http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Doctors should consider giving a daily AIDS drug to another high risk group to help prevent infections—people who shoot heroin, methamphetamines or other injection drugs, U.S. health officials said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-hiv-drug-users.html Addiction Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:50:02 EST news290272357 Food insecurity increases the risk of death among injection drug users living with HIV/AIDS even when they are receiving life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to a new study involving Simon Fraser University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-food-insecurity-linked-hiv-treated-drug.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 31 May 2013 06:48:34 EST news289201705 A Brazilian investigative team, collaborating with a Simon Fraser University researcher, is citing an urgent need for targeted interventions among young crack users in cities throughout Brazil, identified as the world's biggest crack market, and further research to better address the problem. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-user-critical-intervention.html Addiction Tue, 14 May 2013 08:55:43 EST news287740494 Experienced clubbers are more likely to add the former 'legal high' mephedrone to their drug repertoires rather than use it to replace popular established club drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine, according to new research by Lancaster University, Durham University and Guy's and St Thomas Hospitals, London. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-mephedrone-boosts-illegal-drug.html Addiction Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:29:33 EST news285920967 The harsh spending cuts introduced by European governments to tackle their crippling debt problems have not only pitched the region into recession—they are also being partly blamed for outbreaks of diseases not normally seen in Europe and a spike in suicides, according to new research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-europe-financial-crisis-suicide-surge.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:38:50 EST news283549105 The UK government's decision to promote abstinence for drug users "is about saving money not science" argues a senior doctor in the BMJ today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-decision-abstinence-drug-users-money.html Medications Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:30:02 EST news283105184 Early HIV treatment can save lives as well as have profound prevention benefits. But those infected with the virus first must be identified before they can be helped. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-current-hiv-screening-guidelines.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:12:01 EST news282388314 For HIV-infected patients whose disease is well-controlled by modern treatment, the risk of death is not significantly higher than in the general population, according to a study published in AIDS, official journal of the International AIDS Society. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-death-patients-well-controlled-hiv-aids.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:43:58 EST news282228223 The results of two important studies have been published in the March issue of AIDS, the official journal of the International AIDS Society. One study notes that screening for HIV should be performed more frequently—up to every three months for the highest-risk patients, while low-risk groups to be tested every three years. A second study demonstrates a link between heavy drinking and risky behaviors for men who have sex with men (MSM). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-aids-journal-publishes-important.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:31:17 EST news281619065 (HealthDay)—Individuals who are coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) exhibit liver fibrosis similar to that of individuals without HIV who are nearly 10 years older, according to research published online Feb. 26 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-hiv-hcv-coinfection-hcv-related-liver-fibrosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:50:01 EST news281200438 One in four people with HIV/AIDS is over 50, yet older adults are more often diagnosed at a late stage than younger people. Despite this, nearly half of older adults visiting a public health clinic where HIV/AIDS is prevalent were not screened for the disease in the past 12 months, finds a study in The Gerontologist. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-at-risk-older-adults-arent-routine.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:47:33 EST news278671639 The newly appointed deputy chief of the United Nations HIV-fighting program, Brazilian Luiz Loures, hailed his own country's achievements in the fight against the deadly global epidemic in an interview published Saturday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-aids-deputy-hails-brazil.html HIV & AIDS Sat, 22 Dec 2012 16:31:35 EST news275416287 (Medical Xpress)—InterveXion Therapeutics LLC and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) have successfully completed dosing in the first human safety study of a medication to help methamphetamine users fight their addictions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-human-meth-medication.html Medications Thu, 20 Dec 2012 08:14:42 EST news275213651 HIV infection among crisis-hit Greece's drug users is reaching "epidemic" proportions with recorded cases marking a 35-fold increase from 2010, health experts warned Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-hiv-cases-epidemic-scale-greece.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:55:52 EST news273502544 (Medical Xpress)—Methamphetamine users' use of synthetic cannabis products (such as Kronic) increased from ten per cent in 2010 to 41 per cent in 2011 an annual report on illegal drug use shows. Many of these synthetic cannabis products have subsequently been banned; they have contributed to an increase in new synthetic drug use, often in the form of 'legal highs', over the past three years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-illegal-drug-users-synthetic-drugs.html Addiction Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:23:38 EST news269767409 Nearly 5 percent of pregnant women are prescribed drugs to treat high blood pressure, including some drugs that aren't considered safe for mothers or their babies, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-pregnant-women-high-blood-pressure.html Cardiology Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:00:09 EST news266501123 The public does not value drug treatment generally but believes detoxification and rehabilitation is a better approach to drug treatment than methadone maintenance, according to a University of Aberdeen study, the findings of which were presented today at the British Science Festival. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-favoured-methadone.html Addiction Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:10:01 EST news266223176 Epidemiologists have determined that levels of hepatitis C virus (HCV) found among injection drug users (IDUs) were higher in individuals who are male or African American even after differences in other factors were considered. The study, which was funded by the National Cancer Institute and performed with collaborators from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center and the University of California - San Francisco, was the first to simultaneously examine the association of demographic, viral and human genetic factors on HCV RNA levels. Results of the study published in the July issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), also showed higher levels of HCV among IDUs who were co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-hepatitis-virus-higher-african-americans-males.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:50:29 EST news261150619 Some 27 million people worldwide are problem drug users, with almost one percent every year dying from narcotics abuse, while cannabis remains the most popular drug, a UN report showed Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-million-problem-drug-users-worldwide.html Addiction Tue, 26 Jun 2012 10:27:46 EST news259925257 Disclosure of HIV positive serostatus to sexual partners is considered an important public health goal to prevent new infections. Disclosure can motivate sex partners to make informed choices and change behavior through negotiation of safer sex practices. It might also prompt partner testing and counseling. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-alcohol-role-disclosing-hiv-status.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:38:51 EST news258637125 Australian illicit drug users are turning to the internet for drug education, but not to buy drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-psychostimulant-users-drugs-online.html Addiction Tue, 05 Jun 2012 07:35:39 EST news258100532 (AP) -- Steve Wohlen lay on his front lawn, blue, unconscious and barely breathing, overdosing on heroin. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-drug-overdose-antidote-addicts.html Addiction Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:45:03 EST news254670270 Voluntary testing and counseling (VT/C) for HIV or sexually transmitted infections (STI) among cocaine and heroin users who were treated in the emergency department (ED), accompanied by referral to drug treatment, was associated with reduction in unprotected sex acts and fewer sex acts while high according to researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-cocaine-heroin-users-unprotected-sex.html Addiction Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:51:23 EST news253878677 People with an opioid addiction had the highest risk of death when compared with rates for alcohol and other drugs, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-opioids-highest-death.html Addiction Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:14:48 EST news253876483 A study from Rhode Island Hospital examined the two-year period when the current ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs (SEPs) was lifted in order to learn whether SEPs received or anticipated pursuing federal funding during that time. Only three of the 187 SEPs that responded had received funding at the time of the survey, and early experiences cited many barriers to accessing the federal funds. With the ban reinstated, the researchers state that the effect of federal SEP funding can therefore not realize its full public health potential. The findings are published in the American Journal of Public Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-syringe-exchange-critical-health.html Health Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:26:43 EST news251051155 Russia in 2011 saw a rise of five percent in the number of new HIV infections to 62,000 cases amid worrying signs that heterosexuals and women are increasingly at risk, its chief doctor said Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-russia-hiv-infections.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:46:20 EST news250778774 A new report from researchers at the Drexel University School of Public Health identifies patterns in the misuse of illicit drugs among young adults who also misuse prescription drugs. The report, "Misuse of Prescription and Illicit Drugs among High-Risk Adults" in Los Angeles and New York, was recently published in the first issue of the Journal of Public Health Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-link-prescription-illicit-drug-misuse.html Health Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:27:50 EST news249560863 The dire physical and mental health effects of injecting methamphetamine are well known, but there's been little research about suicidal behavior and injecting meth. In a recent study, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the University of British Columbia found that drug users who inject methamphetamine had an 80% greater risk of attempting suicide than drug users who inject other substances. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-drugs-meth-suicide.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:41:04 EST news243794456 A study from Rhode Island Hospital is the first to systematically review and analyze the literature on the association between HIV infection and overdose risk. The findings show a 74 percent greater risk of overdose among drug users if they are HIV-infected. The researchers found that reasons for the increased risk are biological and behavioral, but may also include environmental and structural factors. The study is now available online in advance of print in the journal AIDS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-link-hiv-infection-overdose.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:30:02 EST news242911192 The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the U.S. is reported as being on the decrease, however untreated infected people act as a reservoir for disease. Any pool of the world's population harboring this disease gives cause for concern, especially since the BCG vaccine is only 70-80% effective at best. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health, shows that in 2009 the number of cases of TB reported across America was much lower than that recorded in previous years. This larger than expected decrease was most noticeable among recent immigrants, the homeless and other disadvantaged groups, which suggested that the decrease was most likely due to economic recession and lower immigration rates and may mask the future impact of TB. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-decrease-tb-economic-recession.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:05:29 EST news239861055