For several years researchers have been concerned that bone mineral density (BMD) - a measure of the strength of bones - is significantly lower in people with HIV, when compared with HIV negative people. Lowered BMD or osteopenia causes visible changes in bone structure. This in turn may lead to osteoporosis, the brittle-bone syndrome common in older people. A new study shows similar BMD loss in patients with HIV across the board - regardless of whether they are on therapy. So researchers are now looking at how HIV itself could be hindering bone growth, rather than focusing on medication.
Researchers have long hoped that temporary ‘drug holidays’ could encourage the virus to somehow ‘forget’ how to evade anti-HIV drugs. However, new research suggests that breaks actually make things worse, at least in the sickest patients. “The strategy simply didn’t work,” said Dr Jody Lawrence, from the University of California. In the study, 138 patients interrupted their treatment. 22 either died or got worse, compared to only 12 of the 132 who never stopped treatment. The patients who stopped therapy also developed weaker immune systems and suffered from more Aids-related illnesses.
Vitamins C and E, and the anti-oxidant supplement n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) may be able to reduce ‘protease paunch’ and the levels of the kind of cholesterol associated with heart attacks in people with lipodystrophy. Dr Grace McComsey from Cleveland, Ohio gave 1,000mg of vitamin C and 800 units of vitamin E once daily, and 600mg of NAC twice-daily, to 10 patients taking anti-HIV drugs. The patients showed a ‘modest’ decrease in their waist size relative to their hips, and an 18 per cent reduction in LDL cholesterol. “Even with the small study size, we were able to show some improvement...both being very promising findings,” Dr McComsey told the Reuters Health news agency.
HIV-infected patients who also carry human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) are at much greater risk of developing Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), a new report has found. KS is a rare skin cancer found predominantly in Aids patients. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute took annual blood samples from HIV-infected men over a period of seven years and during the study 31 men developed KS. It was found that men with HHV-8 in their blood were nearly 12 times more likely to be diagnosed with KS than men who did not.
It seems a simple gel, made from seaweed, may be the unlikely key to protection against HIV. Scientists have discovered a gel made from the plant can prevent many different STDs - and pregnancy. Furthermore, the abundance of seaweed means the gel will be affordable to third world countries. The discovery could be a major breakthrough: “We think this could end up costing about 1p per sachet, which would really help some poorer nations, where the problem of HIV is at its worst,” said Jo Robinson, of the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Two separate cases of HIV transmission in Australia appear to show that HIV can occasionally be transmitted between family members, without sexual or blood-to-blood contact. In the first case, a 16-year-old girl tested positive for HIV. She had never had sex and her parents were both negative. Her 18-year-old sister also proved to have HIV when tested. The older sister’s contact was a Russian man and both sisters were found to have a subtype of HIV rare in Australia, but common in Russia. The only possible risk factor interviewers were able to isolate after intensive investigation was that both girls had used the same razor to shave their legs. In the second case, a 55-year-old woman appears to have caught HIV from her son, in his 30s. The only possible risk factor the mother could suggest was that her son had the skin condition psoriasis and that she had been in the habit of rubbing lotion into his skin to relieve it.
