AIDS Disease Treatment: From the importance of vitamin D to air quality in retirement homes, we present in bulk the latest news from the world of health.
AIDS Disease Treatment: Vitamin D, a Health Benefit for the Elderly
The risk of vitamin D deficiency increases with age, among other things, because the skin does not absorb it as well. Researchers at Loyola University in Chicago have correlated a low rate of “sun vitamin” with common disorders in the elderly, a decline in cognitive ability, depression, osteoporosis, and heart disease.
AIDS Disease Treatment: Men lose memory faster
Memory loss is not always a sign of dementia. This is often the simple consequence of aging. However, if both sexes affected, according to a study by the Mayo American Clinic, men are more affected than women after 40 years. At 60, their hippocampus is much more contracted than that of women.
AIDS Disease Treatment: Poor air quality in retirement homes
A study published in the European Respiratory Journal measured air pollution in 50 retirement homes in France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, and Denmark. Those in Greece had the highest suspended particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, Belgium and Denmark, the largest quantities of formaldehyde and ozone. Air quality met international sanitary standards, but the presence of certain particles would be responsible for respiratory disorders such as shortness of breath, a chronic cough, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AIDS Disease Treatment: Hormone replacement therapy increases the risk of cancer
To reduce hot flushes and other symptoms of menopause, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is rarely prescribed for more than five years because of its long-term risks. A recent meta-analysis of 52 studies of 21,488 women worldwide suggests that even for less than five years, the risk of ovarian cancer increased. Short-term use is still preferable to long-term intake, and this type of cancer remains rare: around 6.8 cases per 100,000 worldwide.
AIDS Disease Treatment: a powerful anti-HIV protein discovered in coral
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute have made an astounding and hopeful discovery in the fight against AIDS, a deadly disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that attacks the immune system. Anti- HIV viruses have been found in a coral of the waters of the northern coast of Australia. About 35.3 million people are living with HIV worldwide, two-thirds of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa, and more than one million people die each year as a result of AIDS. The figures are alarming and demonstrate a real global public health problem.
AIDS Disease Treatment: Cnidarians, a potent protein against HIV
These anti-HIV proteins, called cnidarians, discovered among thousands of samples of natural products studied in the biological Bank of the National Cancer Institute. In accordance with agreements with their countries of origin, the Institute also has a large collection of natural specimens from all over the world. Cnidarians would then be able to block the virus by preventing it from entering the T lymphocytes, or T cells, responsible for cellular immunity. “This differs completely from what we have seen with other proteins; we believe that cnidarian proteins have a unique mechanism of action.” “Says Barry O’Keefe, Deputy Chief of the National Cancer Institute’s The Molecular Targets Laboratory. “It’s always exciting to find a whole new protein that nobody else has ever discovered before.”
AIDS Disease Treatment: Objective, to produce the protein in bulk to carry out clinical tests
Protein could then be developed as a gel or lubricant. When applied locally, this gel could be a powerful barrier and prevent the sexual transmission of HIV. Nevertheless, scientists remain cautious as they still have to conduct clinical trials to verify the effectiveness of these anti-HIV proteins. They wish to reproduce cnidarians in larger quantities without having to collect the coral from Australian waters in bulk, at the risk of destroying local fauna. This new discovery brings new hope, that of finding one-day treatment against AIDS.
