Body

Thanks to antiretrovirals, an AIDS diagnosis hasn't been a death sentence for nearly two decades. But highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, is also not a cure.

Patients must adhere to a demandingly regular drug regimen that carries plenty of side effects. And while the therapy may be difficult to undergo in the United States, it is nearly impossible to scale to the AIDS crisis in the developing world.

Philadelphia, PA, July 18, 2012 – National data indicate that milk consumption has declined among children while consumption of sweetened beverages of low nutritional quality has more than doubled. Although this suggests that sugar-sweetened beverages may have replaced more nutritious drinks in children's diets, a new study suggests that in fact changes in children's milk consumption are not significantly related to changes in their consumption of sodas and flavored fruit drinks over time.

Establishing a more stringent ozone standard in the U.S. would significantly reduce ozone-related premature mortality and morbidity, according to a new study published online July 18 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Managed relocation—the act of purposely relocating a threatened species, population, or genotype to an area that is foreign to its natural history—is a controversial response to the threat of extinction resulting from climate change. An article in the August 2012 issue of BioScience by Mark W.

[EMBARGOED FOR JULY 18, 2012] In a long-term study of people infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), researchers found increased deaths from both liver-related and non-liver related diseases in patients with active infections who had not cleared their infection.

More children are surviving cancer in Britain than ever before according to new research published in the cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1] today (Wednesday). The improvement in survival has been driven by the increasing numbers taking part in clinical trials since 1977 when the UK Children's Cancer Study Group (UKCCSG) [2] was established.

Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are the first to document the characteristics of invading parasites, using malaria in New Zealand bird species.

The study, published today in Ecology Letters, identifies the factors influencing the success of parasites unintentionally introduced to new environments.

Researchers at UCL and Harvard have found that we punish cheats only when they end up better off than us, in a study that challenges the notion that punishment is motivated by revenge.

Published today in the journal Biology Letters, the research shows that victims of cheating compare their own payoffs with those of partners when making punishment decisions.

Workplace exposure to organic solvents is linked to several types of heart defects at birth, indicates research published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Organic solvents are widely used for dissolving or dispersing substances, such as fats, oils, and waxes, as well as in chemical manufacturing. They are found in paints, varnishes, adhesives, degreasing/cleaning agents, dyes, polymers, plastic, synthetic textiles, printing inks and agricultural products.

Adding vitamin B12 to standard hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment significantly boosts the body's ability to keep the virus at bay, indicates a pilot study published online in the journal Gut.

The effects were particularly strong in patients whose infection was proving difficult to treat effectively, the findings showed.

Between 60% and 80% of those infected with the viral liver infection HCV will go on to develop chronic hepatitis, and roughly a third of them will progress to cirrhosis and terminal liver disease.

Delivering a high-birth-weight infant more than doubles a woman's breast cancer risk, according to research from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The researchers suggest that having a large infant is associated with a hormonal environment during pregnancy that favors future breast cancer development and progression.

Marking the first time that high birth weight was shown to be an independent risk factor, the finding may help improve prediction and prevention of breast cancer decades before its onset.

A new study published today in PLoS Medicine re-evaluates the role of public reporting of hospital-acquired infection data. The study, conducted by Nick Daneman and colleagues, used data from all 180 acute care hospitals in Ontario, Canada. The investigators compared the rates of infection of Clostridium difficile colitis prior to, and after, the introduction of public reporting of hospital performance; public reporting was associated with a 26% reduction in C. difficile cases.

Stress can promote breast cancer cell colonization of bone, Vanderbilt Center for Bone Biology investigators have discovered.

The studies, reported July 17 in PLoS Biology, demonstrate in mice that activation of the sympathetic nervous system – the "fight-or-flight" response to stress – primes the bone environment for breast cancer cell metastasis. The researchers were able to prevent breast cancer cell lesions in bone using propranolol, a cardiovascular medicine that inhibits sympathetic nervous system signals.

A large international study led by University of Adelaide researchers has found that women who use marijuana can more than double the risk of giving birth to a baby prematurely.

Preterm or premature birth - at least three weeks before a baby's due date - can result in serious and life-threatening health problems for the baby, and an increased risk of health problems in later life, such as heart disease and diabetes.

In a new study by ICAP at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, researchers are assessing a novel approach to encourage newly diagnosed HIV positive people to seek care and adhere to HIV treatment. The unique study in the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) gives people who test HIV positive a coupon for a gift card to claim after they complete clinic visits and laboratory tests. Patients who adhere to HIV treatment regularly can decrease the amount of HIV in their blood, leading to viral suppression.