; to do th
The treatment approach called convergent combination therapy is the combined use of multiple drugs (usually three or more) which all act against the same target in a virus. This differs from the usual approach to combining drugs for treating infection, which is to target different stages in the life cycle of the bacter
The most effective prophylactic [preventive] treatment for avoiding pneumocystis in persons with low T-helper counts is oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX, best known by the brand names Septra, or Bactrim, although less expensive generic versions are available). TMP-SMX also appears to be highly effective for
A high-level meeting on Future Directions in AIDS Research, July 30 and 31 in Madison, Wisconsin, studied how to improve the AIDS research process, especially how to move practical treatment ideas from the laboratory to the clinic. Participants included: David Kessler, M.D., Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Admin
Starting in early July, extensive news reports appeared about possible use of thalidomide in treating certain AIDS patients, including accounts of rapid regaining of normal weight in some cases of wasting syndrome. There is also a new interest in using this drug in treating tuberculosis . Because the reports were po
For people living with HIV, and for physicians treating them, the road to the right medical choices can seem like an information obstacle course. Victories against HIV disease, so far, have not come from a single absolute answer, but rather from an unfolding series of partial answers, of contributory bits of informatio
The National Commission on AIDS, whose authorization expired in September 1993, issued its final report, with two major recommendations: that leaders at all levels must speak out about AIDS to their constituencies, and that we must develop a clear, well-articulated national plan for confronting AIDS. The report include
A July 2 political funeral for AIDS activist Tim Bailey, who had asked in his will to have his body carried from the Capitol to the White House, was disrupted by police, despite extensive legal preparation and, according to funeral organizers, all necessary paperwork. After hours of delays, as police from three jurisdi
An estimated 3,000 people have been cut off from access to peptide T, as buyers clubs across the U.S. have been unable to get supplies. Peptide T, which has been in development for many years (AIDS TREATMENT NEWS first covered it in issue #22, January 16, 1987; it had already been tested in humans at that time) is not
The FDA is planning major changes in how it regulates dietary supplements. The most drastic proposal concerns free-form amino acids, which the FDA wants to make prescription drugs. In a second category, herbs, the FDA is exploring approaches to regulation to assure safety of herbal products. Vitamins and essential mine
Many of those attending the IX International Conference on AIDS in Berlin went away disappointed at the lack of AIDS treatment breakthroughs. Disappointing reports such as the Concorde study of early intervention with AZT , and the apparent failure of the Hoffmann-la Roche tat inhibitor, suggested that, at least superf
The following are two of a number of treatment leads presented at the IX International Conference on AIDS, held in Berlin on June 6-11, 1993. Topotecan Topotecan is a chemical now being tested in patients by SmithKline Beecham as a potential cancer treatment. Its possible use against AIDS was first proposed by research
AIDS Treatment News, Issue No. 177 - June 18, 1993
John S. James
The HIV immigration ban recently passed by Congress and attached to the NIH Reauthorization Act was signed into law by President Clinton on June 10. Clinton opposed the HIV restriction initially, but did not speak actively against it in Congress. Since Clinton could not veto the bill without also vetoing the NIH Reauth
AIDS Treatment News, Issue No. 177 - June 18, 1993
John S. James
It is widely agreed that what is most needed for better AIDS treatment is better drugs -- and that the drug-development strategies of the past have failed to provide them. If the Concorde report at the Berlin conference does lead to a movement among activists and others against AZT an
AIDS Treatment News, Issue No. 177 - June 18, 1993
John S. James
The Concorde trial may be the most influential single presentation at the Berlin conference -- but not because of its data, analysis, or contribution to care. Instead, Concorde is important for prompting rethinking about AIDS, both for better and for worse. Background On April 2, 1993, the medical journal The Lancet pu
AIDS Treatment News, Issue No. 177 - June 18, 1993
John S. James
[Note: Much of our Berlin coverage was not ready for this issue, and will appear later.] For the last nine years, the International Conference on AIDS has been the major scientific meeting of the year. The 1993 conference, June 6-11 in Berlin, was like the others in several ways: * About 12,000 persons attended, about
San Francisco s budget crisis has reached a point at which the public health department s model AIDS care program is seriously threatened. City officials at the mayor s office have insisted all along that preserving AIDS services was a high priority. But even maintaining AIDS services at their current level would be in
A new kind of potential HIV treatment is beginning clinical trials in Boston and Baltimore; the first HIV patient was treated in May 1993. For scientific and safety reasons, this early trial is limited to patients who have T-helper counts between 300 and 600, have not had an opportunistic infection, are not taking anti
Note: Randy Wykoff, M.D., is Director of the FDA s Office of AIDS Coordination, in charge of coordinating all of FDA s AIDS-related activities, including communicating with the public on AIDS issues. The following interview took place on May 5, as a continuation of our interview with David Feigal, M.D., Director of the
[Note: This article consists of three sections: a report on the recent letter by the FDA to AIDS buyers clubs, an interview with Randy Wykoff, M.D., Director of the FDA s Office of AIDS Coordination and signer of the letter, and an editorial. The first two report on the FDA and its viewpoint; community reaction and our
In March 1993, researchers at Harvard Medical School published results of laboratory tests of a new method of screening for potential AIDS drugs.(1) They used genetically engineered cells to test for inhibitors of the LTR (long terminal repeat) sequence in HIV; the LTR is important for viral activation. The new test fo
The Global AIDS Policy Coalition at Harvard University has published AIDS in the World, A Global Report, a 1038-page examination of AIDS from a global perspective. Edited by Jonathan Mann, Daniel J. M. Tarantola, and Thomas W. Netter, each section is written by an expert in that field, offering different, well-informed
Rumors are circulating in the U.S. about enormous AIDS funding cuts in the UK; there has even been talk about people changing their airline tickets to demonstrate in London on the way back from the International Conference in Berlin. A fear has been that British cuts could spread to the U.S. and begin a worldwide retre
Note: We received this information after the articles above had gone to press. Each year s International Conference on AIDS is divided into four tracks: Basic Science (track A), Clinical Science and Care (track B), Epidemiology and Prevention (track C), and Psychological and Social Impact, and Social Response (track D)
The major scientific AIDS conference of 1993, the IXth International Conference on AIDS/IVth STD World Congress, will take place June 7-11 at the International Congress Center in Berlin. A number of satellite meetings, organized by nonprofit groups, pharmaceutical companies, and others, are also scheduled at the time o
Even without a cure, a certain number of individuals remain healthy for a decade or more after infection with HIV. Some have normal T-helper counts while others may survive even with drastically reduced T-helper cell counts. The individual variation in response to HIV is a promising field to research. Studying the reas
Editor s Note David Feigal, M.D., is Director, Division of Antiviral Drug Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in charge of approving all new antiviral drugs. AIDS TREATMENT NEWS asked for this interview for several reasons: (1) There is much discussion among patients and physicians about when is a drug r
A hearing on AIDS health fraud, originally set for April 15, has been postponed and may take place in May. As of May 3, however, the date had not been set. The hearing will be before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice, chaired by Congressman Charles Schumer (Democrat, Brooklyn).
The new Office of Alternative Medicine in the National Institutes of Health has finally issued guidelines for its 1993 grant cycle. The Office has been the subject of tremendous interest and press attention (see AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #172) despite its small size and minuscule budget by NIH (U.S. National Institutes of He
[Editor s note: there is intense scientific and community interest in drugs to inhibit the HIV tat gene and the tat protein it produces (for background, see AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #166, January 1, 1993, and #153, June 19, 1992). Only one company, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., now has a tat-inhibitor drug in human trials. Inform
If you live in one of these states or know anyone who does, now is the time to contact Congress to support AIDS funding, and medical research funding overall to find treatments and cures not only for AIDS but for other diseases as well. Decisions being made over the next few weeks will set patterns for national commitm
Researchers at Harvard Medical School, using laboratory tests, have developed a new class of anti-HIV compounds -- substances which inhibit the LTR (long terminal repeat) sequence of HIV. Three substances which might have potential were reported in the March 1993 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. On
The third annual AIDS Budget Lobby Day will take place Monday, May 10th, from 10:30 to 4:00, at the State Capitol in Sacramento. It will include briefings, a rally, and appointments or drop-in visits with one s legislators and their staffs. Persons who can go are asked to register by Friday, April 30, so that appointme
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS is now publishing a quarterly international news service for AIDS service organizations and other newsletters. We began the news service after receiving several requests from organizations in developing countries for basic treatment information that could be distributed to people with AIDS. The arti
This month, two large studies will begin recruiting patients for efficacy trials of 3TC -- the latest antiviral drug in the class (called nucleoside analogs) that includes AZT , ddI, ddC
Only until April 30, all civilian Federal employees located anywhere (and also employees of the local government of the District of Columbia) can obtain life insurance, or increase the policy they now have, to up to more than five times their annual salary, without medical underwriting (i.e., without a physical, regard
The widespread overreaction to the April 2 report of preliminary results from the UK-Irish-French Concorde trial of AZT vs. placebo for early HIV treatment has confused and upset patients and physicians. Seldom if ever have U.S. and British mainstream AIDS researchers been as far apart as they are over the Concorde stu
The City and County of San Francisco faces an urgent budget crisis at this time. The Coalition for Public Health Services -- consisting of medical, social service, AIDS, gay, religious, homeless, and labor organizations -- has mobilized to prevent or reduce funding cuts for public health in San Francisco. Last year it
The lesbian/gay March on Washington is organizing lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill in cooperation with Mobilization Against AIDS, the Human Rights Campaign Fund, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The focus will be on four legislative issues: the ban on gays in the military, the lesbian and gay civil rights b
Lymph-node infection by HIV was in the news last month after two independent research articles(1,2) and two commentaries(3,4) were published in Nature, March 25. The findings themselves may have been overshadowed by emotional reactions which went well beyond the data. HIV infection in lymph nodes (which occurs mainly i
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) may be new, but it is hard to miss these days. Its recently appointed director, Joe Jacobs, M.D., has been interviewed in Time magazine, USA Today, and twice in The New York Times, which gave a glowing description of his personality and a
[Recent problems in Congress, where critical budgeting and other decisions are coming up, have shown that the AIDS community must do much better in getting people throughout the country to let their representatives know that AIDS matters to them. We believe that phone calls, personal visits, and letters are still the m
The March/April issue of Searchlight (the newsletter of SEARCH Alliance, a community-based research organization in Los Angeles) has several useful articles -- especially one on nutrition, and one on the scientific background of ribozymes (a kind of high-tech antiviral, called molecular scissors in the newspapers a few
In September 1992 AIDS TREATMENT NEWS published a short report about a new class of drugs called Alpha-APA derivatives, developed by the Rega Institute for Medical Research and the Janssen Research Foundation, both in Belgium . We reported that one member of this class, R89439, had been tested in a few people and had b
CMV retinitis damages the eyesight of about a quarter of the people with advanced AIDS. Several studies have found that up to half the people with AIDS experience at least slight hearing loss. A wide range of conditions, many stemming from medical treatments, also can interfere with the ability to speak. Yet scant at
Of all the physical and emotional difficulties which HIV disease can present, those involving the nervous system may be the most troubling and least understood. Many neurologic problems are broadly associated with opportunistic illnesses, or with the side effects of certain drugs. However, HIV itself can have a number
Issues concerning Federal funding of AIDS research and other programs will become increasingly important over the coming weeks and months. Persons and organizations working on these issues need a reliable source of background facts and figures, especially since much misleading information was released under the Bush Ad
On March 10, ACT UP/Golden Gate will sponsor a town meeting of patients on d4T . This meeting will allow patients to share experiences, and is seen as the beginning of an ongoing patient-monitored database on d4T. Over 2500 persons nationally are already taking d4T, several hundred in the San Francisco area.
On Saturday March 13, the Alternative Treatments Committee of ACT UP/San Francisco will conclude its four-part forum, Caring for HIV Naturally, with a panel of long-term survivors. Expected speakers include Thomas Avena, Bart Casimer, Suzin Gartland, Gloria Little Moon, Sharon Lund, George Melton, and Hap Stewart. Afte
The U.S. Senate passed an amendment to the National Institutes of Health Reauthorization Bill on Feb. 18 that would make the current Bush Administration policy to ban immigration for people with HIV into law. Called the Nichols Amendment, it excludes any foreigner with HIV from entering the United States , although
In AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #162 (November 6, 1992) we published a list of newsletters which we felt our readers could use in making informed treatment decisions. As newsletters and other such resources come to our attention we will periodically publish additions to this list. (Note that the newsletters listed last November
With the recent news about a three-drug combination which stopped HIV infection in laboratory tests, an approach called convergent combination therapy has generated more interest among patients, physicians, and the public than any other recent development in AIDS treatment. The media handling of the story has angered s
A survey of physicians practices in treating HIV, and the impact of reimbursement denials on obtaining optimum care, is now being mailed to physicians. The study, called ComPACT 2 (Community Partnership in AIDS/HIV Clinical Trials), is being conducted by San Francisco s Community Consortium, an association of over 200
A one-day conference for healthcare providers, caregivers, and people with HIV will take place February 26, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the Laurel Heights Auditorium, 3333 California St., University of California San Francisco. The conference is sponsored by The Community Consortium, The Hearing Society for the Bay Area
Lorenzo s Oil, now in theaters throughout the U.S., is based on the true story of Michaela and Augusto Odone, parents without scientific training who did their own medical research and found an effective treatment for an inherited disease afflicting their son -- adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), which before the treatment wa
Public television stations around the country will soon begin broadcasting the five-part series Healing and the Mind, by journalist Bill Moyers. Part I, The Mystery of Chi, looks at traditional Chinese medicine. In Part II, The Mind Body Connection, Moyers talks with Candace Pert, Ph.D. (who developed peptide T, now be
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS is publishing a business card with the most important phone numbers to call to support the AIDS community on federal, state (California), and local (San Francisco) issues. ACT UP/Golden Gate in San Francisco is publishing a similar card, and we expect other organizations to do so for their localitie
Note: Part I of this article, published in AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #168 (February 5, 1993), examined two areas the new administration pledged to address in the campaign: appointment of an AIDS czar, and funding levels. A Manhattan Project No single campaign pledge will more directly impact the search for AIDS treatments th
On the weekend of January 23, over 25 leading AIDS scientists from government, industry, and academia, and from as far as France , Sweden , and Australia , attended the second meeting of the Immune Restoration Think Tank, held in Rutherford, California and sponsored by San Francisco-based Project Inform.
The Comprehensive Care Clinic, Inc., in Sarasota, Florida, is seeking a medical director. Full-time responsibilities include medical examinations, clinical drug trials, and ARNP supervision. Internal medicine, family practice, or infectious disease specialist preferred. Send resume to: Comprehensive Care Clinic, 150 Ea
Liposomal daunorubicin , a treatment which may be a significant advance over other chemotherapy for treatment of Kaposi s sarcoma, is currently in phase III clinical trials, and will also be offered without charge to patients with advanced KS who are not eligible for the trials and who have failed other chemotherapy,
About a dozen leading AIDS vaccine researchers will gather on February 11-12 for The 2nd Annual Forum on HIV Vaccine and Immune Therapies, cosponsored by the Gay Men s Health Crisis (GMHC) and the Community Research Initiative on AIDS (CRIA). Scheduled speakers include Robert Redfield, M.D., Fred Valentine, M.D., Allan
In our last issue (#167), in the article, ddI vs. AZT : New Results, No Press, the fourth paragraph on page two should have read: However, among 118 people with 8-16 weeks of prior AZT use, one year progression rates were 11 percent for 500 mg of ddI, 17 percent for 750 mg, but 33 percent with AZT -- a statistically si
Note: Part I of this article, published in AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #167 (January 15, 1993), looked at ganciclovir in combination with G-CSF or GM-CSF, at ganciclovir eye implants, and at oral ganciclovir. Foscarnet Foscarnet (brand name Foscavir) was the second drug approved for treating CMV r
The new U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) criteria for an AIDS diagnosis -- which now add pulmonary tuberculosis , recurrent bacterial pneumonia and invasive cervical cancer to the previous list of 23 opportunistic infections needed for an official diagnosis -- took effect January 1. The new criteria also include
AIDS activist organizations could make a major contribution to correcting a serious political weakness which is hurting the fight against AIDS in federal, state, and local issues. The problem can best be illustrated with a non-AIDS issue in the headlines last week: whether openly gay soldiers should be allowed in the U
What are influential voices in the AIDS community expecting from the Clinton Administration? To help answer this question, AIDS TREATMENT NEWS spoke with a diverse segment of the national AIDS leadership -- from a Nobel prize-winning scientist to one of the most outspoken activists in the United States , from inside
Evidence that the thymus gland suffers extensive damage during HIV infection has led to research on using thymus hormone replacement therapy as a means to counteract the damage. Thymus hormones are proteins that affect the development of immune system T-cells in the thymus gland. They also enhance immune function in ma
Due to a production shutdown at the only U.S. manufacturer, a critical shortage of the drug sulfadiazine has developed in New York, Boston, and many other parts of the U.S. Sulfadiazine is part of the first-line treatment for toxoplasmosis, and a shortage could become life-threatening to patients. The U.S. Centers for
The following is a directory of AIDS activist groups, buyers clubs, and PWA coalitions. It includes local and regional contacts for individuals who want to get involved with AIDS activism or for those seeking experimental treatments or community support services. We have only listed phone numbers which we could verify;
ACT UP/New York has begun a letter writing campaign after hearing reports that the Donna Shalala, the new Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants the new AIDS czar promised by Clinton to report to her, instead of directly to the President. ACT UP believes that the decision may be made soon. No AIDS czar has
The Traditional, Holistic, and Alternative Treatment Committee of ACT UP/San Francisco is sponsoring a four-part forum on alternative treatments, on four Saturdays between January 30 and March 13. The first session, Nutrition and Exercise, includes four speakers: holistic physician Jon Kaiser, M.D., on diet and food su
HIV-Related Speech, Hearing, and Vision Loss: A Conference for Health Care Providers, Caregivers, and People with HIV, will be held February 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the University of California, Laurel Heights Auditorium, 3333 California Street, San Francisco. Persons are asked to register by February 12. Fe
A support group for persons in the current tat inhibitor trial (now taking place in the four cities above) is being formed. Persons in this trial can call Giacomo Palazzolo in Boston at 617/524-7780, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please note that this is Giacomo s home phone and not a hotline or general
Persons with AIDS and one or more lesions of acyclovir-resistant herpes may be eligible for a trial of SP-303T, a drug being developed by Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in San Carlos, California, a company which develops drugs from rainforest plants. SP-303T is derived from a plant long used for treating herpes in South
The ongoing trial of the antiviral hypericin at New York University has been changed to compare oral vs. intravenous doses of the drug; previously it only tested intravenous administration. Volunteers no longer need to be p24 positive -- an inclusion criterion which had been a problem in New York, since the p24 antigen
A major national study is testing an oral form of the anti- CMV drug ganciclovir to see if it can prevent CMV disease in patients who do not have it already. This trial is for persons with AIDS and with T-helper counts under 100 -- or persons without AIDS and T-helper counts under 50. There are various other entry cri
Cytomegalovirus ( CMV ) is a virus which infects much of the general population, and most persons with HIV. CMV rarely causes disease, however, unless the immune system is suppressed -- as in recipients of organ transplants who must take immunosuppressive drugs, or in persons with AIDS. Those with T-helper counts under
For months AIDS researchers have eagerly awaited the results of a major clinical trial called ACTG 116A, comparing AZT with two different doses of ddI in volunteers with little or no previous antiviral treatment. Results were released on December 30 by the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
The acyclovir price-cap issue (reported in AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #165) shows the need for professional assistance to help treatment activists advocate for the interests of the AIDS community. ACT UP/Golden Gate, Project Inform, and AIDS Action Baltimore, although kept in the dark about details of the Burroughs-Wellcome p
Staying Healthy with HIV, a well-regarded nonprofit workshop in alternative/complementary/traditional treatments for AIDS or HIV, is planning a tour of 25 cities in the U.S. and Canada during March, April, and May 1993. At this time the organizers are seeking help from local contacts in making arrangements for the wor
For only the third time in its history, the VIIth International Conference on AIDS in Africa took place in an African city, Yaounde, Cameroon , from December 8-11, 1992. Previously, the conference has been held in Europe with sponsorship from European and Canadian health organizations including the
Anabolic steroids are best known to the public through the bad press resulting from non-medical use by athletes for muscle building in competitive sports. Unfortunately the resulting controversy has held back legitimate medical research and use of these important drugs. (Anabolic steroids should not be confused with co
The announcement that Dr. Donna Shalala will serve as Cabinet Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for President- elect Bill Clinton is viewed favorably by most persons with whom AIDS TREATMENT NEWS has spoken. Most believe Dr. Shalala would bring excellent managerial skills to the job, but almost everyone who
The past year has seen significant developments in the area of basic nucleoside analog antiretrovirals -- AZT , ddC , ddI, and d4T . DDC was finally approved, for combination use; ddI s ap
Each new year we write an overview of treatment development, or a list of treatments to watch in the coming year. This year s overview is difficult to write. Why? More is happening in AIDS treatment now than ever before; it is harder than ever to keep up with the news. But almost all of it is little news, better than n
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.