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#16251 From: pozhotandtmptng@...
Date: Sat Apr 1, 2006 8:26 am
Subject: Re: Re: Testosterone is Low - VERY LOW
pozhotandtmptng
Offline Offline
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My insurance will only pay for Androderm, so I get the 5mg patches and squeeze the gel out to apply in the morning after showering in the gym.  For me, the best place to apply in under my enormous calves, so the loss of drug to rubbing of clothes is minimized.
 
Cheers,
David
 
 nspop2@... writes:
Testim gel applied daily is the most natural replacement until a
solution is found for this problem. It contains a trans-dermal
transport molecule to deliver most of the testosterone in the first few
hours.

I use Testim early in the morning and wash it off in the shower a few
hours later. This provides me a far higher testosterone level than
leaving Androgel on all day long. Leaving Testim on all day did not
provide me with any additional increase in testosterone level.
 

#16250 From: vaeagle2@...
Date: Sat Apr 1, 2006 4:05 am
Subject: Mumps Cases Reach Epidemic Level in Iowa
eesdc_2001
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Mumps Cases Reach Epidemic Level in Iowa

By MELANIE S. WELTE, Associated Press Writer 42 minutes ago

DES MOINES, Iowa - A mumps epidemic is sweeping across Iowa in the nation's
biggest outbreak in at least 17 years, baffling health officials and worrying
parents.

As of Thursday, 245 confirmed, probable or suspected cases of mumps had been
reported to the Iowa Department of Public Health since mid-January.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is the nation's
only outbreak, which the
CDC defines as five or more cases in a concentrated area.

"We are calling this an epidemic," said Iowa state epidemiologist Dr. Patricia
Quinlisk, explaining that mumps has spread to more than one-third of the state
and does not appear to be confined to certain age groups or other sectors of the
population.

Quinlisk said Iowa has had about five cases of mumps a year in recent years, and
this is its first large outbreak in nearly 20 years.

"We're trying to figure out why is it happening, why is it happening in Iowa and
why is it happening right now. We don't know," she said.

CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said the federal agency has no answers yet. But
Quinlisk said one theory is that the infection was brought over from England —
perhaps by a college student — because the strain seen in Iowa has been
identified by the CDC as the same one that has caused tens of thousands of cases
of the mumps in a major outbreak in Britain over the past two years.

"It may have been a college student, since we did see the first activities on
college campuses, but we can't prove that," Quinlisk said. The Public Health
Department said 23 percent of the 245 reported patients are in college.

The CDC said it is the nation's biggest epidemic of mumps since 269 cases were
reported in Douglas County, Kan., from October 1988 to April 1989.

Mumps is a viral infection of the salivary glands. Symptoms include fever,
headache, muscle aches and swelling of the glands close to the jaw. It can cause
serious complications, including meningitis, damage to the testicles and
deafness.

A mumps vaccine was introduced in 1967. Iowa law requires schoolchildren to be
vaccinated against measles and rubella, and the mumps vaccine is included in the
same shot. The state's last major outbreak was in 1987, when 476 people were
infected.

Of the 245 patients this year, at least 66 percent had had the recommended
two-shot vaccination, while 14 percent had received one dose, the Public Health
Department said.

"The vaccine is working," Quinlisk said. "The vaccine certainly was made to
cover this particular strain, because it's a fairly common strain of mumps."
Quinlisk said the vaccine overall is considered about 95 percent effective.

Quinlisk said the mumps outbreak started in eastern Iowa and is spreading
statewide and possibly into the neighboring states of Illinois, Minnesota and
Nebraska. Those states may have one or two cases, she said.

When 11-year-old Will Hean of Davenport starting feeling sick in mid-January,
his family thought he had a bad case of the flu. But his face and throat swelled
and his temperature climbed to 103. His parents took him to the doctor, and he
was diagnosed to their surprise with full-blown mumps.

About two weeks later, the Heans' daughter, Kate, 21, came down with the mumps,
too.

Both children had gotten the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR. So had
their other son, 13-year-old Jimmy, who did not get the mumps.

"He had all the shots and everything. You don't think you're going to get the
mumps after you've been inoculated," said Will's father, Wayne Hean.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/mumps_outbreak

#16249 From: bgmaron <bgmaron@...>
Date: Sat Apr 1, 2006 2:39 am
Subject: Re: Testosterone is Low - VERY LOW
bgmaron
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
I had same problem.
I started with Steriod injection every two weeks but
it turn crazy then switch to Androgel 1% gel rub on
stomach every day but two years later, it turn low
testestone then switch to Testim 1% rub over shoulder
every day. so my testoserone is normal range now.
that why you feel no energy and despress because of
low testosterno that common along with HIVers.
Mark

--- Richard Weber <travelchiko05@...> wrote:

> Now what?  Talked to Primary Doc, he is sending me
> to Endo doc.  What
> does he do, or what will it mean for me?
>
> Really confused on this one and all I want is my
> energy and libido
> back!!!!
>
> Thanks
>
> Rick
>
>
>
>
>
>


Mark

#16248 From: "Craig" <versguy2002@...>
Date: Sat Apr 1, 2006 2:33 am
Subject: KS
versguy2002
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
I have been positive for 24 months, and am 37 years old.
Last week my sking biopsy came back positive for KS. Starting tomorrow
I take Kaletra and Epzicom everyday. has anyone taken these before?
Side effects?

#16247 From: "nwstuart" <nspop2@...>
Date: Sat Apr 1, 2006 2:19 am
Subject: Re: Testosterone is Low - VERY LOW
nwstuart
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
HIV "shorts out" many signaling systems in the body, including the
system that signals when testosterone should be made.

Testim gel applied daily is the most natural replacement until a
solution is found for this problem. It contains a trans-dermal
transport molecule to deliver most of the testosterone in the first few
hours.

I use Testim early in the morning and wash it off in the shower a few
hours later. This provides me a far higher testosterone level than
leaving Androgel on all day long. Leaving Testim on all day did not
provide me with any additional increase in testosterone level.


--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Weber" <travelchiko05@...>
wrote:
>
> Now what?  Talked to Primary Doc, he is sending me to Endo doc.  What
> does he do, or what will it mean for me?
>
> Really confused on this one and all I want is my energy and libido
> back!!!!
>
> Thanks
>
> Rick
>

#16246 From: vaeagle2@...
Date: Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:56 pm
Subject: Fiber may lower protein linked to heart disease
eesdc_2001
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Fiber may lower protein linked to heart disease

Fri Mar 31, 11:28 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A fiber-rich diet may help control levels of a blood
protein linked to an increased risk of heart disease, new research suggests.

In a study of 524 healthy adults, investigators found that those with the
highest fiber intake had lower blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) than
those who ate the least fiber. CRP is a marker of ongoing inflammation in the
body, and consistently high levels of this protein have been identified in
previous studies as a risk factor for future heart disease.

The new findings support the general recommendation that adults get 20 to 35
grams of fiber per day, in the form of fruits, vegetables, beans and whole
grains.

Unfortunately, they note in their report in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, the average American consumes only half that amount, lead
investigator Dr. Yunsheng Ma of the University of Massachusetts Medical School
in Worcester and colleagues point out.

For their study, the researchers measured the participants' CRP levels five
times over the course of a year and collected information on diet, exercise
habits and other health factors.

About 18 percent of men and women had elevated CRP levels, above 3 milligrams
per liter of blood. But CRP levels generally dipped as fiber intake increased.
Compared with subjects who ate the least fiber, those who ate the most were 63
percent less likely to have an elevated CRP number.

It did not take a ton of roughage to reap the benefit, the researchers found.
Study participants with the highest fiber intake typically got about 22 grams
per day, or just within the recommended range.

Ongoing, low-level inflammation in the body is thought to contribute to a range
of ills, including clogged arteries and heart disease.

It's not clear why fiber may reduce inflammation, according to Ma's team, but it
may lower cholesterol and blood sugar, both of which can contribute to
inflammation.

"This study," the researchers write, "suggests that a diet high in fiber may
play a role in reducing inflammation and, thus, the risk of cardiovascular
disease and diabetes."

In addition, both of the main forms of fiber, soluble and insoluble, were
related to lower CRP levels. Soluble fiber is found in foods like oatmeal,
beans, berries and apples, while whole grains and many vegetables are good
sources of insoluble fiber.

All of these foods, the study authors write, should become the "foundation of
America's diet to combat heart disease and diabetes."

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2006.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060331/hl_nm/fiber_protein_dc

#16245 From: "nwstuart" <nspop2@...>
Date: Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:14 pm
Subject: Re: epididymal cyst
nwstuart
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Epididymal Cysts are common and can get much larger than your's is.

Also called a Spermatocele, they are caused by a back-up of sperm in
a tiny duct, thought to be caused by a blockage. They have no known
association with any medication, nor can they be treated with
medication.

--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, Dmcavi@... wrote:
>
> I have just been diagnosed as having and epidiymal cyst on my
right
> testicle, fairly large 28 x 17 mm.  Does any one of you with HIV
have any  experience
> with this and its possible connection to HIV or treatment
(including  anabolic
> steroids)? I see on the web that generally no action is required
but it  can
> be surgically removed or aspirated if it is painful or continues
to  grow.
> There is pain and  some risk of infection associated with
treatment.
> Right now I do feel some discomfort since my testicle is not
really fully
> descended anyway, probably as the result of a hernia operation
when I was   two
> months old.  Thanks for any information that you can provide,
including  the
> name of a good surgical urologist in NYC?
>

#16244 From: "Richard Weber" <travelchiko05@...>
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:23 pm
Subject: Testosterone is Low - VERY LOW
travelchiko05
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Now what?  Talked to Primary Doc, he is sending me to Endo doc.  What
does he do, or what will it mean for me?

Really confused on this one and all I want is my energy and libido
back!!!!

Thanks

Rick

#16243 From: "John R." <johnrsf94114@...>
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:58 pm
Subject: Re: Disability Nightmare
johnrsf94114
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
If your disability insurer is requiring an IME, then they are certainly giving your claim heightened scrutiny, and any information uncovered in their investigation could be used to terminate your disability claim. If I were being asked to submit to an IME, I would try to select the doctor myself (a doctor selected by the claimant is no less independent than one selected by the insurance company.) If they insist you go to an examiner of their choice, you should at least make certain that the doctor they have selected has substantial clinical experience treating people with HIV. Only a doctor with clinical experience would recognize that many of the functional impairments that we live with on a daily basis (diarrhea, fatigue, etc.) are consistant with HIV disease and the side effects of the medications we take.
 
If they are in fact giving your claim a heigthened review, I would try to supplement the record with letters from your own doctor explaining how your symptoms prevent you from working on a full time basis. Just because you function well most of the time does not mean that you could consistantly work 5 days a week, 8-10 hours a day, as most jobs demand. You might also provide a log of your symptoms to your doctor to be placed in the medical record, thus becoming part of your insurer's claim file. You could also have friends, former co-workers, or family members attest to how your impairment prevents you from working (eg.: "I went shopping with Bill, and he became exhausted after only one hour and had to return home to take a nap.")  It is much better to get all of the information in the file before a decision is made, possibly preventing a termination of benefits, than it would be to overturn a decision to overturn benefits.
 
If possible, consult with a benefits advocate at your local HIV service agency or a lawyer specializing in disability claims.
 
Good luck!

PoWeRTX@... wrote:
I had one of these medical exams a few years ago to determine if I can continue being on disability. It was not fun. But I have multiple drug resistance and that helped me make a case. I do not know what would have happened if my viral load had been undetectable. I also brought my pill box with me!
 
click here
Does an Independent Medical Exam Mean They Might Cancel My Long-Term Disability?
I'm a 50-year-old HIVer with a CD4 count of 70 and an undetectable viral load. I've been on long-term disability for eight years. Recently, my long-term disability carrier said it was reviewing my disability claim, and asked me to provide something called an IME (Independent Medical Examination). I loved my job and I miss it, but I'm just not healthy enough to return to work. What if this IME is just the first step toward canceling my disability claim?
 
Regards,


Nelson Vergel
powerusa dot org


"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
Michelangelo


#16242 From: "nwstuart" <nspop2@...>
Date: Fri Mar 31, 2006 12:46 am
Subject: Re: Growth hormone secretion among HIV infected patients
nwstuart
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
People with HIV also have a reduced, or nearly non-existant,
response to LHRH (Leutenizing Hormone Releasing Hormone) the
releasing hormone for testosterone.

These systems use the same signalling  process, from cell receptor
to specific RNA stimulation, which fragments of HIV interferes with
in immune cells, even uninfected immune cells. The performance of
these signalling systems is somewhat improved when HIV viral load is
highly supressed.

--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, PoWeRTX@... wrote:
>
>
> 1: _AIDS._ (javascript:AL_get(this, 'jour', 'AIDS.');)  2006 Apr
> 4;20(6):855-62.
>
> (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/utils/lofref.fcgi?
PrId=3159&uid=16549969&db=PubMed&url=http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-
core/template-journal/lwwgateway/
> media/landingpage.htm?an=00002030-200604040-00009)
> Growth hormone secretion among HIV  infected patients: effects of
gender,
> race and fat  distribution.
>
> _Koutkia  P_
> (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
db=PubMed&cmd=Search&itool=PubMed_Abstract&term="Koutkia+P"[Author])
, _Eaton  K_
> (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
db=PubMed&cmd=Search&itool=PubMed_Abstract&te
> rm="Eaton+K"[Author]) , _You  SM_
> (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
db=PubMed&cmd=Search&itool=PubMed_Abstract&term="You+SM"[Author]) ,
_Breu
> J_
> (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
db=PubMed&cmd=Search&itool=PubMed_Abstract&term="Breu+J"[Author]) ,
_Grinspoon  S_
> (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
db=PubMed&cmd=Search&itool=PubMed_Abstract&term="Grins
> poon+S"[Author]) .
>
> From the aMassachusetts General Hospital Program in  Nutritional
Metabolism
> and Neuroendocrine Unit, Harvard Medical School, Boston,
Massachusetts, USA
> bGeneral Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology,
> Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
>
> OBJECTIVE:: To determine the  effects of gender, race, and fat
redistribution
> on growth hormone (GH) secretory  patterns in HIV-infected
patients. DESIGN::
> We investigated GH responses to  growth hormone releasing hormone
(GHRH) +
> arginine stimulation testing in  HIV-infected subjects with fat
redistribution,
> comparing HIV-infected males (n =  139) and females (n = 25) to
non
> HIV-infected male (n = 25) and female (n = 26)  control subjects
similar in age, body
> mass index and race. METHODS:: A standard  GHRH + arginine
stimulation test
> [GHRH 1 mug/kg and arginine 0.5 g/kg (maximum  dose 30 g)] was
performed, and fat
> redistribution was assessed by anthropometry.  RESULTS:: HIV-
infected women
> had significantly higher peak GH in response to  GHRH + arginine
(36.4 +/- 7.3
> versus 18.9 +/- 2.0 ng/ml; P = 0.003) and GH area  under curve
(AUC) (2679 +/-
> 593 versus 1284 +/- 133 (mg-min)/dl, P < 0.001)  compared to HIV-
infected men.
> Among men, a cutoff of 7.5 ng/ml for peak GH  response on the GHRH
+ arginine
> test achieved good specificity and sensitivity  and optimally
separated the
> HIV and control groups (e.g., the failure rates were  37% versus
8%; P = 0.004,
> respectively). Among women, no specific cutoff could  be
determined to
> separate the HIV-infected and control subjects. Non-Caucasians
demonstrated a
> higher GH AUC response compared to Caucasians, among the  HIV-
infected male
> subjects. In stepwise regression modeling waist-to-hip ratio  was
most significantly
> related to peak GH in response to GHRH + arginine in  HIV-infected
men.
> CONCLUSIONS: HIV-infected men with fat  redistribution have
significantly reduced GH
> peak responses and increased  failure rates to standardized GH
stimulation
> testing in comparison to healthy  male control subjects and to HIV-
infected
> women of similar age and body mass  index. GH secretion is related
to gender and
> race in HIV-infected  patients.
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Nelson Vergel
> powerusa dot  org
>
>
> "The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights
too high and
> fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and
do."
> Michelangelo
>

#16241 From: RW736@...
Date: Mon Mar 27, 2006 6:20 am
Subject: RE: Does anyone know if Co2 delivery device for Fuzeon...
RW736@...
Send Email Send Email
 
...is available widely yet? Has anyone in the group used it? I would appreciate any info, thanks gang! Ricky in Michigan

#16240 From: Dmcavi@...
Date: Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:54 pm
Subject: epididymal cyst
michaeldavid81
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
I have just been diagnosed as having and epidiymal cyst on my right testicle, fairly large 28 x 17 mm.  Does any one of you with HIV have any experience with this and its possible connection to HIV or treatment (including anabolic steroids)? I see on the web that generally no action is required but it can be surgically removed or aspirated if it is painful or continues to grow. There is pain and  some risk of infection associated with treatment. 
Right now I do feel some discomfort since my testicle is not really fully descended anyway, probably as the result of a hernia operation when I was  two months old.  Thanks for any information that you can provide, including the name of a good surgical urologist in NYC?

#16239 From: "nwstuart" <nspop2@...>
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:33 pm
Subject: Re: cortisone shots for lumps left behind from sculptra?
nwstuart
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Triamcinolone (aka Kenalog, Kenaject, etc) reduces the growth rate
of fibroblasts, the cells which create scar tissue.

Triamcinolone also inhibits, and can often reverse, the process
which creates granulomas, white cells forming a hard clump in an
auto-immune process.

Thus Trimacinolone can reduce scarring and lumps formed during
healing, and even reduce existing scar tissue and granulomas.


--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, WEBcfm@... wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I think I read a posting on here, not that long ago about someone
getting
> cortisone shots into the lumpy areas caused by sculptra
injections.  I was
> wondering if this was like Kenalog (sp?) shots that I had years
ago to reduce some
> scar tissue on my chest.  The plastic surgeon who did my Sculptra
treatments is
> pretty inexperienced.  I had to go to someone locally to get
financial help
> from a local AIDS org to help pay for it.
> On the right side of my face, the crease that is the "laugh line"
seems to be
> raised up, and I feel the hard lumps along the line.  I massaged
it as I was
> told to do after the applications. For some reason that area just
seemed to
> become raised up from the rest of my face.  Is that the product in
there, or
> collagen that it made my body manufacture?
> When I told the Dr about cortisone shots being used for the lumps,
he said
> he'd look into it..but I'm wondering if he really knows what the
hell he's
> doing.  He says "I don't know" a lot when I ask questions.
> He gave me seven treatments, and I was SEVERELY wasted.  There was
no fat
> left in my face.  It was basically skin and bone.  So, even with
the lumpy area,
> it's still better than it was.
> If anyone can give me some input on this, I'd really appreciate it.
> thank you,
> Charlie in Connecticut
>

#16238 From: PoWeRTX@...
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:27 pm
Subject: Growth hormone secretion among HIV infected patients
nelsonvergel
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
1: AIDS. 2006 Apr 4;20(6):855-62.  

Growth hormone secretion among HIV infected patients: effects of gender, race and fat distribution.

Koutkia P, Eaton K, You SM, Breu J, Grinspoon S.

From the aMassachusetts General Hospital Program in Nutritional Metabolism and Neuroendocrine Unit, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA bGeneral Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

OBJECTIVE:: To determine the effects of gender, race, and fat redistribution on growth hormone (GH) secretory patterns in HIV-infected patients. DESIGN:: We investigated GH responses to growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) + arginine stimulation testing in HIV-infected subjects with fat redistribution, comparing HIV-infected males (n = 139) and females (n = 25) to non HIV-infected male (n = 25) and female (n = 26) control subjects similar in age, body mass index and race. METHODS:: A standard GHRH + arginine stimulation test [GHRH 1 mug/kg and arginine 0.5 g/kg (maximum dose 30 g)] was performed, and fat redistribution was assessed by anthropometry. RESULTS:: HIV-infected women had significantly higher peak GH in response to GHRH + arginine (36.4 +/- 7.3 versus 18.9 +/- 2.0 ng/ml; P = 0.003) and GH area under curve (AUC) (2679 +/- 593 versus 1284 +/- 133 (mg-min)/dl, P < 0.001) compared to HIV-infected men. Among men, a cutoff of 7.5 ng/ml for peak GH response on the GHRH + arginine test achieved good specificity and sensitivity and optimally separated the HIV and control groups (e.g., the failure rates were 37% versus 8%; P = 0.004, respectively). Among women, no specific cutoff could be determined to separate the HIV-infected and control subjects. Non-Caucasians demonstrated a higher GH AUC response compared to Caucasians, among the HIV-infected male subjects. In stepwise regression modeling waist-to-hip ratio was most significantly related to peak GH in response to GHRH + arginine in HIV-infected men. CONCLUSIONS: HIV-infected men with fat redistribution have significantly reduced GH peak responses and increased failure rates to standardized GH stimulation testing in comparison to healthy male control subjects and to HIV-infected women of similar age and body mass index. GH secretion is related to gender and race in HIV-infected patients.
 
Regards,


Nelson Vergel
powerusa dot org


"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
Michelangelo

#16237 From: "Byron" <la1982guy@...>
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:18 pm
Subject: Trustworthy Plastic Surgeon...............
la1982guy
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Does anyone know of Plastic Surgeons in the Portland, Oregon/Salem
Oregon area that administers the Sculptra injections?

#16236 From: PoWeRTX@...
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:21 pm
Subject: Fwd: NATAP: Poly-Lactic Acid for Facial Lipoatrophy - 2 years Followup
nelsonvergel
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
NATAP http://natap.org/
_______________________________________________


Poly-L-Lactic Acid for Facial Lipoatrophy - 2 years Followup - (03/30/06)

_______________________________________________
 
Regards,


Nelson Vergel
powerusa dot org


"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
Michelangelo
NATAP http://natap.org/
_______________________________________________
Poly-L-Lactic Acid for Facial Lipoatrophy - 2 years Followup - (03/30/06)
_______________________________________________
NATAP nataphcvhiv mailing list -- nataphcvhiv@...

This is an annoucement-only mailing list.  Do not reply.

To unsubscribe: send a blank email to nataphcvhiv-request@... with a
subject of unsubscribe.


For more information, see http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/nataphcvhiv

_______________________________________________

#16235 From: PoWeRTX@...
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:15 pm
Subject: Lipo Report from Forum for Collaborative HIV Research
nelsonvergel
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 

Regulatory Considerations for Treatment of Lipodystrophy Roundtable Discussion Meeting Report:

http://www.hivforum.org/uploads/Lipodystrophy/Liporegfinal.pdf

 

 
Regards,


Nelson Vergel
powerusa dot org


"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
Michelangelo

#16234 From: PoWeRTX@...
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:12 pm
Subject: Fwd: CATIE News - Can a supplement reduce cocaine craving?
nelsonvergel
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
In a message dated 3/30/2006 11:55:32 A.M. Central Standard Time, dqi@... writes:
CATIE News - Can a supplement reduce cocaine craving?
 
Sharing substance-use equipment can lead to the transmission of many microbes, including those that can cause hepatitis and HIV. And substance use can affect a person’s critical thinking and judgment—factors that play a role in other behaviours that facilitate the spread of HIV. An effect of addiction is that it can destabilize a user’s health and life priorities, so helping people recover is an important step on the road to better health.
 
Many therapies have been tested to help cocaine users try to escape their dependence, but none have proven consistently effective. Now researchers at the Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, the Division of Clinical Neurosciences, and Department of Neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have made discoveries that may offer cocaine addicts new hope.
 
Losing control
Cocaine, like many substances of abuse, alters the way the brain responds to future cocaine exposure, making the user want to repeat his or her experience and laying the path for the downward spiral into addiction. Experiments on rats suggest that addiction affects an area deep inside a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. This area of the brain is believed to be involved in initiating important survival behaviors (such as seeking out food and sex). In addiction, this area is essentially hijacked by the addictive process, making a person seek out the drug of addiction as much as and even more than food, sex or just about anything else.  
 
Rat research helps in understanding addiction
Researchers have discovered that cocaine addiction reduces the amount of glutamate (a neurotransmitter) in the accumbens. Without enough glutamate, the accumbens cannot be properly regulated, causing it to be extremely hyper-responsive to cocaine. Fortunately, the levels of glutamate can be restored by cysteine, a common amino acid usually sold in the form of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). When ingested, NAC helps the body release glutamate that is kept in reserve. With glutamate levels restored, the accumbens can function more normally and presumably helps a person feel less compelled to seek out cocaine. This, in turn, is believed to help reduce the amount of cocaine craving that addicted people would otherwise experience. Research at MUSC has indicated that in rats addicted to cocaine supplements of NAC appear to restore glutamate levels and significantly reduce cocaine-seeking behavior. Based on the results of these experiments, the MUSC research team decided to test whether NAC can help people addicted to cocaine.
 
Safety first
Because NAC had not been previously tried in cocaine-addicted individuals, it was necessary to focus on safety issues for the first NAC study. In that study, 13 participating cocaine addicts received either NAC (600 mg) or placebo every 12 hours for three consecutive days in a hospital. Neither the volunteers nor the experimenters knew which participants received what, in order to ensure that the results would be unbiased. NAC and placebo were taken orally in capsule form.
 
The following week, participants returned for another three-day hospital stay during which the experiment was repeated. For these three days, participants who initially received placebo got NAC, and vice versa. Overall, researchers that found that NAC was “safe and well tolerated.” There were trends of reduced levels of craving in participants taking the supplement. And MRI scans revealed that these participants showed less activity in an area of the brain known as the anterior cingulate that has been previously linked to craving.   
 
Different doses
While the initial results were encouraging, it was important to find out whether NAC could be taken and tolerated at higher doses, and to establish that cocaine-dependent individuals would take it reliably on a daily outpatient basis. The research team conducted an open-label, un-blinded pilot study that assessed the impact of different doses of NAC, again in cocaine addicts, for four weeks. The doses used were as follows:
 
* 1,200 mg per day (600 mg twice daily)
* 2,400 mg per day (1,200 mg twice daily)
* 3,600 mg per day (1,200 mg three times daily)
 
Again, the supplement was well tolerated. There were trends toward reduced craving for cocaine, but such a finding is common in many open-label, un-blinded studies of cocaine cessation. It was encouraging to note, however, that those patients receiving the higher doses tended to show a higher rate of completion (8 out of 9 completed in the 2,400 mg group and 5 out of 6 completed in the 3,600 mg group) than those patients in the low-dose group (in which only 3 out of 8 completed) (personal communication, Steven LaRowe PhD).
 
Large study begins
Now the MUSC research team has launched a larger and longer study to assess the effectiveness of oral NAC in reducing craving for cocaine. The researchers hope to recruit 282 participants who will be randomly assigned to receive one of the following:
 
* NAC – 600 mg twice daily
* NAC – 1,200 mg twice daily
* placebo – twice daily
 
In the large study, participants will be monitored for up to two months and will need to visit the study centre three times weekly for assessments, interviews and analyses of urine to determine cocaine use.
 
Although at least 19 people have started in the large study, it will take several years before it is completed and the results are analysed. Also, research in the area of addiction is time consuming and participants tend to drop out more frequently than in research on other health conditions (personal communication, Steven LaRowe PhD).
 
Beyond cocaine
The research on NAC and cocaine addiction has a sound biological basis, at least in rats. The theories about glutamate and cysteine that underpin the biology of cocaine addiction may also give hope to people addicted to other substances, such as tobacco, heroin and crystal methamphetamine. However, NAC needs to be tested in animals addicted to these other substances before firm conclusions about its potential for addiction recovery can be drawn. Presently, work is underway at MUSC that is assessing NAC in heroin-addicted rats, and initial results have been promising.
 
An important aspect of recovery from addiction is counseling to help participants unlearn negative behaviours. It is therefore likely that NAC (or any other anti-addictive substance) by itself would work best as part of a holistic program geared toward recovery. Indeed, the animal research suggests that NAC alone does not stop ongoing cocaine use—it only appears to be effective in rats that are undergoing an addiction recovery program. 
 
NAC and HIV
The body uses amino acids, including cysteine and glutamine, to make GSH (glutathione). In turn, cells convert GSH into the body’s premier antioxidant. This antioxidant protects cells from toxic substances.
 
Beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, researchers began to find that people with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) had less-than-normal levels of GSH in their blood. The reasons for this are not certain but may be related to the damaging effects of HIV on the body and a high demand for cysteine that exceeds the supply available to cells. Supplements of cysteine can significantly increase GSH levels in the blood of PHAs.
 
In the time before highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was available, supplements of NAC were popular among some PHAs. Short-term clinical trials found that NAC can increase CD4+ cell counts. Also, findings in that era from one study of high-dose NAC (about 4 grams daily) suggested an increased chance of survival in some PHAs.
 
However, HAART’s impact on CD4+ cell counts is much more dramatic and lasting than that of NAC. Nowadays, NAC is used in lower doses—often between 1 and 2 grams daily—to raise GSH levels in the hope that it may reduce the toxicity of HIV medications to the liver, kidneys and other organs. NAC is normally taken with fruit juice or cola drinks, as this can minimize side effects such as upset stomach, heartburn or diarrhea.
 
HIV and TB
Researchers in New Jersey have recently confirmed that less-than-normal levels of GSH are found in the blood of HIV positive people with modestly high CD4+ cell counts (more than 400 cells). Because tuberculosis (TB) is a problem for some PHAs, the researchers conducted experiments in their lab to try to make immune cells from PHAs better able to fight TB-causing bacteria. In these experiments, the team took immune cells from the blood of HIV positive people and bathed their cells with NAC, supplying a source of cysteine. Subsequently, they found that these NAC-treated cells showed an improved ability to fight TB-causing bacteria. NAC may therefore have the potential to be tested in further experiments, particularly in people co-infected with HIV and TB.
 
Availability
NAC is available in capsule formulation and can be found in health food stores. A liquid formulation is available by prescription in North America and the European Union. This formulation is suitable for use in nebulizers (where it can be inhaled) or for intravenous administration. In this latter form, NAC is used to treat cases of acetaminophen (Tylenol) poisoning.
        
 
—Sean R. Hosein
 
 
REFERENCES:
 
1. LaRowe SD, Mardikian P, Malcolm R, et al. Safety and tolerability of N-acetylcysteine in cocaine-dependent individuals. American Journal on Addictions 2006;15:105-110.
 
2. Moran MM, McFarland K, Melendez RI, et al. Cysteine/glutamate exchange regulates meabotropic glutamate receptor presynaptic inhibition of excitatory transmission and vulnerability to cocaine seeking. Journal of Neuroscience 2005;25(27):6389-6393.
 
3. LaRowe, SD, Myrick, H, Henderson, et al. (2005). Cue reactivity and neuroimaging in cocaine dependent subjects: A double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study involving N-Acetylcysteine. 35th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC, 2005. Poster.
 
4. Mardikian, PN, LaRowe, SD, et al. (2006). An open-label dose ranging tolerability study of N-Acetylcysteine for the treatment of cocaine dependence. 68th annual meeting of the College of Problems on Drug Dependence, Scottsdale, AZ, 2006 (submitted).
 
5. Herzenberg LA, De Rosa SC, Dubs JG, et al. Glutathione deficiency is associated with impaired survival in HIV disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 1997;94(5):1967–1972.
 
6. Venketaraman V, Rodgers T, Linares R, et al. Glutathione and growth inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in healthy and HIV-infected subjects. AIDS Research and Therapy 2006;3(5) doi:10.1186/1742-6405-3-5.
 
7. Cohen I, Boya P, Zhao L, et al. Anti-apoptotic activity of the glutathione peroxidase homologue encoded by HIV-1. Apoptosis 2004;9(2):181-92.
 
8. Yamaguchi T, Katoh I, Kurata S. Azidothymidine causes functional and structural destruction of mitochondria, glutathione deficiency and HIV-1 promoter sensitization. European Journal of Biochemistry 2002;269(11):2782-8.
 
9. Droge W and Holm E. Role of cysteine and glutathione in HIV infection and other diseases associated with muscle wasting and immunological dysfunction. FASEB Journal 1997;11(13):1077-89.
 
 
 
 
 
****************************************************
CATIE-News Subscription Information
=================================
 
CATIE-News is a moderated mailing list operated by the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange to distribute information about the treatment of HIV/AIDS and related infections in Canada.
 
To see a directory of archived messages, visit CATIE's website at http://www.catie.ca/catienews.nsf/news
 
For assistance with your subscription from a real human being, please send a message to web@...
 
CATIE-News is written by Sean Hosein, with the collaboration of other members of the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange, in Toronto. Your comments are welcome.
 
Permission to Reproduce:
This document is copyrighted by the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE). All CATIE materials may be reprinted and/or distributed without prior permission. However, reprints may not be edited and must include the following text:
 
From Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE). For more information visit CATIE's Information Network at http://www.catie.ca
 
For permission to edit any CATIE material for further publication, please send an e-mail to info@....
 
If you are changing your e-mail address, please be sure to inform us of this change so that we can update your records and ensure that you continue to receive the latest treatment information. E-mail us at info@...
 
Regards,


Nelson Vergel
powerusa dot org


"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
Michelangelo
CATIE News - Can a supplement reduce cocaine craving?
 
Sharing substance-use equipment can lead to the transmission of many microbes, including those that can cause hepatitis and HIV. And substance use can affect a person’s critical thinking and judgment—factors that play a role in other behaviours that facilitate the spread of HIV. An effect of addiction is that it can destabilize a user’s health and life priorities, so helping people recover is an important step on the road to better health.
 
Many therapies have been tested to help cocaine users try to escape their dependence, but none have proven consistently effective. Now researchers at the Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, the Division of Clinical Neurosciences, and Department of Neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have made discoveries that may offer cocaine addicts new hope.
 
Losing control
Cocaine, like many substances of abuse, alters the way the brain responds to future cocaine exposure, making the user want to repeat his or her experience and laying the path for the downward spiral into addiction. Experiments on rats suggest that addiction affects an area deep inside a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. This area of the brain is believed to be involved in initiating important survival behaviors (such as seeking out food and sex). In addiction, this area is essentially hijacked by the addictive process, making a person seek out the drug of addiction as much as and even more than food, sex or just about anything else.  
 
Rat research helps in understanding addiction
Researchers have discovered that cocaine addiction reduces the amount of glutamate (a neurotransmitter) in the accumbens. Without enough glutamate, the accumbens cannot be properly regulated, causing it to be extremely hyper-responsive to cocaine. Fortunately, the levels of glutamate can be restored by cysteine, a common amino acid usually sold in the form of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). When ingested, NAC helps the body release glutamate that is kept in reserve. With glutamate levels restored, the accumbens can function more normally and presumably helps a person feel less compelled to seek out cocaine. This, in turn, is believed to help reduce the amount of cocaine craving that addicted people would otherwise experience. Research at MUSC has indicated that in rats addicted to cocaine supplements of NAC appear to restore glutamate levels and significantly reduce cocaine-seeking behavior. Based on the results of these experiments, the MUSC research team decided to test whether NAC can help people addicted to cocaine.
 
Safety first
Because NAC had not been previously tried in cocaine-addicted individuals, it was necessary to focus on safety issues for the first NAC study. In that study, 13 participating cocaine addicts received either NAC (600 mg) or placebo every 12 hours for three consecutive days in a hospital. Neither the volunteers nor the experimenters knew which participants received what, in order to ensure that the results would be unbiased. NAC and placebo were taken orally in capsule form.
 
The following week, participants returned for another three-day hospital stay during which the experiment was repeated. For these three days, participants who initially received placebo got NAC, and vice versa. Overall, researchers that found that NAC was “safe and well tolerated.” There were trends of reduced levels of craving in participants taking the supplement. And MRI scans revealed that these participants showed less activity in an area of the brain known as the anterior cingulate that has been previously linked to craving.   
 
Different doses
While the initial results were encouraging, it was important to find out whether NAC could be taken and tolerated at higher doses, and to establish that cocaine-dependent individuals would take it reliably on a daily outpatient basis. The research team conducted an open-label, un-blinded pilot study that assessed the impact of different doses of NAC, again in cocaine addicts, for four weeks. The doses used were as follows:
 
* 1,200 mg per day (600 mg twice daily)
* 2,400 mg per day (1,200 mg twice daily)
* 3,600 mg per day (1,200 mg three times daily)
 
Again, the supplement was well tolerated. There were trends toward reduced craving for cocaine, but such a finding is common in many open-label, un-blinded studies of cocaine cessation. It was encouraging to note, however, that those patients receiving the higher doses tended to show a higher rate of completion (8 out of 9 completed in the 2,400 mg group and 5 out of 6 completed in the 3,600 mg group) than those patients in the low-dose group (in which only 3 out of 8 completed) (personal communication, Steven LaRowe PhD).
 
Large study begins
Now the MUSC research team has launched a larger and longer study to assess the effectiveness of oral NAC in reducing craving for cocaine. The researchers hope to recruit 282 participants who will be randomly assigned to receive one of the following:
 
* NAC – 600 mg twice daily
* NAC – 1,200 mg twice daily
* placebo – twice daily
 
In the large study, participants will be monitored for up to two months and will need to visit the study centre three times weekly for assessments, interviews and analyses of urine to determine cocaine use.
 
Although at least 19 people have started in the large study, it will take several years before it is completed and the results are analysed. Also, research in the area of addiction is time consuming and participants tend to drop out more frequently than in research on other health conditions (personal communication, Steven LaRowe PhD).
 
Beyond cocaine
The research on NAC and cocaine addiction has a sound biological basis, at least in rats. The theories about glutamate and cysteine that underpin the biology of cocaine addiction may also give hope to people addicted to other substances, such as tobacco, heroin and crystal methamphetamine. However, NAC needs to be tested in animals addicted to these other substances before firm conclusions about its potential for addiction recovery can be drawn. Presently, work is underway at MUSC that is assessing NAC in heroin-addicted rats, and initial results have been promising.
 
An important aspect of recovery from addiction is counseling to help participants unlearn negative behaviours. It is therefore likely that NAC (or any other anti-addictive substance) by itself would work best as part of a holistic program geared toward recovery. Indeed, the animal research suggests that NAC alone does not stop ongoing cocaine use—it only appears to be effective in rats that are undergoing an addiction recovery program. 
 
NAC and HIV
The body uses amino acids, including cysteine and glutamine, to make GSH (glutathione). In turn, cells convert GSH into the body’s premier antioxidant. This antioxidant protects cells from toxic substances.
 
Beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, researchers began to find that people with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) had less-than-normal levels of GSH in their blood. The reasons for this are not certain but may be related to the damaging effects of HIV on the body and a high demand for cysteine that exceeds the supply available to cells. Supplements of cysteine can significantly increase GSH levels in the blood of PHAs.
 
In the time before highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was available, supplements of NAC were popular among some PHAs. Short-term clinical trials found that NAC can increase CD4+ cell counts. Also, findings in that era from one study of high-dose NAC (about 4 grams daily) suggested an increased chance of survival in some PHAs.
 
However, HAART’s impact on CD4+ cell counts is much more dramatic and lasting than that of NAC. Nowadays, NAC is used in lower doses—often between 1 and 2 grams daily—to raise GSH levels in the hope that it may reduce the toxicity of HIV medications to the liver, kidneys and other organs. NAC is normally taken with fruit juice or cola drinks, as this can minimize side effects such as upset stomach, heartburn or diarrhea.
 
HIV and TB
Researchers in New Jersey have recently confirmed that less-than-normal levels of GSH are found in the blood of HIV positive people with modestly high CD4+ cell counts (more than 400 cells). Because tuberculosis (TB) is a problem for some PHAs, the researchers conducted experiments in their lab to try to make immune cells from PHAs better able to fight TB-causing bacteria. In these experiments, the team took immune cells from the blood of HIV positive people and bathed their cells with NAC, supplying a source of cysteine. Subsequently, they found that these NAC-treated cells showed an improved ability to fight TB-causing bacteria. NAC may therefore have the potential to be tested in further experiments, particularly in people co-infected with HIV and TB.
 
Availability
NAC is available in capsule formulation and can be found in health food stores. A liquid formulation is available by prescription in North America and the European Union. This formulation is suitable for use in nebulizers (where it can be inhaled) or for intravenous administration. In this latter form, NAC is used to treat cases of acetaminophen (Tylenol) poisoning.
        
 
—Sean R. Hosein
 
 
REFERENCES:
 
1. LaRowe SD, Mardikian P, Malcolm R, et al. Safety and tolerability of N-acetylcysteine in cocaine-dependent individuals. American Journal on Addictions 2006;15:105-110.
 
2. Moran MM, McFarland K, Melendez RI, et al. Cysteine/glutamate exchange regulates meabotropic glutamate receptor presynaptic inhibition of excitatory transmission and vulnerability to cocaine seeking. Journal of Neuroscience 2005;25(27):6389-6393.
 
3. LaRowe, SD, Myrick, H, Henderson, et al. (2005). Cue reactivity and neuroimaging in cocaine dependent subjects: A double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study involving N-Acetylcysteine. 35th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC, 2005. Poster.
 
4. Mardikian, PN, LaRowe, SD, et al. (2006). An open-label dose ranging tolerability study of N-Acetylcysteine for the treatment of cocaine dependence. 68th annual meeting of the College of Problems on Drug Dependence, Scottsdale, AZ, 2006 (submitted).
 
5. Herzenberg LA, De Rosa SC, Dubs JG, et al. Glutathione deficiency is associated with impaired survival in HIV disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 1997;94(5):1967–1972.
 
6. Venketaraman V, Rodgers T, Linares R, et al. Glutathione and growth inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in healthy and HIV-infected subjects. AIDS Research and Therapy 2006;3(5) doi:10.1186/1742-6405-3-5.
 
7. Cohen I, Boya P, Zhao L, et al. Anti-apoptotic activity of the glutathione peroxidase homologue encoded by HIV-1. Apoptosis 2004;9(2):181-92.
 
8. Yamaguchi T, Katoh I, Kurata S. Azidothymidine causes functional and structural destruction of mitochondria, glutathione deficiency and HIV-1 promoter sensitization. European Journal of Biochemistry 2002;269(11):2782-8.
 
9. Droge W and Holm E. Role of cysteine and glutathione in HIV infection and other diseases associated with muscle wasting and immunological dysfunction. FASEB Journal 1997;11(13):1077-89.
 
 
 
 
 
****************************************************
CATIE-News Subscription Information
=================================
 
CATIE-News is a moderated mailing list operated by the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange to distribute information about the treatment of HIV/AIDS and related infections in Canada.
 
To see a directory of archived messages, visit CATIE's website at http://www.catie.ca/catienews.nsf/news
 
For assistance with your subscription from a real human being, please send a message to web@...
 
CATIE-News is written by Sean Hosein, with the collaboration of other members of the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange, in Toronto. Your comments are welcome.
 
Permission to Reproduce:
This document is copyrighted by the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE). All CATIE materials may be reprinted and/or distributed without prior permission. However, reprints may not be edited and must include the following text:
 
From Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE). For more information visit CATIE's Information Network at http://www.catie.ca
 
For permission to edit any CATIE material for further publication, please send an e-mail to info@....
 
If you are changing your e-mail address, please be sure to inform us of this change so that we can update your records and ensure that you continue to receive the latest treatment information. E-mail us at info@...

#16233 From: "jim98122x" <jim98122x@...>
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:12 pm
Subject: Re: sculptra "touch ups"??-- just keep on paying.....
jim98122x
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
I found the same thing you did.

I did 3 or 4 initial treatments of NewFill/Sculptra (can't remember
exactly) and then did touch ups twice, one year later and a year after
that.  Especially with the increased cost of Scultra now, I gave up on
it.  It wasn't doing me any much good and it wasn't lasting, so I gave
up on Sculptra and got Bio Alcamid.  It's been permanent.  I've needed
a little more Bio Alcamid but it's just to replace the last of the
Sculptra as it disappears.  If you have access to Bio Alcamid it's
definitely more cost-effective than Sculptra, unless you're getting
the Sculptra free or almost free.

--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, "dadin2u" <dadin2u@...> wrote:
>
> I, also, went through the initial series of treatments (5 over 2
> years) have had 2 touch ups 2 years later and had another early this
> year.  Still not near to the level where I was after the initial 5
> treatments.  Going back for one more "touchup".  Am sure this is not
> working as it should and question the cost effectiveness of
Scuptra.
> Something more permanent might be a better way to go. Am
investigating
> other options.  Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
>

#16232 From: "dadin2u" <dadin2u@...>
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 2:33 pm
Subject: sculptra "touch ups"??
dadin2u
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
I, also, went through the initial series of treatments (5 over 2
years) have had 2 touch ups 2 years later and had another early this
year.  Still not near to the level where I was after the initial 5
treatments.  Going back for one more "touchup".  Am sure this is not
working as it should and question the cost effectiveness of Scuptra.
Something more permanent might be a better way to go. Am investigating
other options.  Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

#16231 From: Eloisarod@...
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:36 am
Subject: Re: Re: Recommend, a viatical settlement company
Eloisarod@...
Send Email Send Email
 
Hi I've been trying to get life insurance for a while and haven't been able to since I'm 47 and poz for 17yrs I been rejected so much that i've stop trying they told me when i become 50 their are some insurance that don't ask for medical. If anyone knows of an insurance that i can call please let me know My t-cells are 960 v. undi. I would appreciate any infor.
Thanks
Eloisa

#16230 From: WEBcfm@...
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:40 am
Subject: cortisone shots for lumps left behind from sculptra?
WEBcfm@...
Send Email Send Email
 
Hi,
I think I read a posting on here, not that long ago about someone getting cortisone shots into the lumpy areas caused by sculptra injections.  I was wondering if this was like Kenalog (sp?) shots that I had years ago to reduce some scar tissue on my chest.  The plastic surgeon who did my Sculptra treatments is pretty inexperienced.  I had to go to someone locally to get financial help from a local AIDS org to help pay for it. 
On the right side of my face, the crease that is the "laugh line" seems to be raised up, and I feel the hard lumps along the line.  I massaged it as I was told to do after the applications. For some reason that area just seemed to become raised up from the rest of my face.  Is that the product in there, or collogen that it made my body manufacture? 
When I told the Dr about cortizone shots being used for the lumps, he said he'd look into it..but i'm wondering if he really knows what the hell he's doing.  He says "I don't know" alot when I ask questions.
He gave me seven treatments, and I was SEVERELY wasted.  There was no fat left in my face.  It was basically skin and bone.  So, even with the lumpy area, it's still better than it was.
If anyone can give me some input on this, I'd really appreciate it.
thank you,
Charlie in Connecticut

#16229 From: "George M. Carter" <fiar@...>
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:33 pm
Subject: Re: AIDS Drugs Show Prevention Promise
lalzephyr
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
I have a number of concerns about this use of tenofovir (Viread) for
"pre-exposure prophylaxis" (PrEP).

First, a number of clinical studies were shut down in countries from
Cameroun to Cambodia. Largely because of ethical concerns such as what kind
of treatment will people receive who participate if they should become
HIV+?  There were a LOT of other issues that were raised but appear to have
been largely ignored. Local communities and stakeholders were more or less
shut out from the process (though this began to improve by the time the
study was being developed in Cambodia).

The study was funded by Gates Foundation and CDC apparently. FHI was
conducting. These are not your typical players in clinical trial design.
I'm all for new players--we need the data....

...but the original studies arose out of ONE study of a few macaques who
seemed to be protected. However, several subsequent studies suggested that
exposure resulted in infection. So the intervention does not appear to work.

Meantime, a recent study of ONLY 6 monkeys showed pretty good protection
but now using TWO drugs, tenofovir/emtricitabine ("Truvada"). I think it
behooves them to reproduce these data in other hands before rushing into
studies.

But presuming it does offer some protection--


At 10:25 AM 3/28/2006, you wrote:
>AIDS Drugs Show Prevention Promise
>
>By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer 40 minutes ago
>
>snip...
>Condoms and counseling alone have not been enough —

But they are a lot less expensive....about a nickel. We DEFINITELY need
inexpensive, safe microbicides, no question.

Actually, of course, what we REALLY need is a) a vaccine and a) a CURE.

snip...
>The drugs would only be given to people along with counseling and
>condoms,  . . .

Given? Yes. In a study. After? How would people get them--especially say
sex workers in Cambodia? Would the government pay? CDC? Gates? I doubt it.

Seems to me, this merely opens a brand new, lucrative market to Gilead: get
the drugs into people who are not HIV+.

Yet 3 million men, women and children DIED of AIDS last year lacking this
very kind of drug treatment.


>Expense also could limit use of the drugs. Gilead donated them for the
>studies and sells them in poor countries at cost — 57 cents a pill for
>tenofovir and 87 cents for Truvada, the combination drug. That's more than
>the cost of condoms, available for pennies and donated by the truckload in
>Africa, but often unused.

Often unused--so they can't even get condoms to people---but somehow expect
people that often make less than $1 per day to afford not just 57 cents but
$1.44.

>In the United States, wholesale costs are $417 for a month of tenofovir
>and $650 for Truvada.

Yes. Why?

It's utterly arbitrary. Very damned little to do with costs of R&D...note
that Gilead is ONLY providing the drugs. Not paying a dime for these studies.

Again--I am GLAD to have more public funding of studies. Pharma has dished
out too goddamn many lies and used them to justify absolute RAPE--which as
Part D for Death rolls out will only get worse. The government gave up its
right to negotiate better prices (unlike the VA).

Let alone that these drugs are toxic and have side effects.

And let alone that Gilead has a "celebrity of evil" on its Board of Directors.

None other than that lying, murdering, go to war on lies and botch it
horribly murderer and war criminal, Donald Rumsfeld.
George M. Carter

#16228 From: "jim98122x" <jim98122x@...>
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 1:00 am
Subject: Re: Recommend, a viatical settlement company
jim98122x
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, "Jorge Lallemand" <lacuadra70@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I may be tempted to sell one of my life insurance policies, and
was wondering about a good company that serves the South East  or
Florida.
>
> You help and recommendations will be appreciated
>
> Thanks JL


Good luck with that.  I tried to do it last year and sent my policy
info to Life Settlement Alliance, out of Ft. Lauderdale.  THey tood
weeks to get around to it, and in the end nobody was interested.  I
got no offers at all for it, and I finally let it lapse.

I guess I just wasn't sick enough for anyone to risk buying it.
They want you to die fast so they get their money.

For reference:  I'm 47, have been poz for probalby 20 years, have
about 550-650 T-cells, and a viral load that's usually about 75,000
to 150,000.  But I'm never sick and have never had any HIV-related
illneses.  It was about a $200,000 policy.

By the way-- the guy I worked with was real nice, but I don't think
it was his fault.  They just can't find investors who were willing
to speculate on how long it would take till I'll die.

Hope this helps you, but don't be surprised.  But of course, "your
mileage may vary"....

#16227 From: PoWeRTX@...
Date: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:46 pm
Subject: Nutrition Fact Sheets from ANSA
nelsonvergel
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
#16226 From: PoWeRTX@...
Date: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:35 pm
Subject: My Company Can Find Out About Every Med I Take; What Do I Do?
nelsonvergel
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My Company Can Find Out About Every Med I Take; What Do I Do?
I work for a self-insured company that provides group medical coverage. A third-party company handles our claims, but our company human resources director can log on to that company's Web site and see a list of every single doctor visit I make and every prescription I fill. Is this legal? I'm worried that my company might find out about my HIV status and tell others, or use the info to fire me.
 
Regards,


Nelson Vergel
powerusa dot org


"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
Michelangelo

#16225 From: PoWeRTX@...
Date: Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:00 pm
Subject: Dietary Supplements Attacked by the Media
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LE Magazine June 2006

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Dietary Supplements Attacked by the Media


By William Faloon
by William Faloon

The media has launched an assault against healthy lifestyles and some popular dietary supplements. The public has been thrust into a state of confusion by these frenzied media reports that contradict long-established scientific principles.

I am impressed by how quickly Life Extension members picked up on the errors contained in the studies used to ridicule those who practice healthy living.

The outrage over these biased reports was not limited to Life Extension members. The front page of the Wall Street Journal carried a scathing report about how the Federal Government issued misleading press releases that gave the media the green light to discredit alternative approaches to disease treatment. According to the Wall Street Journal:

“Design problems in all the trials means the results don’t really answer the questions they were supposed to address. And a flawed communications effort led to widespread misinterpretation of the results by the news media and the public.” 1

What you are about to read might at first seem unbelievable. Please remember, however, that the studies we describe were conducted by mainstream doctors who know virtually nothing about natural ways to prevent and treat disease.

As you will also find out, many of the doctors who designed and authored these flawed studies received financial compensation from the very pharmaceutical companies that stood to gain the most by deriding low-cost natural approaches to disease prevention.

Media says: Eat all the fat you want.

Does eating a low-fat diet reduce the risk of contracting common diseases? The media answered this question by boldly proclaiming that there is no benefit to women eating a low fat diet. According a lead article in the Washington Post:

“Low-fat diets do not protect women against heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer or colon cancer.” 2

The study that this headline story was based on, however, failed to differentiate between health-promoting fats (such as monounsaturated and omega-3 fats) and lethal trans fats. 3-5 It was long ago established that over-consumption of trans fats is related to atherosclerosis, cancer, and chronic inflammation. 6-12 Furthermore, there was no attempt to measure the balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Most Western diets contain an abundance of omega-6 fatty acids (e.g., corn, safflower oils) and completely inadequate levels of omega-3 fatty acids (such as fish oil, flaxseed, and walnut oils).

The “excuse” some researchers gave when confronted with these flaws was that when the low-fat studies were designed, doctors did not know the difference between friendly and deadly fats. The facts are that when these studies were designed, there was an abundance of published scientific data to show that friendly fats like olive oil 13-35, flax oil 36-43, and fish oil 44-57 conferred life-saving benefits while trans fats were proven killers.

Researchers also were unable to rigorously monitor whether or not the participants actually followed low-fat diets. Food-intake questionnaires were used, which are notoriously unreliable indicators of food intake.

In what is perhaps the most outrageous defect in these studies, only 1 in 7 women actually achieved the low-fat diet threshold! Specifically, only 14.4% of the “low-fat” group really followed a low-fat diet. Furthermore, the average reduction in total fat intake in the “low-fat group” was only 8.2% (with just a 2.9% decrease in saturated fat intake). Assuming that this paltry 8.2% figure is accurate (i.e., that the food questionnaires were completely accurate), this number does not come close to the percentage of fat-calorie reduction other studies have shown is needed to reduce disease risk.

These flaws rendered this multimillion-dollar low-fat diet study worthless. This did not stop major newspapers, however, from featuring articles on their front pages stating that reduced-fat diets provide no health benefits.

Media says: calcium does not protect bones

One of the most controversial media stories dealt with a study that supposedly showed that women who took calcium and vitamin D supplements did not obtain any protection against hip fracture. 58

We at Life Extension initially thought this negative finding was because the active group was not given magnesium, zinc, manganese, and other nutrients that are essential to maintaining optimal bone density.

When we got our hands on the study itself, we were startled to find that the women in the study who actually took their calcium and vitamin D supplements suffered 29% fewer hip fractures. 58 This was contrary to what the headlines said. It turned out that the media believed the government’s negative press release and obviously did not read the actual scientific study.

Many study subjects failed to take their calcium-vitamin D supplements

In this study to evaluate the efficacy of calcium and vitamin D compared to placebo, it was startling to learn that many women in the active arm did not take their calcium-vitamin D supplements! According to the study report, about 40% of the women assigned to take calcium and vitamin D did not achieve a standard rate of compliance with their supplements!

When the entire study was tallied, the women in each group (active and placebo) officially remained in their respective group, whether or not they actually followed the study protocol. This meant that women in the active group (the one given the calcium-vitamin D supplements) were counted as having taken the calcium-vitamin D, whether they really took the supplement or not. According to the scientists who conducted this study:

“Participants were followed for major outcomes, regardless of their adherence to the study medication…” 58

The “study medication” mentioned above is the calcium-vitamin D supplement. The fact that a study could be published in a medical journal “regardless” of whether the participants actually took the active ingredient defies logic. The application of common sense would invalidate the findings of this study, regardless of what statisticians might argue.

Placebo group allowed to take calcium and vitamin D

Further confounding the study results were previously unheard-of rules that allowed the placebo group to take multi-vitamin, calcium, and vitamin D supplements on their own if they wanted. It turned out that many in the placebo group were taking calcium and vitamin D. According to the study design, since they were part of the placebo arm, they were officially not taking calcium-vitamin D supplements, even though many of them were indeed taking calcium-vitamin D.

The fact that the placebo group was freely allowed to take multivitamins, calcium and vitamin D meant that many of the placebo participants may have consumed more bone-protecting nutrients (including boron, magnesium, zinc, and manganese) than the active group (who were supposed to be taking only calcium and vitamin D). By failing to separate who was really taking bone-protecting supplements, it was impossible draw a scientific conclusion, yet the media boldly asserted that there was no difference in the hip fracture rate in the group assigned the calcium-vitamin D supplements (many of whom were not taking their supplements) as compared to the placebo group (many who were consuming calcium, vitamin D, and other bone-protecting supplements).

Bone building hormones and drugs also permitted

Not only was the placebo group allowed to take their own calcium, vitamin D, and other bone-maintenance supplements, but both groups were also allowed to take drugs (bisphosphonates and calcitonin) and hormone therapies that are known to prevent bone loss and restore bone density. In this study that the Federal government spent over $10 million funding, virtually anything was allowed.

Media grossly misleads public

While the study itself was badly flawed, the media distortion of the findings is nothing short of abominable. Front-page news stories declared calcium-vitamin D supplements had been proven worthless, yet the actual study stated:

“Women receiving calcium with vitamin D supplements had greater preservation of total-hip bone mineral density… 58

“Among women who were adherent (i.e., those who took at least 80 percent of the study medication), calcium with vitamin D supplementation resulted in a 29 percent reduction in hip fracture… 58

“The effect of calcium with vitamin D might require higher doses of vitamin D than were used… 58

“It is also plausible that there was a benefit only among the women who adhered to the study treatment.” 58

As you will read in the June 2006 issue of Life Extension magazine, there are even more serious flaws in this calcium-vitamin D study than what I just described, but it is safe to state that this may have been one of the most poorly designed studies in the history of modern medicine. This did not stop the media from turning it into one of the main headline news stories of the day.

Millions of American women will discard their calcium and vitamin D supplements based on these false and misleading headlines. This is great news for pharmaceutical companies that sell expensive drugs to treat osteoporosis.

Biased attack on glucosamine

The next victim of the media’s witch hunt was glucosamine, which was one of several agents tested as a treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee.

The media’s deceptive stories were based on a study of people with mild to severe knee pain who were given a form of glucosamine not normally found in dietary supplements. Some participants received this form of glucosamine by itself, while others were given chondroitin sulfate by itself, a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin, or the drug Celebrex®.

The results of this study were encouraging, but the media distorted the findings in a way that made it appear that glucosamine-chondroitin supplements were of little value. A number of media outlets proclaimed that arthritis sufferers were wasting their money by taking glucosamine. While this made compelling headlines, it did not accurately convey what was written in the actual study.

The findings from the actual scientific study made it clear that glucosamine and chondroitin taken together were effective in those with moderate to severe arthritis of the knees. 59

Continued on Page 2 of 3


LE Magazine June 2006

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Dietary Supplements Attacked by the Media


By William Faloon

Media may not have read glucosamine study

The media appears to have relied on a biased editorial that accompanied the actual scientific report on glucosamine. For instance, the New York Times said the following about this arthritis study:

“No effect was found for glucosamine, chondroitin, or the combination of both.” 60

Yet on page 804 of the study (which was published in New England Journal of Medicine, the following was stated about patients with moderate to severe arthritis of the knee who took glucosamine-chondroitin therapy:

“…combined treatment was significantly more effective than placebo” 59

The actual study went on to say that in those with moderate to severe arthritis, the combination of glucosamine-chondroitin resulted in a 24.9% to 26.4% improvement in pain relief. This result exceeded the 20% response to treatment measurement that the scientists themselves stated would prove efficacy. 59

As far as reversing the structural damage inflicted to the knee by osteoarthritis, the scientists stated:

“Treatment with chondroitin sulfate was associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of joint swelling, effusion, or both.” 59

In their concluding remarks, the scientists stated:

“Our finding that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate may have some efficacy in patients with moderate-to-severe pain is interesting, but must be confirmed by another trial.” 59

As anyone who understands the English language can read, even this different form of glucosamine, when combined with chondroitin sulfate, demonstrated efficacy in patients most in need, i.e., those with moderate-to-severe pain! The media overlooked these clearly written findings in their haste to viciously attack glucosamine and chondroitin dietary supplements.

Better than Celebrex®

One of the arms in this arthritis study was given 200 mg a day of Celebrex®, an FDA-approved arthritis drug.

In patients with moderate to severe knee pain, however, the only treatment that showed significant benefit was glucosamine-chondroitin.

The media, however, chose to tout the mediocre benefits that Celebrex® showed in this study. For instance, in a widely distributed Associated Press story, the following was stated about Celebrex®:

“The drug Celebrex did reduce pain -- 70 percent reported improvement -- affirming the study's validity.” 61

The inclusion of Celebrex, in fact, did not affirm the study’s validity considering that 60 percent of the placebo group also reported improvement. The authors of this study stated that compared to placebo, Celebrex® was “ not significantly better.” 59

In the concluding remarks, these scientists stated:

“However, even the effects of celecoxib (Celebrex®) were smaller than those seen in other studies.” 59

The media exaggerated the benefits of Celebrex while vilifying glucosamine-chondroitin, carrying on a long tradition of bias against dietary supplements.

The arthritis study’s disappointing findings

The data that caused these negative media stories involved study subjects with mild knee pain. The scientists noted that in these patients, “differences between placebo and the various agents were relatively small.” 59

As compared to placebo, here were the pain score percentage point improvements for overall groups within this study: 59

Therapy

Improvement in Primary Pain Score

Improvement in Secondary Pain Score

Glucosamine HCL only (note this is not glucosamine sulfate)

3.9%

3.7%

Chondroitin sulfate only

5.3%

6.6%

Glucosamine HCL + chondroitin sulfate

6.5%

8.5%

Celebrex®

10%

10.4%

The scientists who conducted this study appropriately noted that only three of the above changes were significant overall. Furthermore, for the primary outcome in the combined glucosamine + chondroitin group, the results were very close to reaching statistical significance. For the secondary outcome, it did reach significance!

The media misinterpreted these findings and used them as ammunition to attack the efficacy of glucosamine and chondroitin supplements.

Conflicts of Interest

The New England Journal of Medicine recently enacted a policy of mandating disclosure of potential financial conflicts of interest amongst the authors of the studies it publishes. The reason for this was past instances of questionable articles supporting the safety-efficacy of drugs authored by doctors who were financially beholden to pharmaceutical companies that made the drugs.

What follows are the potential conflicts of the authors of the negative glucosamine study as reported by the New England Journal of Medicine:

“Drs. Bingham, Brandt, Clegg, Hooper, and Schnitzer report having received consulting fees or having served on advisory boards for McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals. Drs. Brandt, Moskowitz, Schnitzer, and Schumacher report having received consulting fees or having served on advisory boards for Pfizer. Dr. Brandt reports having equity interests in Pfizer. Drs. Moskowitz and Weisman report having received lecture fees from Pfizer; Dr. Brandt, lecture fees from McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals; Drs. Bingham, Clegg, Hooper, Jackson, Molitor, Sawitzke, and Schnitzer, grant support from Pfizer; and Dr. Bingham, grant support from McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Brandt reports having received royalties from books related to osteoarthritis. Dr. Moskowitz reports having served as an expert consultant for Pfizer.” – pp. 807 “Dr. Hochberg reports having received consulting fees from Pfizer and Merck and speaker’s fees from Merck and Institut Biochimique.” 59

Arthritis drugs are (or have been) huge moneymakers for the pharmaceutical companies. These same companies have paid monies to doctors who designed, oversaw, and authored the New England Journal of Medicine study and the negative editorial about glucosamine. Readers can make their own determination if this represents frank bias or, at a minimum, a disingenuous approach to scientific research.

The encouraging findings from the arthritis trial

As noted earlier, significant benefits were seen in patients with moderate to severe arthritis of the knee in the glucosamine-chondroitin group. Compared to placebo, the pain score percentage point improvements in the moderate to severe arthritis group were as follows: 59

Therapy

Improvement in Primary Pain Score

Improvement in Secondary Pain Score

Glucosamine HCL only (note this is not glucosamine sulfate)

11.9%

17.1%

Chondroitin sulfate only

7.1%

10%

Celebrex®

15.1%

18.1%

Glucosamine HCL + chondroitin sulfate

24.9%

26.4%

In patients with moderate to severe knee pain, Celebrex® provided modest relief, whereas glucosamine-chondroitin showed significant reductions in pain scores. It is interesting that Celebrex® was not criticized by the media, even though it failed to produce the expected results in this sub-group of patients suffering with moderate to severe pain.

Wrong form of glucosamine used

A troubling flaw in this study is that the wrong form of glucosamine was given to the study subjects. Glucosamine sulfate is the most prevalent form of glucosamine used in dietary supplements. Most of the studies showing significant efficacy used glucosamine sulfate, but the form used in the New England Journal of Medicine study was glucosamine hydrochloride.

Since the study subjects received glucosamine hydrochloride, they were not obtaining the joint-protecting benefits conferred by the sulfur found in the “sulfate” part of the glucosamine compound. The anti-arthritis benefits of sulfur are so well documented that many arthritis patients find relief with a low-cost supplement called MSM (methylsulfonylmethane), which is a concentrated source of sulfur. 62-72 The anti-arthritic properties of SAMe (s-adenosyl-methionine) are also thought to be related to its high sulfur content. 73-79

In this New England Journal of Medicine study that made headline news around the world, the subjects taking glucosamine only were getting no supplemental sulfur. Even the group getting the glucosamine and chondroitin was only getting a small amount of sulfur (from the chondroitin sulfate only).

Why the media attacked glucosamine

In an editorial appearing in the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, glucosamine was harshly criticized. It was obviously a lot easier for the media to echo one doctor’s condemnation than to take the time to read the actual study itself.

This one doctor, by the way, receives consulting fees from Pfizer and Merck. In fact, a number of the authors of the glucosamine study published in the New England Journal of Medicine receive compensation from big pharma, mostly from Pfizer, which is the maker of Celebrex®. None of the study’s authors had an economic interest in glucosamine or chondroitin. Some in alternative medicine have said this is equivalent to having an opposing team’s referees dictate the outcome of a sporting event.

What most people don’t realize, however, is that it is not the obligation of the media to provide accurate reporting. The media is responsible for generating profits for its shareholders, which means they have to grab the public’s attention with sensational headlines that sell newspapers, TV viewing time, etc.

Reporting on the positive parts of the New England Journal of Medicine study would not have motivated many people to buy a newspaper. After all, there are dozens of studies substantiating the anti-arthritic properties of glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate. 59, 80-110 One more new study is hardly a newsworthy event.

There are now millions of Americans using glucosamine-based dietary supplements. These are the seventh most popular dietary supplement sold in the United States. There are over 20 million Americans affected by osteoarthritis. 111 So when the largest newspaper in the United States ran the headline, “Two Arthritis Drugs Found To Be Ineffective,” they knew it would catch a lot of attention. The fact that glucosamine and chondroitin were labeled as “drugs” is an indication of how little time this newspaper spent evaluating the actual study.

Continued on Page 3 of 3


LE Magazine June 2006

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Dietary Supplements Attacked by the Media


By William Faloon

How effective is glucosamine-chondroitin?

In previous issues of Life Extension magazine, we have discussed the studies indicating a significant benefit to arthritic patients who take glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate. 112-113 It is because of these successful earlier studies that this latest study published in the New England Journal of Medicine was conducted.

While glucosamine-chondroitin have documented efficacy, many arthritis sufferers need to take a broader approach to relieving inflammation, immobility, and chronic pain. Fish oil, for instance, has been shown to help reduce pro-inflammatory eicosanoids such as prostaglandin E2 and leukotriene B4, along with pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha and IL-1b. 114-116 These inflammatory factors play a major role in degenerative joint disease. Over the past 10 years, we have published findings showing benefits when combinations of fish oil, borage oil, glucosamine, and other nutrients are taken together. 117

Sulfur for the Joints

One of the flaws in the New England Journal of Medicine study may have been that the form of glucosamine used did not provide any sulfur.

Animal studies have shown that joints affected by osteoarthritis have lower sulfur content, 118 and that arthritic mice given a sulfur-containing nutrient (MSM) experience less joint degeneration. 119 In a double-blind trial in people with osteoarthritis, study participants who received MSM by itself experienced significant pain relief. 120

In a study published in 2004, the combination of glucosamine with MSM was found to more effective in improving the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis than either agent alone. 62 After 12 weeks of treatment, the average pain score in the glucosamine-only group dropped from 1.74 to 0.65…a 63% reduction. In the MSM-only group, it fell from 1.53 to 0.74...a 52% reduction. However, in the group taking glucosamine and MSM, the average pain score dropped from 1.7 to 0.36…an astounding reduction of 79%! The researchers also found that the combination therapy had a faster effect on pain and inflammation than either glucosamine or MSM alone.

It is important to point out, however, that some studies have used glucosamine HCL to effectively relieve arthritis pain.

Media tries to bury saw palmetto

More than 20 published studies show that saw palmetto alleviates symptoms associated with benign prostate disease such as frequent urination, low urine stream, and a feeling of not completely emptying the bladder. 121-141

A recent study however, found saw palmetto to be ineffective in men with moderate-to-severe benign prostate hypertrophy. As a result of this one study, the media declared saw palmetto useless.

The doctors who conducted this negative saw palmetto study received financial compensation from Merck (which makes Proscar®), GlaxoSmithKline (which makes Avodart®), and TAP Pharmaceuticals (which makes Lupron®). Proscar and Avodart are drugs that directly compete against saw palmetto, whereas Lupron is used mostly by men who develop prostate cancer.

Some in the alternative medical community have cried “foul,” in as much as the doctors overseeing this negative saw palmetto study received financial compensation from the same pharmaceutical companies that stood to gain the most from discrediting non-prescription herbal therapies such as saw palmetto.

Flaws in saw palmetto study

One of the defects of the negative saw palmetto study is that it evaluated men who had more advanced prostate disease than did most of the participants in the favorable saw palmetto studies. In the numerous European studies that documented saw palmetto’s efficacy, most of the men evaluated were considered to have moderate prostate disease. The study used to attack saw palmetto, on the other hand, looked at men with moderate-to-severe prostate disease. Researchers long ago determined that men with moderate-to-severe benign prostate disease need aggressive therapy to achieve effective relief. This is why recent studies showing positive benefit to herbal prostate remedies have used saw palmetto combined with nettle root. 142-146 This fact raises questions as to why so much money was spent funding a study of men with significant prostate disease using only saw palmetto, when European doctors prescribe combination herbal therapies to treat benign prostate disease.

Another flaw of this study is that the group assigned the saw palmetto had more pronounced prostate disease than did the placebo group. For instance, the group receiving saw palmetto had a BPH Impact Score that was statistically significantly worse than the placebo group at baseline. Whether these baseline differences had an impact on the study’s outcome is unknown. By placing men with more severe prostate disease in the saw palmetto group, however, the study was biased against saw palmetto from the beginning.

The Overlooked Effects of Estrogen on the Prostate

Mainstream medicine remains fixated on the role of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in promoting prostate gland overgrowth. Prostate disease, however, does not strike young men with high testosterone levels

The overlooked fact is that as men grow older, they produce less testosterone and a lot more estrogen. Prostate cells contain estrogen receptor sites, demonstrating that the gland can respond directly to the growth-promoting effects of estrogen. Recent data suggest that estrogens play a role in prostate disease. 147-149

Aging men, in particular those with the so-called pot belly (abdominal obesity), often have excess levels of the aromatase enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen. The prostate itself expresses aromatase that can convert testosterone into estrogen within the gland itself. Two herbal extracts used extensively in Europe (pygeum and nettle root) have demonstrated aromatase-suppressing effects in vitro, especially when they are used together. 150

Why this study is irrelevant to aging men today

European doctors use various combinations of pygeum, nettle root, beta-sitosterol, saw palmetto, and other herbs to treat benign prostate disease. Despite numerous scientific studies indicating that treatment of prostate enlargement should include a combination of herbal extracts, the doctors who designed the one recent negative study choose to test saw palmetto in isolation.

Based on evidence that prostate disease is caused by several different factors, it would appear that the recent study that used only saw palmetto to treat men with moderate-to-severe prostate disease was designed to fail. The study therefore has no relevance to men taking combination supplements that provide nettle root (Urtica dioica), pygeum, beta-sitosterol, and other plant extracts that have proven efficacy in dozens of published scientific studies. 151-181

It is important to also note that this is only one study of a relatively small group of men with moderate-to-severe prostate enlargement who were only allowed to use saw palmetto. Ten times as many men with varying degrees of prostate disease have participated in other studies that showed even saw palmetto taken by itself to be highly effective. 121-141

Exposing the recent media attack against dietary supplements

Over the past several months, the media has questioned the efficacy of several popular dietary supplements. In the upcoming June 2006 issue of Life Extension magazine, we dissect these negative media reports down to the bone to reveal the hard scientific facts.

In doing so, we expose the absurdity of the headline-hungry media making proclamations such as “another natural remedy bit the dust” when describing the recent glucosamine study. We also reveal the inappropriateness of conventional doctors, with little knowledge about the proper use of nutrients, but with strong financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry, conducting studies that contain so many flaws that their findings are largely irrelevant.

Members of the Life Extension Foundation discover the science behind the headlines in order to avoid being victimized by the medical establishment’s ominous propaganda machine.

For longer life,

William Faloon

P.S.- At the beginning of this letter, I stated that the front page of the Wall Street Journal featured an article stating:

“Design problems in all the trials means the results don’t really answer the questions they were supposed to address. And a flawed communications effort led to widespread misinterpretation of the results by the news media and the public.” 1

It is important to note that like other media outlets, the Wall Street Journal (in other articles) regurgitated the same negative reports about dietary supplements as did the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, et al.

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Regards,


Nelson Vergel
powerusa dot org


"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
Michelangelo

#16224 From: vaeagle2@...
Date: Thu Mar 30, 2006 1:44 am
Subject: 1st Bird-Flu Vaccine Only Partly Effective
eesdc_2001
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1st Bird-Flu Vaccine Only Partly Effective

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer 1 hour, 12 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The nation's first vaccine against bird flu is only modestly
effective, producing apparent protection in slightly over half the people who
receive two mega-dose shots, initial testing shows. The worrisome findings
underscore the urgency of brewing a better vaccine.

The government had signaled that this vaccine had serious flaws even as it
ordered $162 million worth of shots last summer to stockpile in case the bird
flu mutated to spread easily from person to person.

But results of the first human testing, being published Thursday in The
New England Journal of Medicine, show the extent of the problem: The vaccine
sparked a protective immune response in disappointingly few people — 54 percent
of those who got two shots, 28 days apart, of the highest dose.

Regular winter flu shots, in contrast, protect 75 percent to 90 percent of young
healthy people, the same group that first tested the experimental bird-flu
vaccine. The elderly typically fare worse; how they respond to the bird flu
shots still is being analyzed.

The results weren't too surprising, said lead researcher Dr. John Treanor of the
University of Rochester. Humans have never been exposed to the deadly bird-flu
strain called H5N1, and it takes the immune system awhile to ramp up to fight
unique types of influenza.

The good news: The vaccine seems safe even at doses 12 times stronger than are
used in the regular winter flu shot. The main side effect was pain at the site
of the injection.

Researchers are giving the study's 451 volunteers a third dose, to see if that
spurs more protection. More promising are other studies under way that add
immune-enhancing chemicals to the shots to try to boost their power, in hopes
people could be protected with lower doses.

"We have a long way to go," acknowledged Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease
chief at the
National Institutes of Health, which funded the research.

Indeed, because each shot requires such a high dose, the government's vaccine
stockpile contains enough for just 4 million people, far below its initial goal
of 20 million. Those shots would be reserved for health care providers and
workers in flu vaccine factories if a human epidemic of H5N1 began any time
soon, Fauci said.

The world's vaccine factories are now brewing regular flu shots for next winter.
They would make only bird-flu vaccine if a pandemic began. But at these high
doses, the maximum that could be produced would fully immunize just 75 million
people — 1.25 percent of the world's population — half of whom wouldn't be
adequately protected, Mayo Clinic flu specialist Dr. Gregory Poland wrote in an
accompanying editorial.

Still, "my impression is we are better off having stockpiled this vaccine than
none," said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, a member of an
independent panel that closely monitored the shots' safety during this first
human testing.

"My concern is the public will see (the findings) as the jar half empty," he
said, adding that he preferred that it be viewed as "the first strong step in a
long journey."

More than 180 people worldwide, mostly in Asia, are known to have been infected
with the H5N1 virus since 2003; more than 100 of them have died. Virtually all
were infected by close contact with sick poultry. But flu viruses are prone to
genetic mutations, and as H5N1 is now rapidly continent-hopping via migrating
birds, there is increasing fear that it may eventually become easily spread from
person-to-person, sparking a global epidemic.

Scientists don't know how much of an immune response — the creation of
infection-fighting antibodies — a vaccine must prompt to protect people against
bird flu. So in this first human study, Treanor and colleagues tested whether
the H5N1 vaccine would prompt as much antibody protection as do regular winter
flu shots.

Those annual flu shots contain 15 micrograms of antigen, the key element. For
the H5N1 vaccine, it took two shots that each contained 90 micrograms of antigen
to spur a protective immune response in slightly over half of recipients,
Treanor found.

However, 70 percent of recipients had a slightly lower immune response — and
scientists couldn't say whether they might have some protection against bird
flu.

"Our guess about what will be a protective response may be very conservative,"
Treanor cautioned.

Vaccine manufacturers Sanofi-Pasteur and Chiron Corp. now are adding
immune-enhancing compounds, called alum and MF59 respectively, to the
experimental vaccine in hopes they would spark protection with doses closer to
15 micrograms, thus stretching limited supplies. Pilot studies are optimistic;
Fauci said results may come in the fall.

Further complicating matters: This first H5N1 vaccine is already outdated, based
on a version of the virus culled in Vietnam in 2004. Scientists now are creating
a vaccine based on a slightly different Indonesian version that emerged last
year; they don't yet know how much protection the older vaccine would spur
against the newer virus.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060330/ap_on_he_me/bird_flu_vaccine

#16223 From: PoWeRTX@...
Date: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:32 pm
Subject: Testosterone and Fat loss
nelsonvergel
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I agree that testosterone can decrease fat under the skin, but I would not go as far as to say that it causes facial wasting, the way Zerit does.
 
Testosterone Supplements and HIV: Weighing the Pluses (Weight Gain, Mood Improvement) and Minuses (Fat Loss)
Is it a good idea for me to take testosterone? I'm a severely underweight, HIV-positive man with a high CD4 count. If testosterone supplements can help me gain some desperately needed weight/muscle and improve my sex drive and self-esteem, is that worth any potential fat loss they may cause in my arms and legs?

In
this subsequent post, Dr. Wohl responds to AIDS treatment advocate Michael Mooney, who asks: What studies support the existence of a link between testosterone and lipoatrophy?
 
Regards,


Nelson Vergel
powerusa dot org


"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
Michelangelo

#16222 From: PoWeRTX@...
Date: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:35 pm
Subject: Disability Nightmare
nelsonvergel
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I had one of these medical exams a few years ago to determine if I can continue being on disability. It was not fun. But I have multiple drug resistance and that helped me make a case. I do not know what would have happened if my viral load had been undetectable. I also brought my pill box with me!
 
click here
Does an Independent Medical Exam Mean They Might Cancel My Long-Term Disability?
I'm a 50-year-old HIVer with a CD4 count of 70 and an undetectable viral load. I've been on long-term disability for eight years. Recently, my long-term disability carrier said it was reviewing my disability claim, and asked me to provide something called an IME (Independent Medical Examination). I loved my job and I miss it, but I'm just not healthy enough to return to work. What if this IME is just the first step toward canceling my disability claim?
 
Regards,


Nelson Vergel
powerusa dot org


"The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they set their sights too low and do."
Michelangelo

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