April 22, 2013
AIDS Denialism: Conspiracy Theories Can Kill

We’ve all heard various conspiracy theories; we may or may not find them credible, and we might chalk up opposing viewpoints to simple differences in opinion. Sometimes, however, conspiratorial narratives are woven around matters of life and death — and in such cases, the spread of such ideas can influence dangerous changes in behavior and even government policy.

AIDS denialism is based on the idea that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not cause AIDS. Although the existence of HIV and its causal connection to AIDS has been thoroughly demonstrated by scientists, denialists either reject the existence of HIV altogether, or cast it as a harmless virus that doesn’t cause illness. Denialism often relies upon rhetorical strategies that are superficially convincing but intellectually hollow, including the cherry-picking of evidence, appeals to unreliable “experts,” and untestable claims. Denialists also might cite early AIDS research from the mid-1980s while ignoring more up-to-date findings and improved medical procedures. Such rhetoric creates a sense of legitimate debate in an area where there is none, and the only new evidence welcomed into the discourse is that which confirms preconceived notions.

If AIDS isn’t caused by HIV, what do denialists claim is behind the unique symptoms that characterize it? Some say that conditions such as malnutrition, or diseases that have been around for a long time, are simply being labeled as AIDS. Other denialists cast antiretroviral drugs as the cause, rather than the preventive treatment, of AIDS. Some claim that AIDS is caused by behavior, such as drug use or promiscuity — with some even saying that an accumulation of semen in the anus can cause AIDS. None of the claims is true — while AIDS can leave someone vulnerable to a wide variety of diseases, and while sharing IV equipment and engaging in unprotected sex can increase risk, there is only one cause: HIV. Continue reading →

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Filed under: AIDS HIV HIV/AIDS STDs STD Awareness Month conspiracy conspiracies conspiracy theories South Africa Big Pharma virus skeptic skepticism 
December 19, 2012
How Does HIV Cause AIDS?

Last week, we gave a general background of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS by destroying the immune system. But how is HIV able to disable our immune systems so effectively, anyway? The answer lies in its structure.

HIV, just like any other virus, is made up of a tiny capsule with a small piece of genetic code inside. While most viruses we’re familiar with store their genes on a molecule called DNA, HIV contains two pieces of RNA, which is another type of gene-storing molecule. The HIV capsules also contain an enzyme called transcriptase, which “translates” the RNA into a strand of DNA that our cells can read. Our cells are then tricked into reading this DNA and producing more copies of the virus — which are then released from the host cell, at which point they are free to infect other cells. In this manner, an HIV infection slowly grows.

When a virus is introduced into a host’s body, immune cells pick it up and carry it to the lymphoid organs — which are a sort of meeting place for other types of immune cells, including CD4+ T helper cells (also called helper T cells). Helper T cells enlist the help of other immune cells, called killer T cells, which destroy cells infected with viruses. Helper T cells also activate the production of antibodies, molecules that are specialized to attach to a specific pathogen so that it can be destroyed. Normally, this is where the virus meets its end. Unfortunately, HIV is different from run-of-the-mill viruses in that it is specialized to invade helper T cells. Now, instead of coordinating an attack against HIV, the helper T cells have been hijacked — converted into factories for the production of yet more HIV. Continue reading →

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Filed under: STD STI sexually transmitted disease AIDS HIV HIV/AIDS virus microbiology science health 
December 5, 2012
STD Awareness: HIV and AIDS

Our immune systems are beautiful things, refined through millions of years of evolution. The immune system’s complexity is testament to the “arms race” that has been taking place between our species and the harmful pathogens that surround us. Last century, a virus called human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) emerged, and it found a weak spot in our immune system’s armor. HIV has been exploiting this weakness ever since, and an HIV infection can eventually progress to a disease called AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. AIDS is a condition that disables our immune system’s ability to function properly, rendering us vulnerable to a host of opportunistic infections and cancers.

HIV is transmitted via bodily fluids: blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid (which can be present without ejaculation), breast milk, vaginal fluids, and rectal mucus. (It can also be present in bodily fluids like amniotic fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, and synovial fluid, to which health-care workers might be exposed.) The virus is not transmitted by fluids like snot, saliva, sweat, tears, and urine — unless blood is present.

Activities that can bring you into contact with HIV-infected bodily fluids include injection drug use and sexual activities like anal, vaginal, or oral sex. It can also be transmitted to a fetus or baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. In the early days of HIV, many infections occurred as a result of blood transfusions or organ transplants — though nowadays this is a rarity thanks to tissue screening. Lastly, health-care workers might be exposed to HIV through accidents involving needlesticks or cuts. Continue reading →

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Filed under: HIV AIDS sex sexual health STD STI sexually transmitted disease sexually transmitted infection condom health 
October 15, 2012
Mexico, the United States, and HIV: It’s Complicated

During my last semester of college, I took an Introduction to Chicana Studies class in which I read a lot about HIV transmission between the United States and Mexico. In the book we used, Latina Activists Across Borders, activists in Michoacán argue that women are infected with HIV by men who migrate to the United States and then bring it back to Mexico. While there is a lot of truth to that, the way our two countries interact on this issue is a little bit more complicated.

Often, HIV is constructed as something that is spread between “immoral” people. When it comes to transnational transmission, the country the disease comes from is seen as “immoral” or “dirty.” In the United States, we have just as many beliefs about HIV coming into the country from Mexico as the other way around. But who is right?

READ MORE: http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/10/15/mexico-the-united-states-and-hiv-its-complicated

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Filed under: Mexico border HIV AIDS HIV/AIDS NLAAD migration immigration 
August 21, 2012
STD Awareness: Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Pregnancy

Every month since January 2011, we’ve been sharing installments of our STD Awareness series, and each month, we’ve encouraged you to protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) by using dental dams and condoms. But what if you’re trying to get pregnant? In that case, you’re probably not using condoms! However, it is very important that partners know their STD status — being screened and treated for STDs prior to pregnancy is a good idea for your health, and can protect your future baby.

When present during pregnancy, certain STDs can have negative health effects for you or your future baby (including preterm labor, stillbirth, low birth weight, pneumonia, certain infections, blindness, and liver disease), especially if they are not cured or treated in time. Receiving prenatal care can help prevent these problems, so it is important to be screened and treated for STDs prior to or early in your pregnancy.

During pregnancy, the immune system undergoes changes, which are probably necessary to ensure that the body doesn’t reject the fetus — normally, the immune system recognizes non-self cells as potential pathogens and attacks. These immune system changes might make a pregnant person more susceptible to disease. Latent viral infections, like genital warts or herpes, might come out of dormancy. Additionally, anatomical changes lead to a larger exposed area of the cervix, which is potentially more vulnerable to initial infections. Continue reading →

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Filed under: sexually transmitted infection pregnancy pregnant birth baby babies STD STI sexually transmitted disease HIV AIDS syphilis HPV genital warts herpes genital herpes fetus chlamydia gonorrhea hepatitis CMV trich trichomoniasis 
May 14, 2012
NEW: Confronting HIV/AIDS in the Asian and Pacific Islander Community

Some of Arizona’s first Asian Americans were Chinese immigrants who arrived from California and Mexico in the late 1800s, often finding work in mining camps alongside Irish and Italian immigrants.

Today, Arizona’s Asians and Pacific Islanders, or APIs, represent nations throughout Asia and the Pacific, with Indians and Filipinos constituting the two largest API ethnic groups in Arizona. Although APIs are a small percentage of Arizona’s total population — 2.8 percent — their population is now the fastest-growing in Arizona, increasing by 85,000 in the last decade. In this respect, Arizona mirrors a larger trend; nationally, the Asian and Pacific Islander population grew by 43.3 percent between 2000 and 2010.

READ MORE: http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/05/14/confronting-hivaids-in-the-asian-and-pacific-islander-community/

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Filed under: Asians Pacific Islanders May19 AIDS HIV HIV/AIDS 
May 2, 2012
Lambskin Condoms -- No STD Protection!

Lambskin Condoms

When it comes to protecting against STIs, there really aren’t a lot of benefits to using a lambskin condom (also called a sheepskin condom). Some people use them because they think they are more “natural,” which may offer an appealing aesthetic.

It’s true that lambskin is natural — “skin” is a euphemism for intestines. Yup, this condom is made from the digestive tract of a sheep. The intestines are the site of the majority of digestion — it is here that foods are blasted with enzymes and broken down into small pieces. When the pieces are small enough, they are absorbed through tiny holes in the intestine’s porous membrane. Intestines, by their very nature, must be permeable — otherwise, malnutrition and starvation would result. So, yes, lambskin condoms are “natural” — and so are the holes through which viruses (also “natural”!) can pass.

According to the FDA, lambskin condoms have not been shown to protect against the passage of viruses, such as HIV, herpes, or human papillomavirus (HPV). In the early 1990s, Trojan-brand lambskin condoms were recalled en masse by the FDA because they didn’t contain adequate labeling. There were reports from customers who had used these condoms and, despite believing they were practicing safer sex, contracted HIV.

READ MORE: http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/05/02/allergic-to-latex-you-can-still-have-safer-sex/

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Filed under: condoms allergies safe sex safer sex latex allergies nonlatex condoms STIs STDs HIV pregnancy birth control contraception contraceptives 
April 29, 2012
Go Ahead and GYT You PYT!

As we previously informed you, April is “Get Yourself Tested” month!

Exciting, huh?!

Obviously we want to use this time to urge everyone to get themselves tested because it is so colossally important to know your STD status.

The CDC recommends being tested at least once a year if you engage in anything that can transmit HIV infection. This includes:

  • injecting drugs or steroids with used injection equipment
  • having sex for money or drugs
  • having sex with an HIV-infected person
  • having more than one sex partner since your last HIV test
  • having a sex partner who has had other sex partners since your last HIV test

Since I personally have never been tested at a Planned Parenthood facility, I decided to put on my “Woman About Town” cap and go through the process so I could blog about it here!  Continue reading →

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Filed under: STD Awareness Month STD STI sexually transmitted disease HIV AIDS 
April 20, 2012
STI Awareness: The Future of Treatment for HIV/AIDS

In 2006, an HIV-positive man was diagnosed with leukemia. First he received chemotherapy, and when the cancer returned his doctor recommended a stem-cell transplant with tissues obtained from a bone-marrow donor. After finding an unusually high number of compatible donors, his doctor, Gero Hütter, had a simple idea that would change the course of HIV research. Dr. Hütter knew of a rare genetic mutation that confers immunity to many strains of HIV, including the strain that infected his cancer patient. And new blood cells, including immune cells, are manufactured by bone marrow. What if he could find a bone-marrow donor with this mutation? What effect would it have on the HIV infection?

Five years after his cancer diagnosis, the man, known as the Berlin patient and recently identified as Timothy Ray Brown, is in remission from cancer … and the most sensitive tests have been unable to detect HIV anywhere in his body, despite the discontinuation of antiretroviral drugs. Scientists are a cautious lot, careful not to make grand statements without qualifying them with words like “seem” and “suggest.” But more and more, researchers are starting to say that Brown could be the first case in which a cure for HIV was attained.

READ MORE: http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2011/12/06/sti-awareness-the-future-of-treatment-for-hivaids/

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Filed under: virus AIDS HIV virus STD STI sexually transmitted disease medicine science research 
April 3, 2012
NEW: Book Club: The Origins of AIDS

HIV has been around since before the 1980s, though it remained unnoticed and unidentified by medical science. The earliest confirmed case of HIV was in 1959, the proof found in a sample of blood from the Belgian Congo, saved in a freezer for decades and later analyzed for the virus. Other early cases of HIV infection that have retrospectively been confirmed include that of a Norwegian sailor, who must have been infected while visiting African ports in the early 1960s. He, his wife, and his child (who was apparently congenitally infected) all died in 1976, and their tissues were tested 12 years later and found positive for HIV.

READ MORE: http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/04/03/book-club-the-origins-of-aids/

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Filed under: AIDS HIV HIV/AIDS Africa virus STD STI sexually transmitted diseases sexually transmitted disease STDs book review 
March 14, 2012
is a cure for HIV infection a possibility?

In 2006, an HIV-positive man was diagnosed with leukemia. First he received chemotherapy, and when the cancer returned his doctor recommended a stem-cell transplant with tissues obtained from a bone-marrow donor. After finding an unusually high number of compatible donors, his doctor, Gero Hütter, had a simple idea that would change the course of HIV research. Dr. Hütter knew of a rare genetic mutation that confers immunity to many strains of HIV, including the strain that infected his cancer patient. And new blood cells, including immune cells, are manufactured by bone marrow. What if he could find a bone-marrow donor with this mutation? What effect would it have on the HIV infection?

Five years after his cancer diagnosis, the man, known as the Berlin patient and recently identified as Timothy Ray Brown, is in remission from cancer … and the most sensitive tests have been unable to detect HIV anywhere in his body, despite the discontinuation of antiretroviral drugs. Scientists are a cautious lot, careful not to make grand statements without qualifying them with words like “seem” and “suggest.” But more and more, researchers are starting to say that Brown could be the first case in which a cure for HIV was attained.

READ MORE:

http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2011/12/06/sti-awareness-the-future-of-treatment-for-hivaids/

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Filed under: HIV AIDS virus HIV/AIDS acquired immunodeficiency syndrome genetics human immunodeficiency virus virus 
March 13, 2012
A Celebration of Life: Arizonans Observe National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Tuesday, March 20, 2012, is National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NNHAAD). Started in 2007, NNHAAD is focused on promoting HIV education, prevention, and testing among Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, a former professor at the University of Arizona who is now director of Indian Health Service, has called NNHAAD a day to “celebrate our successes and plan how to best continue working in partnership to address HIV and AIDS among Native people.”

READ MORE: http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/03/13/a-celebration-of-life-arizonans-observe-national-native-american-hivaids-awareness-day/

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Filed under: Arizona AIDS HIV HIV/AIDS Native Americans American Indians AIDS awareness HIV awareness Tucson Phoenix Tempe Arizona State University free HIV testing HIV testing Pima Community College 
January 31, 2012
GOP lawmaker: Virtually impossible to get AIDS...

polyponderous:

Link: GOP lawmaker: Virtually impossible to get AIDS through heterosexual sex

I don’t even know what to say. How do you elect someone who can’t even be defended as having a remedial understanding of HIV? How do you make it to 43 years of age and still think this is factual information?

Tennessee state Sen. Stacey Campfield (R) falsely claimed on Thursday that it was nearly impossible for someone to contract AIDS through heterosexual contact.

“Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community,” he told Michelangelo Signorile, who hosts a radio program on SiriusXM OutQ. “It was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall.”

“My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex.”

Wow. So much wrong here.

  • Most HIV transmission occurs via heterosexual sex. (source)
  • It was not “one guy screwing a monkey.” The accepted idea is the “cut hunter hypothesis,” which holds that HIV entered the human population via the hunting or butchering process of a chimpanzee. (source) 
  • The “airline pilot” he is talking about is probably the flight attendant Gaëtan Dugas, who did not screw any monkeys but has been referred to as “patient zero,” i.e. one of the index cases in HIV’s introduction into North America. (sources for this are easy to find; here’s one)

(Source: occasionalmusic)

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Filed under: HIV AIDS HIV/AIDS myths myth-busting ignorance 
January 4, 2012
new optimism in cure for HIV infection

In 2006, an HIV-positive man was diagnosed with leukemia. First he received chemotherapy, and when the cancer returned his doctor recommended a stem-cell transplant with tissues obtained from a bone-marrow donor. After finding an unusually high number of compatible donors, his doctor, Gero Hütter, had a simple idea that would change the course of HIV research. Dr. Hütter knew of a rare genetic mutation that confers immunity to many strains of HIV, including the strain that infected his cancer patient. And new blood cells, including immune cells, are manufactured by bone marrow. What if he could find a bone-marrow donor with this mutation? What effect would it have on the HIV infection?

Five years after his cancer diagnosis, the man, known as the Berlin patient and recently identified as Timothy Ray Brown, is in remission from cancer … and the most sensitive tests have been unable to detect HIV anywhere in his body, despite the discontinuation of antiretroviral drugs. Scientists are a cautious lot, careful not to make grand statements without qualifying them with words like “seem” and “suggest.” But more and more, researchers are starting to say that Brown could be the first case in which a cure for HIV was attained.

http://ppadvocatesaz.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/sti-awareness-the-future-of-treatment-for-hivaids/

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Filed under: HIV AIDS gene therapy genetics CCR5 delta 32 mutation Berlin patient HIV/AIDS 
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