Categories : HIVTags :

HIV Death Rates in Men Far Exceed Women in SA

On By ModernMedia

At a virtual conference on Tuesday, the South African National AIDS Council (Sanac) showcased their updated Thembisa model, which is the definitive model for HIV prevalence and incidence in the country.

Between 2000 and 2019, there was a 57% drop in incidence, or new infections, which falls short of the UN target of 75% reduction.  Antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage is 71% of those infected with HIV.

About 13% of South Africans are currently living with HIV, which is partly a result of longer life expectancy thanks to ART. Among female sex workers, the prevalence is 55%. Due to biological and social factors, the prevalence rate is higher among women but the death rate from HIV is higher in men, due to less ART coverage than in women.

The new Thembisa model also showed the country’s progress towards UNAIDS 90-90-90 model (90% knowing their HIV status, 90% on ART, 90% viral suppression). Although 94% of women and 91% of men knew their statuses, only 74% of women and 71% of men were on ART. Fortunately, 92% of both sexes achieved viral suppression. 

SA’s National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs is due to be renewed in 2022.

Source: Daily Maverick

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

Tinnitus Severity Measured with Non-invasive Brain Imaging

On By ModernMedia

Tinnitus, experienced by about 20% of people, has long been a complaint without any overt signs to measure. Recent bran imaging techniques showed that tinnitus was related to increased neural firing and changes in connectivity in certain brain regions.

Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), researchers in 2014 were able to map anomalous activity in the right auditory cortex of tinnitus sufferers, and in 2018, researchers showed that signals there were related to both the presence and intensity of the tinnitus.

fNIRS measures the absorption of near-infrared light shining into the head to measure oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin levels, which are associated with cerebral activity.

Using machine learning which compared 25 patients with tinnitus to 21 healthy patients, the researchers were able to isolate two distinct areas of 

The algorithms were able to diagnose tinnitus with 78% accuracy and gauge intensity with 87% accuracy.

The imaging showed higher connectivity in the temporal-frontal lobe, linked to tinnitus duration and stress, and higher connectivity in the temporal-occipital lobe, which is linked to sound intensity. It opens the possibility of measuring both loudness and annoyance with fNIRS, and also supports preliminary research showing that by making the brain process other information, the tinnitus intensity can be reduced.

Source: Science Alert

Categories : Ageing GeneticsTags :

Hyperbaric Oxygen Shown to Increase Telomere Length

On By ModernMedia

In a world first, the length of human telomeres in living subjects has been increased in a prospective clinical trial as part of a broader study of aging. This was accomplished with the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).

Telomeres place a limit on the number of times cells can be replicated, shortening by 20-40 bases every year and are thought to be one of the causes of aging as shorter telomeres are related to greater vulnerability to disease. Telomere length reduction can be slowed with diet and exercise, but not increased.

The trial recruited 35 participants aged over 63, who did not undergo diet or lifestyle changes. Each patient received 60 HBOT sessions over 90 days. The telomere length of T and B cells significantly increased by over 20%. B cells showed the greatest lengthening at 36.7% post-HBOT.

“After dedicating our HBOT research to exploring its impact on the areas of brain functionality and age related cognitive decline, we have now uncovered for the first time in humans HBOT’s biological effects at the cellular level in healthy aging adults,” said Prof Shai Efrati of the Faculty of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. “Since telomere shortening is considered the ‘Holy Grail’ of the biology of aging, many pharmacological and environmental interventions are being extensively explored in the hopes of enabling telomere elongation. The significant improvement of telomere length shown during and after these unique HBOT protocols provides the scientific community with a new foundation of understanding that aging can, indeed, be targeted and reversed at the basic cellular-biological level.”

Source: The Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research via PRNewswire

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

Re-emergence of Scarlet fever

On By ModernMedia

Scarlet fever has made a re-emergence in recent years due to acquiring a toxin that allows them to better colonise their hosts:

“These supercharged bacterial clones have been causing our modern scarlet fever outbreaks.

“The research team then removed the toxin genes from the clones causing scarlet fever, and these modified ‘knock-out’ clones were found to be less able to colonize in an animal model of infection.”

For the time being, scarlet fever outbreaks have been dampened, largely due to public health policy measures introduced to control COVID-19.

“This year COVID-19 social distancing has kept scarlet fever outbreaks in check for now,” Professor Walker said.

“And the disease’s main target—children—have been at school less and also spending far less time in other large groups.

“But when social distancing eventually is relaxed, scarlet fever is likely to come back.

“We need to continue this research to improve diagnosis and to better manage these epidemics.

“Just like COVID-19, ultimately a vaccine will be critical for eradicating scarlet fever—one of history’s most pervasive and deadly childhood diseases.”

Source: Medical Express

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

DRC is Ebola-free Once Again After 11th Outbreak Ends

On By ModernMedia

The 11th outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has officially come to an end, and the country has been declared Ebola-free once again.

The outbreak which had spread along the many water bodies of Équateur province, had started just before the end of another deadly outbreak elsewhere in the country which had claimed 2280 lives. This marks the first time in nearly three years that the DRC has been Ebola-free. Logistical challenges in the geographically remote Équateur province hampered efforts to control the latest outbreak.

Experts believe that international involvement was key to bringing the situation under control. The WHO also noted that “women leaders [who] were often at the forefront of the response, empowering other women with information”.

The Secretary-General of DRC’s Red Cross, Jacques Katshishi, said the country needs continued support from the international community. He said, “Bringing Ebola to zero is a huge achievement, but now we are faced with our next challenge: keeping it there. Our teams within the DRC Red Cross are facing Covid-19 within a complex humanitarian and security environment. This is not a moment to be complacent: the world cannot afford a resurgence of Ebola in DR Congo. The time to prepare is now.”

Source: The Guardian

Categories : COVIDTags :

COVID Antibodies in Children without the Disease

On By ModernMedia

One case in Australia of children producing COVID antibodies while being exposed to their parents were ill with the disease has shed light into the way children appear to remain largely unaffected by it.

The parents of three children fell ill after attending a wedding, developing COVID with all the normal symptoms. Fortunately, they did not require hospitalisation but the whole family was tested for COVID. To the amazement of clinicians, the test for all three children came back negative, as did a subsequent re-test. The two older children had mild symptoms of COVID.
“It was jaw-droppingly amazing because they’d spent a week and a half with us while we were COVID-positive,” said their mother, Leila Sawenko.

Intrigued, researchers asked the family to come back for a series of tests. While polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests failed to detect SARS-CoV-2, saliva samples showed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The children’s cytokine levels remained low, consistent with their lack of symptoms. 

Researchers believe that, unlike their parents, the children’s immune system staged such an effective response that viral replication was severely restricted. 

“The discordance between the virological PCR results and clinical serological testing, despite an evident immune response, highlights limitations to the sensitivity of nasopharyngeal PCR and current diagnostic serology in children,” wrote the researchers.

Source: Science Alert

Categories : CancerTags :

Ovarian Cancer Risk not Raised by Fertility Treatments

On By ModernMedia

Existing research has thus far indicated that women who used assisted reproduction technologies (ART) were at greater risk for ovarian cancer and non-malignant borderline ovarian tumours resulting from overstimulation of the ovaries.

The tumours were proposed to be caused by excess sex hormones and disruption of ovarian tissue from multiple punctures. A pair of meta-analyses in 2013 indicated that women who used reproductive technologies were at increased risk of ovarian cancer, but no causative link was established; infertility itself could have caused the increased risk.

Researchers in the Netherlands used a database of 30 625 women who received ovarian stimulation for ART between 1983 and 2001 and 9 988 women who were infertile but did not use ART. These were linked to the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the Dutch Pathology Registry to check for invasive and borderline ovarian cancers.

Though there was an increase in ovarian cancer in women who had received ART, the increase was due to women who had received ART but not been able to fall pregnant: not having had a pregnancy has shown to be a risk factor for ovarian cancer.

Source: Medical Xpress

Categories : COVID HIVTags :

Many HIV Deaths in Africa Due to Interrupted Care

On By ModernMedia

An article written for The Conversation explores the reasons why, in an era of antiretroviral therapy (ART), so many people around the world are still dying of HIV.

Despite fierce resistance under Thabo Mbeku’s leadership, ART became widely available in South Africa. Yet in 2019, despite the world’s largest ART programme with 71% coverage, there were still 72 000 HIV-related deaths in South Africa. 

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) supports hospitals across Africa in treating people with HIV, but because patients present with advanced HIV up to a third die during their hospital stay.

HIV is a lifelong disease, and requires lifelong treatment. Some struggle to take tablets on a daily basis, risking drug resistance.

People with advanced HIV now typically have interrupted or failing treatment. MSF-funded studies in Kenya and the DRC showed that only 20-35% of patients with advanced HIV had never received ART.

The “Welcome Back Services” provided by Medecins Sans Frontieres in Khayelitsha, Cape Town are an example of getting patients who have lapsed back into care.

In deprived settings, TB is the leading cause of death for people with HIV, along with cryptococcal meningitis and bacterial infection. These are all treatable if caught in time; cryptococcal meningitis effectively has a zero survival rate but mortality can be reduced by 40% when treated with flucytosine and amphotericin B. By testing patients before they reach the stage where hospitalisation is necessary, survival rates can be greatly improved.

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

Algorithm-driven Treatment Lowers LDL-c, Blood Pressure

On By ModernMedia

Clinicians working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the US treated patients with the aid of digital tools and an algorithm which calculated the titration of medication for pharmacists.

Over 5000 patients were enrolled into the study, entering either the cholesterol control program, the hypertension program, or both. Of those in the cholesterol program, 35% had established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD); 25% had diabetes without ASCVD; and 31% had a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) >190 mg/dL. 

Study lead author Benjamin Scirica, MD, MPH, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor of medicine at the Harvard School of Medicine, said, “To better control cholesterol and blood pressure, both of which are major cardiovascular risk factors, we need new end-to-end treatment solutions that improve patient identification, data collection, education and care delivery, including standardizing medication regimens. We are redefining treatment pathways to address persistent gaps in health care, overcome clinical inertia and address the problems of limited access to physicians by expanding remotely-delivered care.”

Patients with high LDL-c and/or hypertension were identified using electronic patient records, and received a digital blood pressure cuff for at-home monitoring. With the aid of the algorithm, pharmacists and support staff initiated and titrated medication.

For patients who completed the titration phase of the program, a 52mg/dL (42%) decrease in LDL-c was observed, while for all patients, LDL-c levels dropped by 24mg/dL (18%) and 14mmHg systolic and 6mmHg diastolic blood pressure drops were recorded. Patients in high-risk categories saw significant drops in LDL-c.

The research showed that efficient, effective care was possible, while simultaneously reducing the need for physical consultations. Such enabling technology allows access to care delivery to be significantly expanded.

Source: Science Daily

Categories : AddictionTags :

Il-10 Found to be Involved in Alcoholism

On By ModernMedia

Researchers have discovered that the anti-inflammatory IL-10 plays a direct role in alcoholism. Neurological research into addiction and alcohol has focused on the amygdala, which plays a key role in drives, emotions and behaviours.

Alcoholism is a growing problem in need of effective treatment. Interleukin 10 (IL-10) is an immune protein that has strong anti-inflammatory properties and is known to protect the brain from inflammation resulting from disease or injury.

In the brains of mice which chronically used alcohol, the amount of IL-10 was lowered in the amygdala and did not correctly signal neurons, and so was partly responsible for alcohol consumption behaviours. This was despite the overall higher level of IL-10 throughout the brains of chronic alcohol using mice.

“We found that chronic alcohol exposure compromises brain immune cells, which are important for maintaining healthy neurons,” said first author of the study Reesha Patel, PhD. “The resulting damage fuels anxiety and alcohol drinking that may lead to alcohol use disorder.”

The researchers counteracted the decrease of IL-10 amounts and signalling in mice, and the mice’s excessive alcohol use declined, and a decrease in anxiety was also noted.

Marisa Roberto, PhD, a professor in Scripps Research’s Department of Molecular Medicine, led the research. She said, “We’ve shown that inflammatory immune responses in the brain are very much at play in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorder. But perhaps more importantly, we provided a new framework for therapeutic intervention, pointing to anti-inflammatory mechanisms.”

Source: Medical Xpress