Stabilization in Number of AIDS Cases Marks Decline in Global Epidemic

The number of new cases of AIDS is leveling off with the number of people infected with the HIV virus having remained unchanged since 2007.

The number of new cases of AIDS is leveling off with the number of people infected with the HIV virus having remained unchanged since 2007. The information comes from a new report recently released by the United Nations.

According to the joint United Nations program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), the number of new HIV infections appears to have stabilized with approximately 2.7 million occurring last year, which is about the same number of cases reported in the three years prior. The latest numbers serve as confirmation of findings released by UNAIDS earlier this year.

In 2010, the number of AIDS-related deaths reported was 1.8 million, reflecting a decline from 1.9 million deaths in 2009. 

About 34 million people were living with the AIDS-causing HIV virus by the end of last year. Although this is actually a slight increase from prior years, this is likely due to an increased survival rate among those having the illness.

But the threat of AIDS has by no means been diminished, having no method for preventing the deadly disease that has no cure. 

Although the decline in the number of cases of HIV reflects a positive trend, millions who suffer from the disease continue to go untreated and reportedly, donations have declined amidst a struggling economy.

While for North America and Western Europe, the continued outbreak “remains stubbornly steady,” according to U.N. report, southern Africa continues to suffer the worst. Although the peak of infection occurred in 1997, following a drop of more than 26 percent in the number of new infections, Sub-Saharan Africa still accounted for 70 percent of the world’s new infections last year.

In addition, the number of new infections of HIV has soared by 250 percent in Eastern Europe and central Asia over the last decade, mainly due shared needles among drug addicts.

The strategic goal of UNAIDS is to achieve a rate of zero new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, as well as zero discrimination. Critics say that while the goals are admirable, these goals are unattainable. They point out that total elimination of the disease is highly unlikely.

UNAIDS deputy executive director Dr. Paul De Lay, said that he recognized the goal of elimination of infection as “more of a vision for the future,” pointing out that success would require a method of prevention, such as a vaccine, and that the development of such an effective tool could take decades.

For now, De Lay noted that the U.N. will aim their efforts at more aggressive prevention and treatment, including earlier intervention for those infected with HIV. In the future, the group may focus on providing medication to uninfected individuals at high risk for the virus.

The World Health Organization is currently considering ways to counsel countries in the midst of major epidemics regarding methods of prevention, including the provision of drugs to such high-risk people as injection drug addicts, gay men, and prostitutes. However, giving AIDS drugs to healthy people has its downside. Those who take these medications can suffer serious side effects, and the use of the drugs may also promote drug resistance.

Meanwhile, for those already infected, the report said that low and middle income countries have been experiencing a surge in the number of people getting access to antiretroviral therapy since 2009, and that these treatments are significantly impacting the rate of new infections. The leveling off of new cases of HIV is a positive move forward, and UNAIDS remains optimistic in working toward further diminishment of the AIDS-causing virus.

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The World of Post-Mastectomy

In the struggle to overcome breast cancer, many women lose a valuable part of themselves to mastectomies, but breast reconstruction is a viable option for many.

In the struggle to overcome breast cancer, many women lose a valuable part of themselves to mastectomies. Thanks to breast reconstruction surgery, however, the change is neither permanent nor noticeable. For women who aspire to be complete again after the fight of their lives, it helps to learn about the procedure of breast reconstruction, how to find a plastic surgeon, and why other women are making the choice. 

For the 56 percent of American breast cancer patients that received mastectomies, more than 76 percent had a number of plausible reasons to pursue the procedure. One patient featured on breastcancer.org struck a couple of major notes that echo throughout the post-mastectomy world of women:

In addition to fashion and forgetting, breast reconstruction surgery improves confidence, physical appeal, and even balance in women.

Upon making the decision to proceed with breast reconstruction surgery, the exact kind of procedures available varies on a number of determinants such as the extent of the mastectomy, patient preference, age, and other factors. The two general options involved with the surgery are implants and tissue flaps. 

Offering permanence and a more realistic feel over their prosthetic counterparts, breast implants are silicone cups filled with fluid. More often than not, this fluid is a saline solution. For mastectomy patients who are eligible for immediate reconstruction, silicone breast implants may be added in the same session as the mastectomy. This is as simple as inserting the implant correctly after the breast has been removed.

Two-stage or delayed reconstruction is performed in the event that the patient does not have enough surrounding tissue to support silicone breast implants immediately following the mastectomy. Surgeons preparing a patient for delayed reconstruction will insert an expander under the chest tissues. They will then regularly expand the device by adding fluid, eventually reaching the needed capacity for an implant. 

As it concerns tissue flap procedures, the main premise remains the same throughout: expendable tissues from other areas of the body that meet certain specifications are used to reconstruct lost breast tissue.

Two of the most common of these procedures are the Transverse Rectus Abdominus Flap and the Latissimus Dorsi Flap.

Transverse Rectus Abdominus Flaps use muscular tissue and skin from the lower abdomen to reconstruct breasts. There are two different kinds of Transverse Rectus Abdominus Flaps: Pedicle flap and Free flap. A Pedicle flap is moved to the breast under the skin, staying connected to its blood supply. A Free flap is complete extraction of tissue and placement at the breast, requiring reattachment of veins and arteries.

The Latissimus Dorsi or “lat” muscle of the middle and upper back can provide the necessary tissue to aid in breast reconstruction. In this procedure the tissue is transported to the chest cavity under the skin.

When searching for a plastic surgeon, the best way to honestly get to know their accreditations and experience is through reputable organizations that refer and recommend them. The ASPS or American Society of Plastic Surgeons, for example, offers a database teeming with board certified plastic surgeons. The society’s resources detail the qualifications, specialities, and services of all of their members.

Aside from associations and referrals, old-fashioned word of mouth is another vein of research that minimizes bias. Finding more than one testimonial of a particular surgeon’s work, however, when narrowing options, is highly recommended. Finally, assessing board certified plastic surgeons through personal interviews will illuminate past history of work, experience, and education.

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Posted in: HEALTH

Text-Message Bullying Becoming More Common

A growing number of U.S. kids say they have been picked on via text messaging, while there has been little change in online harassment, researchers reported Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A growing number of U.S. kids say they have been picked on via text messaging, while there has been little change in online harassment, researchers reported Monday.

Of more than 1,100 middle school and high school students surveyed in 2008, 24 percent said they had ever been "harassed" by texting. That was up from about 14 percent in a survey of the same kids the year before.

"Harassment" meant that peers had spread rumors about them, made "rude or mean comments," or threatened them.

Outright bullying, which was defined as being repeatedly picked on, was less common. In 2008, about eight percent of kids said they'd ever been bullied via text, versus just over six percent the year before.

Researchers say the findings, reported in the journal Pediatrics, suggest that attention needs to be paid to kids' text-messaging world. But they also stress that parents need not be alarmed.

"This is not a reason to become distressed or take kids' cellphones away," said lead researcher Michele L. Ybarra, of Internet Solutions for Kids, Inc., in San Clemente, California.

"The majority of kids seem to be navigating these new technologies pretty healthfully," she told Reuters Health.

A researcher not involved in the study agreed.

"I don't think it makes sense for parents to get anxious about every new technology, or every new study," said David Finkelhor, who directs the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

And on balance, Finkelhor told Reuters Health, this latest study is "relatively reassuring."

The study included 1,588 10- to 15-year-olds who were surveyed online for the first time in 2006. The survey was repeated in 2007 and 2008, with about three-quarters of the original group taking part in all three.

When it came to Internet-based harassment, there was little change over time. By 2008, 39 percent of students said they'd ever been harassed online, with most saying it had happened "a few times." Less than 15 percent said they'd ever been cyber-bullied.

And even when kids were picked on, most seemed to take it in stride.

Of those who said they'd been harassed online in 2008, 20 percent reported being "very or extremely upset" by the most serious incident. That was down a bit from 25 percent in 2006. (The study did not ask about distress over text-message harassment.)

"If online bullying were getting worse," Ybarra noted, "I would expect to see more kids saying they're distressed by it. But we didn't see that, and I think that's good news."

But, she added, that's not to minimize the distress some kids do feel. "We need to do a better job of identifying these kids, and helping them."

Both Ybarra and Finkelhor said the message for parents is to try to help their kids manage their relationships in a healthy way. "These things, at the core, are relationship problems," Ybarra said.

"A lot of the old parenting messages still hold true, like teaching your kids the 'golden rule,'" Finkelhor said. "These are discussions that aren't specific to the Internet or cellphones."

And despite concerns that technology has made teasing and taunting easier, Finkelhor said there's evidence that overall, kids are doing less of it these days. "Bullying and victimization are down over the period that Internet use has gone up. It's improving," he said.

Finkelhor credited greater awareness of the problem, among schools and parents, for that decline.

And both researchers noted that despite the ubiquitous cellphones and computers, cyber-bullying remains a smaller threat than the old-fashioned kind.

"Meanness and bullying are still much more likely to occur face-to-face," Finkelhor said.

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