This post in the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog examines areport (.pdf) by the PEPFAR Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) that offers six recommended treatment and prevention research priorities to U.S. Global AIDS Ambassador Eric Goosby and the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) to guide future PEPFAR programs. According to the blog, the recommendations grew out of a SAB meeting in September “to discuss the results of the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 trial, which found that individuals with HIV infection who were given immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) were 96 percent less likely to transmit the virus to their uninfected sexual partners than those whose treatment was delayed” (Mazzotta, 11/17).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J.
Read more…
ATLANTA, Nov. 18 (UPI) The percentage of adults with diabetes who reported visual impairment dropped from 26 percent to 19 percent between 1997 and 2010, U.S. officials say.
A report, published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said diabetes can lead to visual impairment and blindness, but early detection and treatment of many common eye diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, can reduce the risk.
However, the age-adjusted percentage of adults with diagnosed diabetes and self-reported visual impairment who reported having consulted an eye-care provider in the past year remained constant at about 63 percent, the report said.
Read more…
Women going through the pregnancy phase should not be burdened with the health care costs incurred during this joyful moment of their lives. It is already difficult encountering the various uncertainties of motherhood at this point, hence it is wise to at least purchase a maternal insurance to protect both infant and mother.
Maternal insurance policy includes an additional coverage for labor in addition to conventional health insurance coverage. Usually, a standard health insurance plan contains maternity coverage but sometimes a person needs to acknowledge a form stating they require protection at the moment pregnancy commences, with additional payment associated with this feature. Read more…
As carers we are the ones who best know the person/people we care for. We might share experiences to help each other, we might pass on information that we have found useful, what we do NOT do is think that our experiences qualify us to assess and judge other people with disabilities /illnesses and their carers/families.
So why does a doctors receptionist who had a disabled sister think she is entitled to do so? Why does having a disabled sister qualify a doctors receptionist to pass judgement on the ability and intellgence of a physically disabled person?
It doesnt!
But the receptionist we encountered today thought that she was entitled to discriminate against my daughter by, quite nastily, assuming that her physical disability means that she has no mind of her own. She insulted my daughter by implying that she could not communicate her wishes and she insulted me by accusing me of answering for her when I had no such thing and never do. Apparently having had a disabled sister means that she knows how it works – in truth she clearly knows nothing!
No two disabled people will be the same even when their diagnosis is the same. Individuals will be individuals and my intelligent daughter is extremely offended by the attitude of this woman.
We were neither of us impressed with the other receptionist either – she held the office door at the back of reception open so that the whole waiting room could hear her shouting at me down the corridor – a deliberate act that was intended to demonstrate her power and authority to everyone in the waiting room.
These two would be better employed at the end of the dole queue!
Green and yellow fluorescence mark the processes and cell bodies of some C. elegans neurons. Image courtesy of the Xu lab.
(Medical Xpress) — A University of Michigan biologist and his colleagues have found that the strategies used by the tiny C. elegans roundworm to control its motions are remarkably similar to those used by the human brain to command movement of eyes, arms and legs.
C. elegans, a nematode about 1 millimeter in length, is one of the most widely used animals in biological research. In the Nov.
Read more…
Professional golfer Luke Donald now has two little girls.
Luke, 33, and his wife Diane Antonopoulos welcomed their second daughter on Nov. 11. Sophia Ann Donald was born in the early hours of this morning, the proud father tweeted. Both mum and Sophia are doing great. Thank you all for all your kind messages.
Sophias arrival will help the family overcome the recent unexpected loss of Lukes father, who died just three days before the baby was born.
Ben and Jill’s first “baby” was a Bullmastiff puppy named, “Ed,” who they picked up at the Humane Society on their first wedding anniversary. They felt ready to start a family, but not quite ready to start a baby. Jill wasn’t convinced she wanted a puppy that would grow to be bigger than her, but Ben fell in love with Ed’s huge paws and liquid brown eyes and since Jill was in love with Ben…well, you get the picture.
Right away, Ed knew whose heart he needed to melt and followed Jill around like a lovesick puppy. So did Ben. It didn’t take Jill long to realize she had two strong dedicated males devoted to her and she was glad she’d agreed to be Ed’s Mama.
About six months after they brought Ed home, Jill discovered she was pregnant. Jill thinks Ed actually knew about the baby before she did. He sniffed her lap area, looked at her suspiciously, then went to his bed and picked up his security blanket (the raggedy old towel he slept with). He brought it to Jill and pushed it onto her lap with his nose until she was all tucked in. Then he plopped down beside her, dropped his head onto Jill’s towel-covered lap and gazed lovingly into her eyes. For the rest of the day, wherever Jill went, Ed and his towel went too. He tucked her in at the stove, her computer and even out in the garden, wedging his towel as close to Jill as possible. Clearly, Ed thought Jill needed security and he was determined to provide it. The next day, Jill’s pregnancy t
Read more…