Jeffrey T. Schouten MD, Brian Coppedge, and Dan Dawson
Over 12,200 health care providers and medical researchers from 90 countries came together in San Francisco for one of the largest infectious disease conferences in the world, the 39th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), from September 26 to 29, 1999.
It seems like only yesterday that people started reporting odd body changes that seemed to correspond with their new HIV "cocktail therapies." Lipodsystrophy, or fat redistribution syndrome, has now become the greatest concern for people on or considering begining combination therapy. The First International Workshop on Adverse Drug Reactions and Lipodystrophy in HIV, held in San Diego in June 1999, was the first major event held solely to discuss these new body changes.
The following articles all address some of the most common dilemmas people face when considering drug therapies. STEP's TalkLine receives countless calls about these questions and we wanted to address them here to share with our readers up-to-date information on when to start, what to start with, when to switch, and when to intensify drug treatments.
Antiretroviral drugs were to have signaled a new era in the fight against HIV, with hope of its elimination. Unfortunately, hope has fallen as a rising number of HIV-infected individuals have developed resistance to these drugs.
Multi-Vitamin/Mineral Complex. Avoid "once a day" brands as they often are poorly absorbed. Unless you are a menstruating or pregnant female, or a person with diagnosed iron deficiency, chose an iron-free form. Follow the directions on the package; they should indicate from 3 to 6 a day with meals.
Much of the focus on herbal or supplemental medicines has dealt either with alternatives to anti-retroviral therapy or minimizing the side effects from synthetic medications. Lost in this discussion is the role alternative therapies can play in enhancing an individual's response to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
It is rare to find an HIV-positive person who hasn't been poked and prodded from head to foot for countless lab tests. That makes it very easy to not look at test results or even ask what tests have been done.
Most of us are very familiar with the cluster of problems referred to as lipodystrophy; too familiar in fact. Faced with the prospects of body fat redistribution, increases in blood fats, and insulin resistance, some people are reluctant to start on anti-HIV drugs.
Jeffrey T. Schouten, M.D., Brian Coppedge, HIV Treatment Specialist, and Dan Dawson
More than 3,500 people gathered in Chicago from January 31 through February 4, 1999, for the 6th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). This conference began in 1994 as a small meeting for basic scientists studying the HIV virus and clinicians treating people with HIV.
Making the announcement that received the most media coverage of any event at the 6th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), scientists at the University of Alabama reported that they believe they've solved the 20-year-old mystery of the origins of AIDS. For more detailed coverage see The River: A Journey to the Source of HIV and AIDS
During the AIDS epidemic one of the most common images of the face of AIDS was a drawn face with the purple-bluish cancerous lesions that were Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS). As the immune system fails, virus-caused cancers can overpower the immune system, causing severe problems, and even death.
The term "gay cancer" was used 18 years ago to describe HIV and AIDS, but now new data from the 6th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections shows that a new cancer appearing at unusually high rates is affecting gay men and gay HIV+ men in amazing proportions.
Just how much do you know about the life of this small virus that lives inside your body? I have a friend who looks at HIV as a long-term unwelcome in-law who has come to visit and just won't leave. The only problem, of course, is that this guest is slowly and methodically destroying the house-ripping out the drywall, exposing the studs, and cutting into them so that eventually the house will fall.
"It was always that 4:00 p.m.dose!" Rob (a pseudonym) sounded angry and scared. "I was always up on a ladder with a paintbrush in my hand, or on a roof slapping down shingles. It was usually dinnertime when I thought of it again. I know you're not supposed to take Crixivan with food, but I took it anyway hoping that a little bit was better than none."
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.