16 Nov, 2011
Antiretroviral Treatment Treatment
Background
The use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has become a standard of care for the treatment of HIV infection. However, cost and resistance to cART are major obstacles for access to treatment especially in resource-limited settings. In this study, we aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors of treatment failure in a cohort of treatment-naive Thai HIV-infected patients.
Methods
A retrospective cohort study was conducted among HIV-infected patients initiating their first cART at Chiang Mai University Hospital, Thailand.
Results
From January 2002 to December 2008, 788 patients were enrolled; 365 were male (46.3%), and the mean age was 37.9 +/- 8.6 years.
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9 Nov, 2011
Kids
A new report claims that the makers of sugar-laden drinks such as sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks and fruit drinks take direct aim at children, particularly black and Hispanic kids, in their marketing campaigns.
Despite promises to improve their marketing practices, these companies still use tactics such as rewards for buying sugary drinks, community events, cause-related marketing, promotions and product placement in social media, according to researchers at the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.
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6 Nov, 2011
Degenerative Spinal Degenerative Spinal Stenosis Spinal Stenosis Stenosis
Background
Degenerative spinal stenosis and instability requiring multilevel spine surgery has been associated with large blood losses. Factors that affect perioperative blood loss include time of surgery, surgical procedure, patient height, combined anterior/posterior approaches, number of levels fused, blood salvage techniques, and the use of anti-fibrinolytic medications. This study was done to evaluate the efficacy of tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss in spine surgery.
Methods
This retrospective case control study includes 97 patients who had to undergo surgery because of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis and instability.
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26 Oct, 2011
Penis Penis May
When our penis hydraulics fail, we’ll swallow our pride and the magic pills, and if they fail, we’ll vacuum pump it, tie it up with rubber bands, use a needle and syringe to shoot drugs into it, and, if none of that works, we’ll have the poor guy reamed out and stuffed with plastic tubes we can fill with salt water for woodies on demand.
Now some Israeli doctors have tried yet another technique: shocking the poor thing. Using something they call “low-intensity extracorporeal shock wave therapy,” a team from the Rambam Healthcare Campus in Haifa actually succeeded in giving recalcitrant penises a boost.
A year ago, they announced that a study using both tissue in culture dishes and actual human erectile dysfunction patients appeared to indicate that applying shockwaves to the tissue sparked the growth of new blood vessels. That’s im
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18 Oct, 2011
Haiti Program Rural
Background
Partners In Health (PIH) works with the Ministry of Health to provide comprehensive health services in Haiti. Between 1994 and 2009, PIH recommended exclusive formula feeding in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV program and provided support to implement this strategy. We conducted this study to assess HIV-free survival and prevalence of diarrhea and malnutrition among infants in our PMTCT program in rural Haiti where exclusive formula feeding was supported.
Methods
We reviewed medical charts of PMTCT mother-infant pairs at PIH between November 2004 and August 2006 through a retrospective longitudinal study and cross-sectional survey.
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