We are in the 19th year of awareness of AIDS in the United States. Two years into the US response, a group of men and transgender people (joined not long after by women) decided to confront the exclusion of the infected population--exclusion from "expert" panels and conferences, exclusion from health care planning, exclusion from helping to set the research agenda.
The Senate passed a major item on the lobbying agenda of the national AIDS organizations in the early hours of November 20. The House of Representatives had previously overwhelmingly passed it. This bill was important not only to those living with HIV/AIDS but also to all Americans with disabilities.
Many people with HIV are doing very well on the first combination antiretroviral medication regimen they began, meaning their CD4 or T-cells have risen or stayed up and viral load has fallen or stayed low, perhaps undetectable on current tests.
As far back as the release of the heralded actg 076 data in early 1994--data which left little doubt as to the efficacy of antiretroviral therapy (this was the study which showed a reduction in maternal-fetal transmission by two-thirds by using AZT from the second trimester of pregnancy through early neonatal life)--the issues surrounding pregnancy and HIV treatment have given patients and clinicians alike considerable food for thought.
Calcium May Help Control Nelfinavir-Related Diarrhea; Most all of us who have taken the effective protease inhibitor nelfinavir (Viracept) can attest that its most bothersome side effect is frequent diarrhea that may be difficult to control. For some, standard anti-diarrhea drugs now available over the counter are sufficient to control this.
More than 2,000 leading scientists, researchers, policy analysts and frontline prevention workers gathered in Atlanta earlier this month for the first national meeting devoted exclusively to scientific efforts to monitor and prevent HIV in the US.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is about to release nearly $3 million that have been awarded to Los Angeles County for a series of demonstration projects relating to "Prevention for HIV-Infected Persons."
PCP, or Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, has always been closely associated with AIDS. From the beginning, PCP is the most common of the list of diseases that make up AIDS. Infected people who have never been tested for HIV are likely to come to an emergency room one day very short of breath and get a PCP diagnosis.
By now, many of us who got on disability have gotten off, either because the new drugs made us feel better, or because we realized we'd retired prematurely and weren't going to have to pack a lifetime into a year or two. Some of us never stopped working, because we hadn't gotten sick enough or we felt our work was one of the major factors keeping us alive.
When I first got sick back in late 1980, no one knew what was making me ill, so there was no hope. I went on living and things changed. Eventually, they concluded that I had this new disease called AIDS (recently renamed from "GRID"). They said that everyone who contracted it would die within three years.
For years now, people with HIV/AIDS, our families, loved ones and supporters have participated in an annual AIDS Lobby Day, providing an opportunity for scores of HIV advocates from across the state to meet with their legislators about pending bills and critical issues that impact the HIV-affected community.
The most commonly asked question of me in the few weeks since I started here is "What is Being Alive going to do next?" While it's a daunting question, it's nevertheless an obvious one and one that initially gave me pause for reflection.
My colleague Chris Griffin headlined his article about new drugs "in the pipeline" in last month's Newsletter with a discussion of the new protease inhibitor being developed by pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories. ("Keep 'em Coming Drugs in the Pipeline," Being Alive Newsletter, March 1999) The drug is still known by its development name ABT-378.
As I begin this, I feel like poo poo. And I mean that. Is it HIV-related? I don't know. Is it related to the side effects of all the pills I'm taking? I don't know. Is it the stomach flu? Maybe, but I just had that last month, and it seems so damned unfair to get it again.
Well, believe it or not, it's that time again to nominate people and organizations you believe should be honored with this year's Spirit of Hope Award. Now in its seventh year, the Spirit of Hope Award recognizes those who have generously given of their time, their talent and their energy to help Being Alive and our HIV/AIDS community as a whole.
KS May Improve with Protease Inhibitor Therapy. Use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which can decrease HIV RNA load and increase CD4 cell counts, may also improve or prevent symptoms of Kaposi's sarcoma in HIV+ people, according to a European group.
While it is true that there are more drugs now than ever before in our arsenal against HIV, nonetheless there is an ongoing and pressing need for ever-new compounds. Some people find that they cannot tolerate many of the currently-available drugs.
The question most commonly asked of me in the few weeks since I started at Being Alive is "What is Being Alive going to do next?" While it's a daunting question it's nevertheless an obvious one and one that initially gave me pause for reflection. I realize that people ask it out of a genuine sense of concern for our well-being and out of recognition of the unique role that Being Alive plays in the HIV landscape in Los Angeles.
The most interesting news coming out of the recent Chicago Retrovirus Conference was about efforts to control HIV without eradicating it. Eradication seems out of the question for now and perhaps control is better anyway. Several strategies to achieve control of HIV are being explored.
After years of waiting, hopes soaring then ebbing, we have another new drug to choose as we begin 1999-Glaxo Wellcome's abacavir, formerly known as 1592, and trade named Ziagen. The FDA announced the accelerated approval of Ziagen on December 18.
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.