HIV tests every 5 years can save millions of lives in
India
Providing universal HIV testing for India's billion-plus
population every five years can save millions of lives and prove to be a
cost-effective approach to managing the epidemic, scientists, including Indian
researchers, claim in a new study.
It would meet international standards of cost-effectiveness
and save millions of lives for decades to test every person in the huge
population of India every five years, according to the study. The findings are
based on a careful analysis of India's Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
epidemic using the Cost-Effectiveness of Preventing AIDS Complications (CEPAC)
International model, a sophisticated statistical tool that has already been
used in HIV policy making in France, South Africa, and other countries.
A team of researchers at Brown, Yale, Massachusetts General
Hospital, Harvard, and in Chennai, India, integrated scores of factors specific
to the country to find that testing for the whole country, with greater
frequency for high-risk groups and areas, would pay off despite India's huge
population of 1.21 billion.
"Testing even 800 million adults is a public health
undertaking of a historic magnitude," said study co-lead author Dr Kartik
Venkatesh, a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University and Women & Infants
Hospital.
"But what we were able to show is that even if you
increase the cost of HIV treatment and care pretty significantly and really
decrease the number of individuals who would link to care, even under those
dire circumstances, testing this frequently and this widely still was
reasonable," Venkatesh said. Co-author Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director of
the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis in Chennai, India, said the
projections of the model will help the country in its battle with the epidemic,
one of the world's largest.
"As India moves ahead in its HIV prevention activities
and aims for zero new infections, expanding testing will be a key priority and
this analysis should help policymakers make the best decisions," she said.
Source: www.indianexpress.com
12.06.2013
Discovery may lead to new treatments for
jaundice
Scientists have discovered how a liver enzyme
protects cells from damage caused by jaundice, a find that may lead to
development of new treatments for the condition. University of Guelph
researchers in Canada believe the discovery may ultimately lead to an
alternative treatment for jaundice, such as a new drug or supplement.
Almost two out of three newborns contract
jaundice, with its telltale skin yellowing. Normal treatment involves use of
ultraviolet light but it doesn't always work. Although the condition is usually
benign, severe cases can cause permanent brain damage and lead to cerebral
palsy and hearing loss.
Jaundice can also affect people with liver
disease or increased breakdown of red blood cells, as in malaria. In all cases,
a substance called bilirubin collects in the blood. High amounts can be toxic
and can cause permanent brain damage, said Gordon Kirby, co-author of the
study.
Previous research had found a naturally
occurring enzyme that breaks down bilirubin. Called cytochrome P450 2A5, the
enzyme is known to increase in people with liver ailments. The Guelph team has
shown that more bilirubin in the blood activates the gene to make this enzyme.
The enzyme helps remove bilirubin and prevents liver cells from dying, said
Kirby. The researchers used cultured liver cells from mice for their study.
Scientists need to determine safe and effective
levels of the enzyme before developing any treatment, said Kirby. "We need
to fine-tune our ability to manipulate this enzyme and fully understand its
role in bilirubin removal," he said. The study was published in the
journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology.
Source: www.indianexpress.com
12.06.2013
The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart,
head and hands
Robert M. Pirsig
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