HIV Treatments Improve Health, but Nutritional Issues Remain
Despite the success of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART), people with HIV may still be at higher risk for nutritional deficiencies and abnormalities. In two different studies, researchers at the Nutrition/Infection Unit in the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, and colleagues examined the incidence of metabolic syndrome and existing micronutrient deficiencies among participants in the Nutrition for Healthy Living (NFHL) study, a cohort with HIV. Both studies were published in the December 1st issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, reporting that a high percentage of people with HIV have the same two defining characteristics of metabolic syndrome, and that people with HIV may be at risk for zinc deficiency.
Metabolic syndrome is defined as having three or more of the following medical conditions; low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or ‘good’) cholesterol, hypertension, abdominal obesity, high levels of serum glucose (blood sugar), and/or hypertriglyceridemia, which is an elevation of triglycerides (fatty compounds) in the blood. Metabolic syndrome is often associated with obesity and related diseases like diabetes, but characteristics of metabolic syndrome have been observed among patients with HIV both before and after the introduction of HAART.
Even with lung cancer, quitting cigarettes helps
Once people have been diagnosed with lung cancer they might think it pointless to stop smoking, but in fact it’s not too late to benefit from quitting, a new study shows.
Researchers found that among more than 200 lung cancer patients at their center, those who quit smoking after the diagnosis became less severely impaired by the disease than those who kept up the habit.
Specifically, their “performance status”—a measure of patients’ ability to care for themselves and function in daily life—was generally higher, according to findings published in the medical journal Chest.
Development of gene therapy
Since the late 1980s, gene therapy, more than virtually any other type of therapy, has given rise not only to high expectations of treatment success but also great concerns regarding health risks. Since the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) issued its first memorandum in 1995, this field of research has developed enormously. Wide-ranging experiments have shown the therapeutic potential as well as the risks of gene therapy. The second memorandum, which has just been presented by the DFG Senate Commission on Genetic Research, makes it clear that gene therapy already shows signs of success in certain areas, such as severe hereditary immunodeficiency diseases, while in other areas there is still considerable need for research. Moreover, the clinical application of gene therapy requires careful risk/benefit assessment, although in this respect it does not differ substantially from other therapeutic approaches.
Exercise, diet reduce fatty liver in obese teens
Efforts to help obese children become more active and eat better can help reduce the amount of fatty tissue in their livers.
Known medically as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, this condition is becoming increasingly common as the prevalence of obesity increases, Dr. Ana R. Damaso and colleagues from the Federal University of Sao Paulo in Brazil note in their report. There are currently no drugs available to reverse fatty liver disease, which can progress to cirrhosis, even among young patients, the doctors add.
They set out to determine whether a 12-week program including nutrition education and two one-hour exercise sessions per week would have any effect on fatty liver in a group of 73 obese teens.
Babies with viral infection may respond to antibiotic
Infants with bronchiolitis caused by RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), may benefit from treatment with an antibiotic, according to results of a Turkish study.
Usually occurring in winter, bronchiolitis is the most common respiratory ailment affecting children under two years of age. The virus RSV is the usual cause and treatment has been largely supportive, consisting of supplemental oxygen, intravenous fluids and use of a ventilator if needed. In cases of viral illnesses such as RSV, antibiotics are typically not given.
