Day: 08/26/2014

Antidepressants May Affect Feelings of Love .

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Were their original feelings a product of their depression/anxiety? Are their new feelings a product of the antidepressants? Could their feelings be attributed to the natural ebb and flow of relationships?

via Live Science:

Taking antidepressants may affect people’s feelings of love and attachment, a new study suggests.

Via Wikimedia Commons.

Researchers found that men’s feelings of love tended to be affected more than women’s by taking antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which work mainly through the serotonin system. In contrast, drugs called tricyclic antidepressants, which affect the serotonin system less, seem to affect women’s feelings of love more than men’s, the researchers said.

“The good news is that there are a variety of agents for treating depression,” said study author Dr. Hagop S. Akiskal, a distinguished professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.

In the study, researchers compared the effects of SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants on the love lives of 192 people with depression — 123 women and 69 men — whose mean age was 41. The study included 13 people who were homosexual. All the people in the study said they had been in loving relationships for between seven months and 26 years.

“Indeed, our subjects were those who could be properly considered smitten by love,” Akiskal told Live Science.

The participants filled out a questionnaire that examined their feelings of love, attachment and sexual attraction to their partners throughout their relationships. On the questionnaire, the participants addressed whether their feelings were different after they started taking antidepressants, compared with before.

When the researchers looked at all the study participants, they found that those taking SSRIs were more likely to say they felt less at ease with sharing their partners’ thoughts and feelings, and less wishful that their love for their partner would last forever since they started taking their medication, compared with the people taking tricyclics.

They also found the men in the study taking SSRIs reported being less likely to ask their partners for help or advice, or take care of their partners, compared with women who had been taking SSRIs.

 

History of A.I.: Artificial Intelligence .

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A timeline of developments in computers and robotics.

How the body recognises viruses .

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The immune system has amazing power to recognise tiny virus particles and mount an attack, killing the virus and protecting the body. But sometimes, if the virus has mutated, the immune system is caught out and is unable to recognise the threat. Stephanie Gras is investigating the process of recognition at the atomic level using the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne. Understanding the process of virus recognition will aid in the development of vaccines for flu and possibly even HIV.

 

3D print of influenza virus

12 Surprising Immune System Boosts to Try At Home

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Lifestyle Changes Can Be Done At Home To Boost Immune Systems

Boosting your immune system doesn’t require expensive treatments. Inexpensive at-home treatments can provide remarkable benefits.Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Our immune systems protect us from the elements and microscopic disease-causing organisms, and with all of that power it’s important to take a look at what can help boost your immune system to the best of your ability. Simple, small changes at home can be made to bolster your body and give it a fighting chance against the elements.

According to Harvard Medical School, although researchers are increasingly studying the effects lifestyle has on the immune system, results are preliminary. It may take time to understand the intricacies and interconnectedness of the immune system. However, they do know a combination of factors, healthy balances and choices through diet, exercise, age, psychological stress, and other behavioral approaches can boost or bust the immune system.

Expensive medical treatments and supplements aren’t necessarily the key to conquering illnesses, so instead look at these at-home immune system secrets to help your body perform at its peak.

1. Fasting

Periodic breaks from eating for a couple days a year have been shown to protect the immune system of healthy middle-aged people, the elderly, and even patients undergoing chemotherapy. Researchers from the University of Southern Californiafound starving immune cells from nutrients drops the body’s healthy white blood cell count. However, when eating resumes, it bounces back to greater numbers than before.

2. Music

Not only has music been shown to boost the immune system, but it also has the power to reduce pain and was better at reducing stress than prescription medications before surgery. Music listeners had a high number of natural killer cells, which are responsible for attacking bacteria, infected cells, and even cancerous cells.

3. Sex

Applying sexual prowess into a bi-weekly routine will boost your body’s production of immunoglobulin A, a virus and bacterial fighting antibody, by 30 percent. Linger in bed afterward or bring your partner to the couch for a cuddling and a movie-session for laughter and lounging, and it’ll increase your body’s disease-fighting T-cell antibody storages.

4. Astragalus

This herb has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries and has shown to support the immune system. It’s available as a dietary supplement and has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties used to combat viruses, according to the University of Maryland Medical System.

5. Walk in the Woods

A Japanese study found after people gazed at forest scenery for 20 minutes, their cortisol stress levels dropped 13.4 percent below people who viewed urban settings. “Forest bathing” or “forest therapy” has the ability to boost the immune system because it isn’t being bathed in cortisol, which is known to lower immune systems.

6. Coconut Oil Coffee

The powers of coconut oil continue as it is now prepared with coffee for an immune system boost. Coconut oil is mostly made of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) that reduce need for sugars and don’t allow fat to be stored, which increases metabolism and boosts the immune system.

7. Sauna

Australian researchers found people who had a sauna steam twice a week caught half as many colds compared to those who didn’t, in a six-month study. Unfortunately, once the cold starts, a sit in a sauna will do nothing to improve symptoms or speed up recovery time.

8. Green Tea

Antioxidants in general are excellent cleansers for the body, but they also significantly improve the immune system because they fight free radicals that can weaken you. It has also shown to help blood pressure and maintain heart health.

9. Kissing

Pucker up to a better immune system. An NYU study found when kissers exchange microorganisms it builds the immune system, especially for women during pregnancy and childbirth.

10. Wine and Blueberries

The compound resveratrol found in wine, blueberries, and even red grapes combined with fungal-fighting pterostilbene, also found in grapes and blueberries have even greater benefits. Mix that in with vitamin D and you have a strong line of defense within the immune system, which may also help keep antibiotics from losing their effectiveness overtime, according to Oregon State University researchers.

11. Be Social

Surrounding yourself with people has shown to help the body heal quicker, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Physicians have found a link between chronic disease and loneliness, suggesting social isolation may increase stress and slow the immune system’s response. People were 50 percent more likely to survive health problems if they had strong relationship ties, than those who did not.

12. Sour Milk

Probiotics found in Kefir from sour milk give the immune system up to five times the amount of disease-fighters than yogurt does. Probiotics also contain iodine, which also help the thyroid gland regulate the immune system. An American Health Association study found yogurt reduces bad cholesterol and cuts UTI risk by 47 percent.

Is Your Brain Firing As It Should? Natural Solutions for Stress .

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On our troubled planet it is obvious to each of us there are many aspects of our daily lives that are not all they could or should be. Life can be difficult at times! These less than ideal conditions we live amongst create stress and depressive states of ‘being’ in our lives, the symptoms of which can manifest in various ways, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Is Your Brain Firing As It Should? - Neurotransmitters

While many writers focus their advice primarily on the physical aspects of our health, offering great insight on how to lift our general health out of the doldrums with diet and suggestions on supplementation of certain antioxidants, vitamins and minerals etc., there is not the same wealth of information offered as to how we might lift our mental and emotional health out of the doldrums, other than with various spiritual practices such as meditation and yoga. Great advice for sure, but there is a lot more you can do if you are troubled by the stresses of modern life.

This series of articles will focus on how you may find relief from issues like stress and sleep disorders, using targeted ‘brain nutrition’ rather than having to resort to prescribed pharmaceutical medications (antidepressants, sleeping pills etc.) which, in addition to their penchant for forming ‘chemical drug dependence’ in the patient, often come with a host of unwelcome side effects that ultimately do more harm than good.

Part 1 – Natural Ways to Enhance Neurotransmitters

Anxiety and Sleep Disorders.

Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that transmit signals across a synapse (a structure that permits transit of an electrical or chemical signal) from one neuron (brain cell) to another ‘target’ neuron.

It is possible to have a deficiency in the raw materials that your brain needs to make neurotransmitters, in much the same way as a person may have a deficiency in a vitamin the body needs to assist with general health. These deficiencies can lead to states where neurotransmitters begin to ‘misfire‘, which can result in the various chronic states of mental and emotional health.

Many people are unaware that there are supplements available that will improve their neurotransmitter deficiencies and help correct the imbalance in their brain. And it may surprise you to learn that the supplements I will be discussing for optimal neurotransmitter health are a combination of natural hormones and simple amino acids, with specific functions relating to our brain chemistry.

When we encounter people who are in states of mental anguish, whether it be insomnia, acute anxiety or chronic depression, there is a general consensus within the scientific community that these individuals are experiencing a miscommunication between certain hormones and neurotransmitters in their brain. Presenting our brain with the raw ‘brain food’ it needs can help to optimize our brain’s performance and improve our mood. While taking pharmaceutical drugs may be viewed a little like sending in an armoured tank to rearrange the brain-scape, supplementing your diet with the raw materials your brain needs to rearrange itself is a more natural, subtle, and effective way to improve your mental and emotional health.

An introduction to the various supplements

As a student of Integrative Neuroscience, I witnessed a veritable epidemic of stress disorders amongst my fellow students during my finals week. Many were suffering anxiety that leads to sleep disruption – without sleep there was more anxiety and so it goes on. Sleep deprivation is not helpful when you need to think clearly, so no doubt many of us would benefit from feeding our brains what it needs to get us through these anxious times, with minimal sleep disruption and a sense of calm control – and two of these foods are serotonin and melatonin.

Serotonin

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps you relax, and the precursor for making serotonin in your body can be found in one of the 22 essential amino acids, called Tryptophan. In other words, tryptophan is the raw food for serotonin production. Food sources of tryptophan include poultry, meat, cheese, yogurt, fish and eggs. However supplementing may prove more beneficial in times of greatest need, and as we age. Tryptophan can be purchased as a stand-alone supplement. When taken correctly, tryptophan can greatly assist with states of stress and high-anxiety.

Tryptophan - Is Your Brain Firing As It Should? - Natural Ways to Enhance Stress-Reducing Neurotransmitters

There are two basic kinds of tryptophan available. L-tryptophan which is the natural amino acid and 5-HTP (5-Hydroxy-tryptophan) which is the immediate bio-chemical precursor of serotonin. When taking the l-tryptophan a larger dose will be needed (around 2-4 grams daily in divided doses, or as a single dose at night for sleep) than if you decide upon the 5-HTP kind (around 300-400mg), because 5-HTP directly crosses the blood-brain barrier rather than having to first be converted in 5-HTP from the original L-tryptophan molecule.

Several double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of 5-HTP in the treatment of depression. Either form will help with stress and sleep disorders. See more here:http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2013/may2013_Better-Brain-Chemistry-with-Tryptophan_01.htm

Melatonin

In addition to being a powerful antioxidant, melatonin is a hormone that acts in the pineal gland to regulate the wake/sleep cycles known as circadian rhythms. When our melatonin levels are optimal, it keeps these cycles in perfect balance. But when we experience chronic or acute stress, and as we age, our melatonin levels may suffer and insomnia can ensue. There are plant-based forms of melatonin, found in varying amounts in the herbs Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium), St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and in foods such as rice, corn, tomato, grapes and other edible fruits. However, clinical amounts are better sought from supplementation if you are addressing chronic sleep disorders.

Although melatonin secretion decreases with age, thankfully a good night sleep can still be had without having to race to the doctor for sleeping pills, because melatonin supplements are widely available. 3mg can be enough for some people to get a good night sleep, while others may need a little more.

However, not all melatonin supplements are the same and studies have shown mixed results. But in recent times Dr. Walter Pierpaoli, an ardent researcher, has developed a pharmaceutical grade melatonin known as MZS™ which is a supplement with the added synergistic ingredients of zinc and selenium, specially designed to release melatonin in the same pattern as the pineal gland itself would do, to give you a natural night’s sleep.

And according to Dr. Pierpaoli, MZS melatonin can in fact help reverse some of the aging process by helping to rejuvenate the pineal gland. Significantly, a Chinese study showed that MZS melatonin can even reverse age-related macular degeneration (deteriorating eye-sight). The researchers stated:

“Within 6 months 90% of the trial participants had improved their AMD (age-related macular degeneration) condition. The improvements continued until the trial ended at 24 months.”

 

Dr. Walter Pierpaoli Discusses Melatonin

Melatonin is pretty much a miracle molecule when it comes to the health of your brain. To find out more I suggest you watch this video presentation by Dr. Pierpaoli.

 

The Last Word

Ultimately, by presenting this series of articles, I’d like to start a paradigm shift in the way society views the different natural substances available that can improve your general state of mind, your emotions, and your day to day well-being.

TEPCO Drops Bombshell About Sea Releases; 8 Billion Bq Per Day.

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TEPCO made the startling admission today at a press conference that the plant is leaking 8 billion bequerels per day. (8 gigabequerels)

5 billion bq of strontium 90
2 billion bq of cesium 137
1 billion bq of tritium

This is the ongoing daily release to the Pacific. These release numbers are also within the realm of what some oceanographers have been warning about since last year, that there was an ongoing and considerable leak to the sea. According to journalist Ryuichi Kino TEPCO said this may be due to failings of some sort within the “glass” wall at the sea front. This is an underground wall made in the soil by injecting a solidifying agent to block water flow.

This daily release would add up to 11,680,000,000,000 = 11 terabequerels over 4 years time in addition to the initial sea releases during the meltdowns.

*** Update*** With a translation of a related portion of a TEPCO document released to METI just yesterday the total releases of this new admission are even higher than the 11 Tbq mentioned. The chart that can be seen here, shows the releases until 2014 were considerably higher. Releases dropped in 2014, likely due to work underway to try to block leaking water. TEPCO also has a section of where they think they will get once remediation work is finished that is lower yet, but that is not achieved yet based on the TEPCO document. This drastically changes the estimated releases to the sea in total. We came up with a rough estimate of about 673 Tbq for 3 years at the 2013 rate, this would be in addition to any initial sea releases during the meltdowns.

福島県漁連組合長会議説明資料

The admission was extracted by journalists that continued to press TEPCO for an answer.

H/T to Fukushima-Diary who broke the initial story.
Transcript of the admission (in Japanese) http://kiikochan.blog136.fc2.com/blog-entry-3870.html

Many thanks to Yuri and Yuko for their assistance with confirming translation.

 

This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team
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World’s rarest bird needs new home

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The Madagascar pochard, the world’s rarest bird, will not be able to thrive without a new wetland home.

This is according to a study revealing that 96% of the chicks are dying at two to three weeks old.

Conservationists say that human activity has driven the birds to one remaining wetland, but that that site has insufficient food for the ducks.

The research is published in the journal Bird Conservation International.

Wetland in Madagascar, home of the Madagascar pochard
The wetland where the ducks survive is relatively pristine but too deep for young ducklings to dive for food

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), which led the research, estimates that only 25 individual birds now remain in the wild.

Human activity, including deforestation, farming and fishing, has destroyed their habitat to the point that this last population is now restricted to one wetland in north-east Madagascar – a complex of lakes near Bemanevika.

After the rediscovery of the species at this site in 2006, the WWT and its partners, including the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and thePeregrine Fund, set up a conservation breeding programme and began to monitor the wild birds.

Dr Geoff Hilton, head of species research at the WWT, said that with such a small number of birds, keeping a close eye on the population was straightforward.

“We had about 10 or 11 females, [and] we were able to tell that most of those females were laying eggs, and those eggs were hatching,” he told BBC News.

But at the point when the ducklings were two to three weeks old, they would start disappearing.

Too deep to dive

Piecing the evidence together, including samples of food from the bottom of the lake, the researchers realised that the chicks were starving to death.

Conservation worker in Madagascar with a Madagascar pochard
Local and international conservationists are working together to find a new home for the rare ducks

These diving ducks feed from the bottom of lakes, and this steep crater lake was simply too deep for them.

WWT senior research officer Dr Andrew Bamford, who led the study, said: “The last refuge of the Madagascar pochard is one of the last unspoilt wetlands in the country, but it’s simply not suited to its needs.

“Something similar happened in the UK when the lowland red kite became confined to upland Wales, and in Hawaii, where the last nenes survived only on the upper slopes of volcanoes because introduced predators had occupied their favoured grassland habitats.”

Dr Hilton added: “What we think we’re seeing is a bit of a classic wildlife conservation conundrum.

“The place where the species hangs on at the end is not a particularly good place for them – it’s just the place that’s been least badly affected by human activities.”

Peter Cranswick of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust explains the risks faced by the Madagascar pochard

But the researchers say the species could thrive in Madagascar again if the captive-bred ducks can be found a new wetland home.

“We have been very successful in establishing a captive population,” said Dr Hilton.

“And we have recently identified a lake that we think has potential to be restored and become a reintroduction site.

“The main thing we have to do is work with the local people to reintroduce and restore the pochard, but also to restore the lake and help people to get a better livelihood from the lake they live around.”

Madagascar pochard ducklings (c) WWT
The researchers have had great success with a captive breeding programme for the pochard

FDA Approves Triumeq (abacavir, dolutegravir and lamivudine) for the Treatment of HIV-1 Infection.

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ViiV Healthcare announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Triumeq (abacavir 600mg, dolutegravir 50mg and lamivudine 300mg) tablets for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.1 Triumeq is ViiV Healthcare’s first dolutegravir-based fixed-dose combination, offering many people living with HIV the option of a single-pill regimen that combines the integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) dolutegravir, with the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) abacavir and lamivudine.
Triumeq alone is not recommended for use in patients with current or past history of resistance to any components of Triumeq. Triumeq alone is not recommended in patients with resistance-associated integrase substitutions or clinically suspected INSTI resistance because the dose of dolutegravir in Triumeq is insufficient in these populations. Before initiating treatment with abacavir-containing products, screening for the presence of a genetic marker, the HLA-B*5701 allele, should be performed in any HIV-infected patient, irrespective of racial origin. Products containing abacavir should not be used in patients known to carry the HLA-B*5701 allele.1

Dr Dominique Limet, Chief Executive Officer, ViiV Healthcare, said: “Today’s approval of Triumeq offers many people living with HIV in the US the first single-pill regimen containing dolutegravir. ViiV Healthcare is committed to delivering advances in care and new treatment options to physicians and people living with HIV. We are proud to announce this important milestone, marking the second new treatment to be approved in the US from our pipeline of medicines.”

This FDA approval is based primarily upon data from two clinical trials:

the Phase III study (SINGLE) of treatment-naïve adults, conducted with dolutegravir and abacavir/lamivudine as separate pills2,3
a bioequivalence study of the fixed-dose combination of abacavir, dolutegravir and lamivudine when taken as a single pill compared to the administration of dolutegravir and abacavir/lamivudine as separate pills.4
In the SINGLE study, a non-inferiority trial with a pre-specified superiority analysis, more patients were undetectable (HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL) in the dolutegravir and abacavir/lamivudine arm (the separate components of Triumeq) than in the Atripla®† (efavirenz, emtricitabine and tenofovir) arm, the most commonly used single-pill regimen. The difference was statistically significant and met the pre-specified test for superiority. The difference was driven by a higher rate of discontinuation due to adverse events in the Atripla arm.2,3

At 96 weeks, 80% of participants on the dolutegravir-based regimen were virologically suppressed compared to 72% of participants on Atripla. Grade 2-4 treatment emergent adverse reactions occurring in 2% or more participants taking the dolutegavir-based regimen were insomnia (3%), headache (2%) and fatigue (2%).3
About HIV

HIV stands for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Unlike some other viruses, the human body cannot get rid of HIV, so once someone has HIV they have it for life.5-7

HIV infects specific cells of the immune system, called CD4 cells or T-cells. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body cannot fight off infections and disease. When this happens, HIV infection leads to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which is the final stage of HIV infection. There is no cure for HIV, but with early diagnosis and effective treatment most people with HIV will not go on to develop AIDS.5-7

An estimated 1.1 million people in the US are living with HIV.However, only 33 percent are taking the medication they need.8

About Triumeq

Triumeq is a fixed-dose combination containing the INSTI dolutegravir and the NRTIs abacavir and lamivudine.

Two essential steps in the HIV life cycle are replication – when the virus turns its RNA copy into DNA – and integration – the moment when viral DNA becomes part of the host cell’s DNA. These processes require two enzymes called reverse transcriptase and integrase. NRTIs and integrase inhibitors interfere with the action of the two enzymes to prevent the virus from replicating and further infecting cells.

Dolutegravir was approved in the US in August 2013 and in Europe in January 2014 under the brand name Tivicay®. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted a positive opinion on the Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for Triumeq on 26 June 2014. Regulatory applications are also being evaluated in other markets worldwide, including Australia, Brazil and Canada.

Tivicay and Triumeq are registered trademarks of the ViiV Healthcare group of companies.

Important Safety Information for Triumeq

The following Important Safety Information is based on the Highlights section of the Prescribing Information for Triumeq. Please consult the full Prescribing Information for all the labeled safety information for Triumeq.

BOXED WARNING: RISK OF HYPERSENSITIVITY REACTIONS, LACTIC ACIDOSIS AND SEVERE HEPATOMEGALY, AND EXACERBATIONS OF HEPATITIS B

See full Prescribing Information for complete boxed warning.

Serious and sometimes fatal hypersensitivity reactions have been associated with abacavir-containing products.
Hypersensitivity to abacavir is a multi-organ clinical syndrome.
Patients who carry the HLA‑B*5701 allele are at high risk for experiencing a hypersensitivity reaction to abacavir.
Discontinue Triumeq as soon as a hypersensitivity reaction is suspected. Regardless of HLA-B*5701 status, permanently discontinue Triumeq if hypersensitivity cannot be ruled out, even when other diagnoses are possible.
Following a hypersensitivity reaction to abacavir, NEVER restart Triumeq or any other abacavir‑containing product.
Lactic acidosis and severe hepatomegaly with steatosis, including fatal cases, have been reported with the use of nucleoside analogues.
Severe acute exacerbations of hepatitis B have been reported in patients who are co‑infected with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) ‑1 and have discontinued lamivudine, a component of Triumeq. Monitor hepatic function closely in these patients and, if appropriate, initiate anti-hepatitis B treatment.
CONTRAINDICATIONS

Presence of HLA-B*5701 allele.
Previous hypersensitivity reaction to abacavir, dolutegravir or lamivudine. Co-administration with dofetilide.
Moderate or severe hepatic impairment.
WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Patients with underlying hepatitis B or C may be at increased risk for worsening or development of transaminase elevations with use of Triumeq. Appropriate laboratory testing prior to initiating therapy and monitoring for hepatotoxicity during therapy with Triumeq is recommended in patients with underlying hepatic disease such as hepatitis B or C.
Hepatic decompensation, some fatal, has occurred in HIV-1/Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) co‑infected patients receiving combination antiretroviral therapy and interferon alfa with or without ribavirin. Discontinue Triumeq as medically appropriate and consider dose reduction or discontinuation of interferon alfa, ribavirin, or both.
Immune reconstitution syndrome and redistribution/accumulation of body fat have been reported in patients treated with combination antiretroviral therapy.
Administration of Triumeq is not recommended in patients receiving other products containing abacavir or lamivudine.
ADVERSE REACTIONS

The most commonly reported (≥2%) adverse reactions of at least moderate intensity in treatment-naïve adult subjects receiving Triumeq were insomnia (3%), headache (2%), and fatigue (2%).

DRUG INTERACTIONS

Co-administration of Triumeq with other drugs can alter the concentration of other drugs and other drugs may alter the concentrations of Triumeq. The potential drug-drug interactions must be considered prior to and during therapy.

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

Pregnancy: Triumeq should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk.
Nursing mothers: Breastfeeding is not recommended due to the potential for HIV transmission.
Triumeq is not recommended in patients with creatinine clearance less than 50 mL per min.
If a dose reduction of abacavir, a component of Triumeq, is required for patients with mild hepatic impairment, then the individual components should be used.
About ViiV Healthcare

ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV. Shionogi joined as a shareholder in October 2012. The company’s aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and new HIV medicines, as well as support communities affected by HIV. For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline, and commitment, please visit http://www.viivhealthcare.com.

References:

Triumeq US label
Walmsley SL, Antela A, Clumeck N et al; for the SINGLE Investigators. Dolutegravir plus abacavir–lamivudine for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. N Engl J Med. 2013;369(19):1807-1818.
Walmsley S, Berenguer J, Khuong-Josses M, et al. Dolutegravir regimen statistically superior to efavirenz/tenofovir/emtricitabine: 96-week results from the SINGLE study (ING114467). Poster presented at: 21st Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections; March 3-6, 2014; Boston, MA. Poster 543.
Weller S, Chen S, Borland J et al. Bioequivalence of a Dolutegravir, Abacavir and Lamivudine Fixed-Dose Combination Tablet and the Effect of Food. JAIDS. 2014 May doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000000193.http://journals.lww.com/jaids/Abstract/publishahead/Bioequivalence_of_a_Dolutegravir,_Abacavir_and.97920.aspx. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV Basics. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/index.html. Accessed July 28, 2014.
NHS Choices, HIV & AIDS Overview. http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/HIV/Pages/Introduction.aspx. Accessed July 28, 2014.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Fact Sheet. HIV in the United States: The Stages of Care. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/research_mmp_StagesofCare.pdf. Accessed July 28, 2014.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic. http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/HIVFactSheets/TodaysEpidemic-508.pdf. Accessed July 28, 2014.

‘Considerable lead content’ found in cookware commonly used throughout Africa and Asia

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http://m.naturalnews.com/news/046591_lead_content_cookware_Africa.html

From the desk of Zedie.

These tiny implants could spell the end for reading glasses .

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Scientists in the UK have developed a technique that can reverse the vision problems that come with ageing eyes.

reading-glassess

Around the ages of 40 or 50, if you start noticing symptoms like eye strain, difficulty seeing in the dark, or trouble focussing in on small objects or fine print, you’re probably developingpresbyopia, which is an eye condition that affects over 1 billion people around the world.

Currently, the condition is treated using laser surgery, but this isn’t an ideal solution, because glasses are often still required for reading in a dim light. And because the lasers work by removing part of the cornea, which allows it to be reshaped, the problem reoccurs once the cornea has flattened itself out again over time.

So researchers in the US and the UK have come up with a better solution, and they’re calling it the Raindrop.

The Raindrop is a minuscule implant made from a water-based substance called hydrogel, which is what contact lenses are made from. It’s about the size of a pinhead, and it’s inserted inside the cornea to slightly and permanently increase its curvature to improve its focus. The first implantations of the Raindrop have been carried out recently in a clinic in Warwickshire, England.

“I was diagnosed with presbyopia – losing my near sight,” Lynda Marenghi, a 57-year-old British school bursar who was the first person to receive a Raindrop implant, told Sarah Knapton atthe Telegraph. “It’s an age-related thing and meant I had to wear glasses more and more which was awful because, being a school bursar, I have to deal with a lot of close work and spreadsheets on computers. I had my Raindrop put in – it took 10 minutes and I haven’t needed reading glasses since…. It’s been absolutely life-changing.”

At the Telegraph, Knapton describes the procedure as being virtually painless:

“Anaesthetic droplets are inserted so the patient remains conscious throughout as the inlay is inserted into a flap in the cornea, the clear part at the front of the eye. The inlay corrects near and medium vision by adjusting the curvature of the cornea, causing its central section to become slightly steeper. The procedure costs £2,495 [$AUD 4,445] and is not currently available on the NHS [National Health Service].

“Raindrop can’t stop eyes from ageing,” said Mark Wevill, a surgeon at the Leamington Spa, where the procedure is being carried out. “But it can help correct the natural deterioration in eyesight caused by the ageing process. It appears to be the perfect long-term solution for people whose eyes are simply getting tired with age and who need reading glasses to read a book or a computer screen.”