Women With HIV May Not Have Higher Cervical Cancer Risk: Study

HealthDay – 1 hr 41 mins ago MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Infection with HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- does not appear to increase a woman's risk of cervical cancer, a new study has found.

Researchers looked at more than 400 HIV-infected women and nearly 300 HIV-free women, all of whom had a normal Pap test and a negative result for tumor-inducing human papillomavirus DNA at the start of the study. Several types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are known to cause cervical cancer.

After five years of follow-up, the risk of cervical precancer was similarly low for both groups of women. None of the women developed cervical cancer, Dr. Howard Strickler and colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City said in a news release.

The study was scheduled for presentation at a Sunday media briefing at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., and appears in the July 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings suggest that the five-year risk of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women who have normal Pap tests and do not have tumor-causing HPV is similar to the risk in HIV-free women, the researchers said.

"The current investigation highlights the potential for a new era of molecular testing -- including HPV as well as other biomarkers -- to improve cervical cancer screening in HIV-infected women," the study authors concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cervical cancer.

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Women With HIV May Not Have Higher Cervical Cancer Risk: Study

HealthDay – 1 hr 41 mins ago MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Infection with HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- does not appear to increase a woman's risk of cervical cancer, a new study has found.

Researchers looked at more than 400 HIV-infected women and nearly 300 HIV-free women, all of whom had a normal Pap test and a negative result for tumor-inducing human papillomavirus DNA at the start of the study. Several types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are known to cause cervical cancer.

After five years of follow-up, the risk of cervical precancer was similarly low for both groups of women. None of the women developed cervical cancer, Dr. Howard Strickler and colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City said in a news release.

The study was scheduled for presentation at a Sunday media briefing at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., and appears in the July 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings suggest that the five-year risk of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women who have normal Pap tests and do not have tumor-causing HPV is similar to the risk in HIV-free women, the researchers said.

"The current investigation highlights the potential for a new era of molecular testing -- including HPV as well as other biomarkers -- to improve cervical cancer screening in HIV-infected women," the study authors concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cervical cancer.

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Serious Mental Illness Tied to Higher Cancer, Injury Risk: Studies

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- People with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have a 2.6 times increased risk of developing cancer, a new study contends.

The findings raise questions about whether people with serious mental illness receive appropriate cancer screenings and preventive care to help them avoid cancer risk factors such as smoking, the researchers said.

"The increased risk is definitely there, but we're not entirely sure why," study leader Dr. Gail Daumit, an associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a Hopkins news release. "Are these people getting screened? Are they being treated? Something's going on."

The researchers analyzed data from more than 3,300 Maryland Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to determine how many of them were diagnosed with cancer between 1994 and 2004.

Compared to people in the general population, schizophrenia patients were more than 4.5 times more likely to develop lung cancer, 3.5 times more likely to develop colorectal cancer, and nearly three times more likely to develop breast cancer, the researchers found.

Patients with bipolar disorder had similarly increased risk for the three types of cancer, according to the study published in the July issue of the journal Psychiatric Services.

People with serious mental illness are more likely to smoke, which could explain their elevated risk for lung cancer, Daumit said.

She also noted that women with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are less likely to have children and that childbearing is believed to reduce breast cancer risk. In addition, some drugs used to treat mental illness can increase levels of the hormone prolactin, a factor that has been linked to breast cancer.

The increased risk of colorectal cancer could be due to lifestyle issues such as smoking, lack of exercise and a diet lacking fruits and vegetables, Daumit said.

While the study uncovered a link between mental illness and cancer risk, it did not prove that one causes the other.

In a separate study released last month, Daumit found that people with serious mental illness were nearly twice as likely to require emergency or inpatient department treatment for an injury than people in the general population, and were about 4.5 times more likely to die from their injuries.

The study was published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

About 5 percent of Americans have a serious mental illness and these people are known to have a two to three times increased risk of dying prematurely, Daumit noted.

More information

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has more about mental illness.

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No link seen between contraceptives and higher HIV risk: CDC

Reuters – 6 hrs ago ATLANTA (Reuters) - There is no clear link between the use of contraceptives such as the birth control pill or Depo-Provera shots and an increased risk that a woman will contract HIV, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

But the CDC also said it was "strongly" encouraging the use of condoms as a precaution against the virus that causes AIDS.

Recent studies have suggested that the use of hormonal contraceptives could increase the risk of women contracting HIV. But after reviewing the studies, the Atlanta-based CDC said, "the evidence does not suggest" a link between oral contraceptives such as the birth control pill and increased HIV risk.

For injectable forms of birth control such as Depo-Provera the evidence is inconclusive, but in the absence of more definitive research it too is considered safe, CDC officials said.

Women at risk for HIV infection or who already have the virus "can continue to use all hormonal contraceptive methods without restriction," the CDC said.

The World Health Organization reached a similar conclusion last February.

"It's hard to conclusively say whether or not there is an increased risk," from hormonal contraceptives, Dr. Naomi Tepper, a CDC medical officer, told Reuters.

"Because we can't say from the evidence that there is an increased risk, they are all still considered safe, including the injectables."

The studies are particularly confusing with women who use progesterone-only injectables, which in the United States is sold under the brand named Depo-Provera, Tepper said.

A study published last October in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal suggested that hormonal contraceptives, primarily the injectable forms, could double the risk of women contracting HIV.

For women who already have the disease, hormonal contraceptives could double the risk of transmitting the virus to a partner, according to the study. But Tepper said it was unclear why the contraceptives could increase risk of HIV infection.

The CDC said Thursday that all women at risk of contracting HIV and particularly those using the injectable forms of hormonal birth control, should make sure their partners use condoms as a safeguard against HIV infection.

"All women, if they don't want to become pregnant should be using an effective method of contraception," Tepper said. "And they also should be using something to protect against HIV or sexually-transmitted infections."

In 2010, 10,000 women in the United States were infected with HIV, the CDC said.

Pregnancy can also be medically risky for women with HIV and the disease can be transmitted to the unborn child, the CDC said.

(Editing by Tom Brown and Paul Simao)

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Birth Control That Uses Combined Hormones Raises Heart Risk: Study

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Birth Control That Uses Combined Hormones Raises Heart Risk: Study

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CT scans in childhood increase cancer risk: study

"A youth undergoes a CT Scan at a hospital. Children exposed to multiple CT scans could be up to three times likelier to contract cancer of the blood, brain or bone marrow later in life, according to research published Thursday. (AFP Photo/)" title

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Common antibiotic boosts death risk: study

"A popular antibiotic used for treating bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections and sexually transmitted diseases may boost the risk of death, a US study said Wednesday. (AFP Photo/Philippe Huguen)" title

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Eating More Foods Rich in Omega-3s May Lower Alzheimer's Risk: Study

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Certain Birth Control Pills May Carry Higher Blood Clot Risk: FDA

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Children Born to Obese Moms May Face Higher Autism Risk: Study

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Funding cuts put 3.4 million TB patients at risk: NGOs

Reuters – Thu, Mar 22, 2012 Article: TB infections drop to record low: CDC

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

LONDON (Reuters) - A $1.7 billion funding shortfall to fight tuberculosis (TB) over the next five years means 3.4 million patients will go untreated and gains made against the disease will be reversed, three non-governmental (NGO) agencies said on Friday.

The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which has helped prevent 4.1 million deaths from TB, no longer has the resources to expand its work against the infectious disease, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the Stop AIDS Campaign and anti-poverty group Results UK said in a joint statement.

"We are facing some huge challenges, particularly in that over 80 percent of the external funding that is going into tuberculosis control is going through the Global Fund' and the Global Fund is facing a funding crisis," Aaron Oxley, executive director of Results UK, told reporters in a telephone briefing.

"The problem is that infectious diseases don't slow down when the money slows down - they keep infecting and that's building up a bigger problem for us to deal with in the future."

TB is a worldwide pandemic that kills around 1.5 million people a year and is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The infection destroys patients' lung tissue, causing them to cough up the bacteria, which then spread through the air and can be inhaled by others. In 2010, 8.8 million people had TB, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The three NGOs who issued their statement ahead of World TB Day on March 24, called on governments to scale up funding of TB, HIV and malaria programs at a G20 meeting in Mexico in June in an effort to replenish the Global Fund with $2 billion.

The public-private Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the world's largest financial backer of the fight against the three infectious diseases, said in November it had been forced to cancel new grants and would make no new funding available until 2014.

Oxley said the effect of that decision was to create a funding shortfall of $1.7 billion for work on treating TB over the next five years.

Since it was founded in 2002, the Global Fund says it has helped detect and treat 8.6 million cases of TB.

The international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said the lack of Global Fund money put the fight against TB at risk and would leave countries "unable to aggressively tackle their TB epidemics."

MSF also warned in its World TB Day statement that the spread of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) is much greater than previously estimated.

"Wherever we look for drug resistant TB we are finding it in alarming numbers," said MSF president Unni Karunakara. "And with 95 percent of TB patients worldwide lacking access to proper diagnosis, efforts to scale up detection of MDR-TB are being severely undermined by a retreat in donor funding

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