HIV/AIDS
In 2008, the CDC announced that 56,300 people were newly infected with
HIV in 2006, and that the epidemic has been worse than the predicted
40,000 infections per year.
In the mid-1990s, case reports of young patients with HIV who were
experiencing myocardial infarction sparked interest in the
connection between HIV and cardiovascular disease.
S exually transmitted diseases (STDs) ( TABLE 1 ) can be contracted later in life--a fact too often overlooked by seniors and health care providers alike.
A study by a University of Arizona evolutionary biologist that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences uncovered that the AIDS virus was causing infections in the U.S. approximately 12 years before scientists officially recognized it as a disease in 1981.
Many Cancers Signal HIV/AIDS More infection-related cancers result from immunodeficiencies than previously thought, according to a meta-analysis reported in Lancet .
Genes May Have Role in Colorectal and Prostate Cancers Several studies suggest there may be a common genetic link to the development of colorectal and prostate cancers.
A South African study published in Lancet found that HIV-positive mothers who exclusively breast-fed their babies could likely cut HIV transmission in half.
New Drug to Treat Advanced Breast Cancer The FDA has approved lapatinib (Tykerb, GlaxoSmithKline), a new molecular entity to be used in combination with capectabine (Xeloda, Roche Laboratories), for patients with advanced, metastatic breast cancer that is HER2 positive.
Circumcision Reduces HIV Transmission Two studies in the Lancet bring the number of studies establishing a strong link between circumcision and a reduction in the risk of HIV transmission to three.
Number of New Cancer Patients Expected to Double The number of new cancer patients is expected to more than double in the United States over the next half-century from 1.