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Author Interviews, HIV, Social Issues, UCLA / 03.09.2013

Sean D. Young, PhD, MS Assistant Professor In-Residence Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine Department of Family Medicine University of California, Los AngelesMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sean D. Young, PhD, MS Assistant Professor In-Residence Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine Department of Family Medicine University of California, Los Angeles Dr. Young: Here's the main take-home point: There is a lot of excitement about the possibility of using technologies, big data, and mHealth to improve health outcomes and change behavior. However, 1) little work has been done on this topic using sound research methods (for example, studies have asked people to report whether a technology changed behavior rather than objectively measuring whether it actually changed behavior. (more…)
Author Interviews, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, HIV, McGill / 16.08.2013

Marina Klein, MD, MSc, FRCP(C) Associate Professor of Medicine McGill University Health Centre Division of Infectious Diseases and Chronic Viral Illness Service 3650 Saint Urbain Montreal, Quebec H2X 2P4MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marina Klein, MD, MSc, FRCP(C) Associate Professor of Medicine McGill University Health Centre Division of Infectious Diseases and Chronic Viral Illness Service 3650 Saint Urbain Montreal, Quebec H2X 2P4 Disease in HIV–Hepatitis C Coinfection: A Longitudinal Cohort Analysis                MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Klein: We showed that people with HIV and hepatitis C infection who smoked marijuana did not tend to progress more rapidly to liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis or end-stage liver disease, even with increasing numbers of joints smoked per week. Previous studies that reported that marijuana was harmful to the liver were likely biased because they did not ensure that marijuana smoking occurred before the development of liver problems. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, Infections, JNCI, Lymphoma / 08.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Satish Gopal, MD, MPH Program in Global Oncology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center UNC Project-Malawi, Tidziwe Center, Private Bag A-104, Lilongwe, Malawi MedicalResearch.com: What is the primary message our physician readers should take away from the piece?” Answer: Lymphoma is one of the leading causes of HIV-associated death in the modern ART era. In our analyses of a large multicenter US cohort, survival for HIV-associated lymphoma patients receiving routine care has not clearly improved since the modern ART era began, and remains significantly worse than SEER outcomes for the same lymphoma subtypes in the general population. This was somewhat surprising in an era of normalizing life expectancy for HIV-infected patients on ART, and quite different from the outstanding results achieved for this population in recent clinical trials conducted by AMC and NCI. (more…)
HIV, Infections, JAMA, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 21.06.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. H. Irene Hall, PhD Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-47, Atlanta, GA 30333 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Hall: Our research finds that, across all populations, far too few Americans with HIV receive the care they need to stay healthy and reduce risk of transmission. According to our research, gaps in care are the largest among African Americans and young people. Moving forward, improving care for all HIV-infected people will be critical to achieving the goal of an AIDS-free generation in America. More specifically, some of the key findings of the study include:
  • Overall, only a quarter of all Americans with HIV have a suppressed viral load – meaning the level of HIV in their bodies is low enough to stay healthy and dramatically reduce the chance of transmitting to others.
  • By race/ethnicity, African-Americans and Hispanics or Latinos are less likely to be aware of their infection compared to whites.
  •  By age, younger Americans are less likely to be in ongoing care and have a suppressed viral load; HIV care and viral suppression generally improved with age. For example:
  • Fifteen percent of those aged 25-34 were virally suppressed, compared to 36 percent of those aged 55-64.
  • In terms of ongoing care, 28 percent of those 25-34 years old were retained in care, compared to 46 percent of those aged 55-64. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV / 27.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Sara Gianella Weibel, M.D. Center For Aids Research (CFAR) University of California San Diego La Jolla CA, 92093-0679 Email: gianella@ucsd.edu MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: In this study we evaluated a large number of seminal samples from HIV-infected sexually active gay men treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) using an extensive battery of tests for viral and bacterial co-infections. Around 10% of enrolled subjects presented detectable levels of HIV RNA in semen despite being on suppressive ART. (more…)