A baby born with HIV remains free after taking Pills

A 3-year-old girl born in Mississippi with HIV acquired from her mother during pregnancy remains free of detectable virus at least 18 months after she stopped taking antiviral pills.

New results on this child, published online by the New England Journal of Medicine, appear to green-light a study in the advanced planning stages in which researchers around the world will try to replicate her successful treatment in other infected newborns.

And it means that the Mississippi girl still can be considered possibly or even probably cured of HIV infection — only the second person in the world with that lucky distinction. The first is Timothy Ray Brown, a 47-year-old American man apparently cured by a bone marrow transplant he received in Berlin a half-dozen years ago.

This new report addresses many of the questions raised earlier this year when disclosure of the Mississippi child’s case was called apossible game-changer in the long search for an HIV cure.

“There was some very healthy skepticism,” Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga, a professor at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, tells Shots. She’s part of the team that has been exhaustively testing the toddler’s blood and considering every possible explanation for her apparently HIV-free state.

Luzuriaga is confident the latest tests prove that the child was truly infected with HIV at the time of her birth — not merely carrying remnants of free-floating virus or infected blood cells transferred before birth from her mother, as some skeptics wondered.

The UMass researcher says there’s no way the child’s mother could have contributed enough of her own blood plasma to the newborn to account for the high levels of HIV detected in the child’s blood shortly after birth.

Similarly, Luzuriaga says, new calculations show that the mother “would have had to transfer a huge number of [HIV-infected] white blood cells to the baby in order for us to get the [viral] signal that we got early on.”

Clinching the question as far as the researchers are concerned is the infant’s response to anti-HIV drugs that she began receiving shortly after birth. The remarkable earliness of her treatment is a crucial feature that makes this child different from almost any other.

“There’s a very characteristic clearance curve of viruses once we start babies on treatment,” Luzuriaga says. “The decay of viruses we see in this baby is exactly what we saw in early treatment trials from 20 years ago when we initiated anti-retroviral therapy and shut off viral replication. That’s a very different decay curve than you would expect if it were just free virus transferred to the baby.”

It might be helpful to recap the unusual, if not unique, features of the Mississippi case.

Her mother did not receive prenatal care, so she was not identified as HIV-infected before delivery. If she had been, she would have received drugs that are highly effective in preventing mother-to-child transmission of the virus.

While the mother was in labor, she got HIV testing, as is routine for women without prenatal care. When that came up positive, Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatrician at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, was ready to test the newborn for infection and start anti-retroviral medicines within 30 hours of birth.

The treatment quickly cleared the virus from the baby’s blood. Normally such children would stay on antiviral drugs for a lifetime. But in this case the mother – whose life circumstances were reportedly chaotic – stopped giving the child the medication between 15 and 18 months after birth.

Gay and her colleagues caught up to the child when she was 23 months old and were astonished to discover she was apparently still virus-free despite being off treatment. Five rounds of state-of-the-art testing — at UMass, Johns Hopkins, federal research labs and the University of California San Diego — failed to reveal any trace of the virus in her blood.

That led to last spring’s report and widely reported hope that the child had been cured of HIV.

But Dr. Scott Hammer, an HIV researcher at Columbia University in New York, is not quite convinced. “Is the child cured of HIV infection? The best answer at this moment is a definitive ‘maybe,’ ” Hammer writes in a New England Journal editorial that accompanied the report.

The reason is that a couple of tests done when the child was about 2 years old found indications that her system may contain pieces of RNA or DNA from HIV. This hints that some of the nucleic acid building blocks of the virus are hanging around within her blood cells.

There’s no evidence these “proviral” remnants are capable of assembling themselves into whole viruses that can make copies of themselves. But researchers are concerned about that possibility and how it might be headed off.

“The question is whether those viral nucleic acids have the ability at some point to replicate and allow a rebound of the virus,” Luzuriaga acknowledges. “That’s why it’s important to continue to test the baby over time.” She says that means years.

But for now, the signs from the Mississippi child’s case are encouraging enough to have generated an ambitious global human experiment that Luzuriaga says is in final planning stages.

Women who present in labor without having had prenatal care will be tested for HIV and, if positive, their infants will be intensively treated within a couple of days of birth, as the Mississippi child was. Then they’ll be followed with the most sensitive tests to determine if the virus has been eradicated.

If certain criteria are met, researchers plan to decide whether it would be safe to discontinue HIV treatment deliberately and follow the children closely to see if the virus returns. (If it did, treatment would be restarted.)

If the experiment succeeds, it would be a huge advance in the prevention of childhood HIV and AIDS in many parts of the world. More than 9 out of 10 the world’s 3.4 million HIV-infected childrenlive in sub-Saharan Africa, where many women deliver without having had prenatal care or HIV treatment. Around 900 children are newly infected every day.

Meanwhile, researchers pursuing an HIV cure will convene next month in San Francisco to consider various strategies — for adults as well as children. One other recent glimmer of hope was provided this summer by Boston researchers who reported that two HIV-infected men with lymphoma remain virus-free without treatment for several months after stopping antiviral treatment.

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Walking, the most preferred exercise: Survey

One-fourth of the people do not exercise, and out of those who do, walking is the most preferred form of physical activity over working out in a gym, running or swimming, reveals a survey in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

According to the Max Bupa Walk for Health Survey, 56 percent of the people find walking as the preferred exercise while 44 percent prefer to run gym or swim. The average duration of a walk is 31 minutes.

The survey shows health is the primary concern that gets Delhiites (45 percent) to walk, followed by Bangaloreans (43 percent) and Mumbaikars (38 percent).

The survey also says one in two people feel less stressed, and one in four people feel more socially active and productive at work as a benefit of walking.

Improved digestion has been cited as the primary reason for the respondents to take up walking. It emerged as the key reason for 41 percent of the respondents.

Nearly 74 percent affirmed that sustained walking regime has helped them to feel fresh. However, long office hours, lack of walking space, excessive traffic and pre-conceived notions about walking are some of the barriers.

Interestingly, 24 percent respondents adopted walking based on the doctor’s consultation.

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Source: http://www.deccanherald.com

One-Third of U.S. Adults Are Obese, CDC Says

The adult obesity rate in the United States remains as high as ever, with one in three Americans carrying unhealthy amounts of weight, according to a new federal report.

The obesity rate has remained essentially unchanged for a decade, despite the large amount of attention focused on its threat to public health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

“It’s kind of a confirmation of what we saw last time, that the prevalence of obesity in adults may be leveling off,” said co-author Cynthia Ogden, a senior epidemiologist with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. “From 2003-04 through 2011-12, there have been no statistical changes in obesity in adults.”

This persistent rate has proved frustrating to public-health experts, given that obesity is a leading risk factor for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.

“The goal of the human species since we evolved has been to have enough to eat, and we’ve gotten there. Unfortunately, it’s so plentiful we can take in more than [we] need,” said Matt Petersen, managing director of medical information and professional engagement for the American Diabetes Association. “The human body and brain is wired to take in more than a sufficient number of calories, and that’s a hard thing to change. We’re talking about really powerful aspects of our metabolism.”

The obesity epidemic continues to gnaw away at America’s economic potential. The U.S. economy loses an estimated $270 billion a year due to health care costs and loss of productivity associated with obesity and overweight, according to a 2011 report produced by the Society of Actuaries.

The CDC report found that nearly 35 percent of American adults are obese, with a body-mass index — a measurement of body fat based on height and weight — greater than 30. That equates to a person 5 feet 4 inches tall who weighs 175 pounds or more, or a person 5 feet 9 inches tall who weights 203 pounds or more.

The last estimate produced for 2009-10 found that 35.7 percent of adults were obese, Ogden said.

• The report also included the following U.S. figures:

• The prevalence of obesity is higher among middle-aged adults (39.5 percent) than among younger (30.3 percent) or older (35.4 percent) adults.
• Overall, men and women have similar rates of obesity. However, 56.6 percent of black women were obese compared with 37.1 percent of black men.
• Blacks have the highest obesity rate (47.8 percent), followed by Hispanics (42.5 percent) and whites (32.6 percent). Asians have the lowest obesity rate (10.8 percent).

“It just shows that we still have a lot of work to do,” said Rachel Johnson, a professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association. “We’re making a little bit of progress in childhood obesity — some very small declines, but it at least feels like we’re making some headway there. There are some small pockets in a few cities or states where we’ve seen a modest decline in childhood obesity, due to very aggressive interventions.”

The current means for battling obesity — dieting, bariatric (weight-loss) surgery, exercise — have so far proven unable to overcome the widespread availability of low-cost, high-calorie food, said Petersen at the American Diabetic Association.

The association has come up with a program for healthy eating and moderate exercise that is proving effective. “If we can successfully implement those programs at the community level nationwide, we are hopeful we will see a reduction in diabetes due to factors that should also address obesity,” he said.

But effectively tackling the adult obesity epidemic likely will involve structural changes in American society, Johnson said.

“My view is that we have to start making some pretty major environmental changes so we make the healthy choice the easy choice,” she said. “We’ve got to move beyond the idea that it’s all about personal choice and education, and we need to start making these environmental changes.”

She tossed out a few ideas — taxes to increase the price of unhealthy food, new ways to make healthy food cheaper and major employers offering healthy food in the workplace.

“The beginning of this century has got to be about behavior change,” Johnson said. “How do we help people make healthy choices, and how do we create an environment that’s conducive to good health?”
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Parents who used donor eggs struggle to tell kids

Many people who used donor eggs to become parents are grappling with the issue of whether they should tell their children how they were conceived, according to a new study. Up to 60 percent of donor-egg recipients weren’t sure if they would inform their child how they came to be for fear of facing cultural disapproval or being ostracized by their community, researchers found.

 And even parents who did plan to tell their children about their genetic history often had trouble deciding exactly how and when to have this conversation.

A second study followed up on parents who had their children via egg donation at least 10 years ago, to find out if they’d actually gone on to tell them and how it felt before and after the revelation.

The findings are scheduled for presentation Thursday at a meeting of the International Federation of Fertility Societies and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), in Boston.

“Even though many parents through egg donation remain uncommitted to discussing it with their children, we see a trend toward greater openness which reflects our society’s increasing comfort level with [fertility treatment] and increasing recognition that there are many different ways to create a family,” Richard Reindollar, president-elect of the ASRM, said in a meeting news release.

“Counseling and resources need to be made available to parents who use egg donation, not just at the time of their [fertility treatment] cycle, but into the life of their family to assist them in the disclosure process,” he added.

Experts generally advise that children conceived with a donor egg be informed about their genetic heritage and medical history. Still, the study authors, from Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, found that many parents are hesitant to have this discussion.

The researchers asked 438 patients who received donated eggs between 2008 and 2012 about their plans to reveal or withhold this information to any children they had through the process.

Over the course of the study, the percentage of donor-egg recipients willing to talk to their children about their origin fluctuated significantly. In 2008, 42 percent of recipients said they planned to inform their children. This dropped to just 21 percent by 2009, but later rebounded to 47 percent of parents in 2012.

Parents who planned to talk to their kids about their genetic history said they did not want to keep secrets and wanted their children to have important information about their medical history.

The study found that 40 percent to 60 percent of parents were undecided about whether they would tell their kids about how they were conceived. Aside from fear of disapproval from their community, these parents did not want their child to be confused about their identify or how they perceived themselves, the study found.

In a separate study, researchers from the Weill Cornell Medical College, in New York City, asked parents who used egg donors between 1992 and 2003 if they followed through on their decision to talk to their child about how they were conceived. Of the 64 families involved in the study, 43 percent had told their children about their genetic history.

These families had a combined 73 children between 2 years old and 19 years old, all conceived with the help of a donor egg. On average, the children learned about their conception at the age of 6. Parents who revealed this information by the time their child was 10 years old reported being anxiety-free and happy with their decision.

Of the 57 percent who had not yet spoken to their child about their conception, 87 percent still planned to do so at some point. Of these parents, however, 43 percent were not sure how to go about having the discussion, which was causing the delay.

Parents who had not made the revelation by the time their child became a teen felt a significant amount of anxiety about it.
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 Source: http://medicalxpress.com

Aloe Vera – the Most Happening Health Drink

Aloe vera juice is now on top of the charts for its immense health benefits and may have beaten many of its ilks in the race for the most happening health drink.

Experts have extolled its virtues, and one that stands out is its cholesterol lowering property

According to the claims of its manufacturers, Aloe Vera juice seems to help with weight loss, digestion and immune function. It is also thought to relieve discomfort of any kind. 

They say Aloe vera contains a mix of some of the best vitamins- including A, C, E, folic acid, B1, B2, B3, and B6. It is also one of the few plants that actually contain Vitamin B12, which helps with brain and nervous system function.

Aloe vera juice is also rich in minerals and contains zinc, magnesium, calcium, selenium, iron, sodium, and potassium. This juice is also packed with amino and fatty acids – all helpful in beating indigestion. It boosts the body’s immunity and has the ability to throw out toxins from the body.

‘Aloe vera is amazing if you have any suggestive discomfort. It is very soothing for the internals and helps beat the bloat. Drinking Aloe vera replenishes your body naturally with a huge range of nutrients. It contains approximately 200 active components including – vitamins A, B1,B2,B6, B12, C, E, folic acid and Niacin,’ a leading nutritionist said.
Read more: http://texilaconnect.com/aloe-vera-the-most-happening-health-drink/


Source: http://www.medindia.net

Foods To Consume Before Yoga Class

Most of us practice a common form of exercise to live healthy and that is yoga. Today, you see a lot of people who are practicing yoga to stay fit and to lead a healthy life.

 With this practice, comes along a wide range of foods you should eat too. Eating a healthy diet and following a fully fledged regime will only make you live longer.

If you are a believer in doing yoga to keep fit your mind and body, you need to follow certain food habits as well.

Experts say that before you go ahead with your yoga class, you need to eat a healthy and ‘light’ meal. The only reason is because yoga is a certain type of exercise where your body needs to be focused on your mind solely.

If you have a heavy meal before yoga exercise, you will want to throw up. One should keep their stomach light before a yoga exercise, so you can move your flexible body easily to perform the asanas. Some of the foods you should eat before yoga take a look at some of these healthy foods. These foods should be eaten half an hour before yoga class.

Oats

If you are hungry, grab a bowl of healthy oatmeal before a yoga class. This is a healthy food which you can consume. It is light and will boost your metabolism.

Pears

This is one of the best foods you can choose before you hit the yoga class. Consuming cut fresh pieces of pears is rich in fiber which will fill your tummy completely.

Raisins

If you consume a handful of raisins before your yoga class, you are pampering your body to a high content of natural sugar. This natural sugar will help to keep you active right through the class as you burn energy for weight loss.
Banana

There are a lot of people who refrain from eating a banana as they feel it adds to the extra pounds if you are on a weight loss program. If you are heading to yoga class, have a banana 15 minutes before as it is rich in sodium which will keep you hydrated.

Apricots

You need to stay light when you perform the asanas. Apricots are filling and a light food for you to consume before a yoga class. Dried apricots are the best opt.

Watermelon

If you want to stay light on your tummy, watermelon is the best food for you to consume before a yoga class. Watermelon helps to build your energy levels, so have a cup of fresh juice before you head out.

Yogurt

It is light and the best food to enjoy before yoga. A small cup of yogurt will help you stay fit and keep you mentally sound too.

Chocolate

Dark chocolate is much better when compared to normal chocolate. It is the dark chocolate which provides you with energy, and also helps to keep your heart healthy and active.

Prunes

It is a good food for you to consume before a yoga class. Prunes contain a high content of potassium which will keep you hydrated during the workout.

Almonds

Eating a handful of almonds will help boost your energy levels. Soaked almonds is however the best option for you to chose.

Read more at: http://texilaconnect.com/foods-to-consume-before-yoga-class/
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US man grows new finger after horse bite

A 33-year-old man in US has undergone a ‘miraculous’ medical procedure to grow back his index finger which was chomped down by an overzealous horse while he was feeding the animal.

Paul Halpern from Florida managed to save the severed digit and take it to the hospital, but doctors told him there was nothing they could do. Halpern then visited Dr Eugenio Rodriguez, a Deerfield Beach general surgeon who used an innovative procedure called xenograft implantation to regenerate the finger. Xenograft refers to transplantation of cells from one species to another.

Rodriguez created a scaffold of Halpern’s missing finger, using tissue from a pig bladder, and attached it to the severed portion. The finger grew into the mold, generating new bone and soft tissue and a new fingernail.

According to CBS Miami, Halpern had to apply pulverised pig bladder tissue to his wounded finger each day and cover it with a protective saline sheet. Rodriguez said the powder stimulates stem cells in the finger to regenerate, which causes the growth.

Source: Timesofindia.com