Seaweed could drown HIV
The US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is coordinating early trials
of a barrier microbicide called Carraguard. This is an extract of the
seaweed carrageen, already used as a thickening agent in foods and cosmetics.
Applied vaginally, the seaweed gel prevents HIV attaching to cells in
the vaginal wall and cervix. US Professor Ken Mayer urged further microbicide
development. He said: "In the next few decades, neither a vaccine
or a microbicide is likely to be 100 per cent effective, so you want to
have both." Currently only one per cent of the US HIV research budget
is spent on microbicides.
HAART and thyroid problems
Scientists have confirmed that another side effect of anti-retroviral
therapy could be damage to the thyroid gland. This gland is the body's
'throttle': it regulates the rate we burn up food to create energy. Lowered
activity - hypothyroidism - can cause lethargy, depression and weight
gain and can in severe cases be fatal. A French study of 221 patients
on HIV drugs found a hypothyroidism rate of 12 per cent compared with
one per cent on average in women and 0.2 per cent in men. Patients with
lipodystrophy symptoms were twice as likely to have thyroid abnormalities.
page 8 of 8
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