Vaginal cancer incidence increasing globally
The incidence of vaginal cancer is increasing globally, according to a study published online June 25 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Jul 3, 2024
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The incidence of vaginal cancer is increasing globally, according to a study published online June 25 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Jul 3, 2024
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Four months after seeking asylum in the U.S., Fernando Hermida began coughing and feeling tired. He thought it was a cold. Then sores appeared in his groin and he would soak his bed with sweat. He took a test.
Jun 27, 2024
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Just two injections a year of a new HIV drug protected young women in Africa from infection with the sexually transmitted disease, new trial results show.
Jun 24, 2024
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Although most newly diagnosed HIV patients in the United States live in cities, about 20% of new HIV infections are diagnosed in rural areas. Sexual minority males (gay, bisexual, queer and other men who have sex with men) ...
Jun 5, 2024
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HIV infections among adolescents and young adults continue to be at high levels, with Americans between the ages of 13 and 24 accounting for approximately 20% of all new HIV infections in 2019. However, uptake of a preventive ...
Jun 3, 2024
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Global HIV, viral hepatitis epidemics and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to pose significant public health challenges, causing 2.5 million deaths each year, according to a new WHO report, "Implementing the ...
May 22, 2024
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Researchers from the University of Illinois have demonstrated the importance of cell-type-specific targeting in the treatment of HIV. Their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is one of ...
May 13, 2024
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Perinatal transmission of HIV to newborns is associated with serious cognitive deficits as children grow older, according to a detailed analysis of 35 studies conducted by Georgetown University Medical Center neuroscientists. ...
Apr 23, 2024
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Researchers have found that children of women with HIV infection have an increased risk of immune abnormalities following exposure to maternal HIV viremia, immune dysfunction, and co-infections during pregnancy. The research ...
Apr 17, 2024
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By analyzing electronic health records, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified hundreds of new genes associated with tobacco use disorder. They also identified hundreds of ...
Apr 17, 2024
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Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lentivirus (a member of the retrovirus family) that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-ejaculate, or breast milk. Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells. The four major routes of transmission are unsafe sex, contaminated needles, breast milk, and transmission from an infected mother to her baby at birth (Vertical transmission). Screening of blood products for HIV has largely eliminated transmission through blood transfusions or infected blood products in the developed world.
HIV infection in humans is now pandemic. From 1981 to 2006, AIDS killed more than 25 million people. HIV infects about 0.6 percent of the world's population. In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed an estimated 2.4–3.3 million lives, of which more than 570,000 were children. A third of these deaths are occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, retarding economic growth and increasing poverty. According to current estimates, HIV is set to infect 90 million people in Africa, resulting in a minimum estimate of 18 million orphans. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries.
HIV primarily infects vital cells in the human immune system such as helper T cells (specifically CD4+ T cells), macrophages, and dendritic cells. HIV infection leads to low levels of CD4+ T cells through three main mechanisms: firstly, direct viral killing of infected cells; secondly, increased rates of apoptosis in infected cells; and thirdly, killing of infected CD4+ T cells by CD8 cytotoxic lymphocytes that recognize infected cells. When CD4+ T cell numbers decline below a critical level, cell-mediated immunity is lost, and the body becomes progressively more susceptible to opportunistic infections.
Eventually most HIV-infected individuals develop AIDS. These individuals mostly die from opportunistic infections or malignancies associated with the progressive failure of the immune system. Without treatment, about 9 out of every 10 persons with HIV will progress to AIDS after 10–15 years. Many progress much sooner. Treatment with anti-retrovirals increases the life expectancy of people infected with HIV. Even after HIV has progressed to diagnosable AIDS, the average survival time with antiretroviral therapy (as of 2005) is estimated to be more than 5 years. Without antiretroviral therapy, death normally occurs within a year.
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