Young gay and bisexual men who use methamphetamine are more likely to take sexual risks that boost their chances of contracting HIV, a new study suggests.
Researchers say the findings underscore the fact that meth, and its associated HIV risk, is not just a problem of middle-aged white men.
Methamphetamine triggers a massive release of the feel-good chemical dopamine in the brain, making users feel disinhibited, energized -- and prone to sexual risk-taking.
Studies of gay and bisexual men have found that roughly 43 percent have ever used meth, and that the habit is strongly linked to their risk of contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
But much less has been known about meth use and HIV risk among teenagers and young men.
So for the new study, researchers surveyed 595 12- to 24-year-old gay and bisexual males from eight U.S. cities. They found that 31 percent had ever used hard drugs -- one-third of whom had used methamphetamine.
And young men who'd used meth were more likely to report a range of risk factors for HIV.
Nearly 86 percent said they'd had sex with at least two different partners in the past 90 days (versus 63 percent of non-drug users). Almost 52 percent had ever had sex with an injection-drug user (versus 11 percent), and one-third had had sex with someone who was HIV-positive (against 11 percent).
Despite all of that, meth users were less consistent with condoms: one-third said they used them every time they had sex, compared with 54 percent of young men who'd never used hard drugs.
"In many ways, these findings mirror what's been seen in older MSM (men who have sex with men)," said Dr. Robert Garofalo of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
That's concerning, he told Reuters Health in an interview, and it also points to a large public health need.
"There are not a lot of proven HIV prevention programs for this age group," Garofalo said. More programs, including ones that target meth abuse, need to be piloted, according to Garofalo and his colleagues.
"We shouldn't wait," he said. "This is a real public health crisis."
The findings, which appear in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, are not representative of all young gay and bisexual men in the U.S. The researchers recruited their participants from clubs, bars, parks and other urban venues where they might find higher-risk young men.
But the researchers also consider that a strong point of the study.
"It tells us something about where to find these young men, and where we might be able to run some type of intervention," said lead researcher Peter Freeman, who is also with Children's Memorial.
For parents and teenagers, he said, the findings highlight the importance of having open conversations about both drug use and risky sexual behavior.
Garofalo said there still may be many parents who do not know that methamphetamine is something they need to worry about. So the current findings may be something of an eye-opener for some, he added.
Finding effective ways to curb HIV risk among young gay and bisexual men will only become increasingly important, according to Garofalo and Freeman.
In 2004, Americans between the ages of 13 and 24 accounted for 13 percent of new HIV diagnoses.
And gay and bisexual males, especially minorities, have been particularly vulnerable. A study of seven cities by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 14 percent of African-American gay and bisexual males ages 15 to 22 had HIV. The same was true of 7 percent of Hispanics.
Sources : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/03/us-gay-men-meth-risk-idUSTRE7726UR20110803
Showing posts with label Infections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Infections. Show all posts
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Magnetic field exposure linked to asthma risk
Children whose mothers had high exposure to electromagnetic fields while pregnant may have an increased risk of developing asthma, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that adds to an ongoing debate.
Many prior studies have failed to consistently show that chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields -- from power lines and appliances such as microwaves ovens, hair dryers and vacuum cleaners -- are harmful to human health.
But many of these studies required people to estimate their exposure levels over several years, says Dr. De-Kun Li, senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, whose study appears in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
To get a more conclusive answer, Li designed a so-called prospective study in which 801 pregnant women wore monitors that measured their exposure to magnetic fields for 24 hours.
These monitors measured their exposure to low-frequency magnetic fields from electronics such as microwaves, hair dryers, fans, coffee grinders and fluorescent light bulbs, power lines, and transformer stations.
It did not monitor exposure to higher frequency electromagnetic fields generated by cellphones or cellphone towers.
The team used medical records to follow the women's children for 13 years. During the follow-up, 130 children, or 20.8 percent of study participants, developed asthma.
Most of these cases were diagnosed before age 5.
They then compared exposure levels during pregnancy to rates of asthma and found that children whose mothers had the highest exposure levels -- within the top 10 percent of women in the study -- were 3.5 times more likely to develop asthma than those who were in the bottom 10 percent.
The risk for children whose exposure was somewhere in the middle -- between 10 percent and 90 percent -- was 75 percent higher than for those in the lowest exposure group.
For the average population, Li said, children of women whose exposure levels were in the range of the bottom 10 percent in the study would have about a 13.6 percent absolute risk of developing asthma. Women whose exposure was in the highest range would have about a 33 percent risk of having children who developed asthma over the 13 year study period.
Some 13 percent of children under age 18 have asthma, which is caused by malfunction of the respiratory organs and the immune system.
Li said it is not clear why exposure to power lines might increase the risk of asthma, but he said there are several possibilities.
He said a prior study by his team found high exposure to electromagnetic fields increased the risk of miscarriages. And some animal studies have suggested that electromagnetic field exposure can affect immune response, which could increase the risk of asthma.
Exposure to power lines has been fodder for significant debate, and while many studies have found an effect of some sort -- ranging from immune disorders and poor semen quality to certain types of cancers -- Li said his study offers a stronger argument that concerns about magnetic fields may affect human health.
"This really needs to be studied," Li said. He said there have been a lot of dismissive attitudes about the health effects of exposure to magnetic fields, and he hopes his study -- which measured exposure levels ahead of time -- will encourage others to look further.
Still, he concedes that his findings need to be replicated by different scientists.
Li said if the findings are confirmed, it may offer new strategies for preventing the chronic disease in children.
Sources : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-pregnancy-asthma-idUSTRE77066420110801
Many prior studies have failed to consistently show that chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields -- from power lines and appliances such as microwaves ovens, hair dryers and vacuum cleaners -- are harmful to human health.
But many of these studies required people to estimate their exposure levels over several years, says Dr. De-Kun Li, senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, whose study appears in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
To get a more conclusive answer, Li designed a so-called prospective study in which 801 pregnant women wore monitors that measured their exposure to magnetic fields for 24 hours.
These monitors measured their exposure to low-frequency magnetic fields from electronics such as microwaves, hair dryers, fans, coffee grinders and fluorescent light bulbs, power lines, and transformer stations.
It did not monitor exposure to higher frequency electromagnetic fields generated by cellphones or cellphone towers.
The team used medical records to follow the women's children for 13 years. During the follow-up, 130 children, or 20.8 percent of study participants, developed asthma.
Most of these cases were diagnosed before age 5.
They then compared exposure levels during pregnancy to rates of asthma and found that children whose mothers had the highest exposure levels -- within the top 10 percent of women in the study -- were 3.5 times more likely to develop asthma than those who were in the bottom 10 percent.
The risk for children whose exposure was somewhere in the middle -- between 10 percent and 90 percent -- was 75 percent higher than for those in the lowest exposure group.
For the average population, Li said, children of women whose exposure levels were in the range of the bottom 10 percent in the study would have about a 13.6 percent absolute risk of developing asthma. Women whose exposure was in the highest range would have about a 33 percent risk of having children who developed asthma over the 13 year study period.
Some 13 percent of children under age 18 have asthma, which is caused by malfunction of the respiratory organs and the immune system.
Li said it is not clear why exposure to power lines might increase the risk of asthma, but he said there are several possibilities.
He said a prior study by his team found high exposure to electromagnetic fields increased the risk of miscarriages. And some animal studies have suggested that electromagnetic field exposure can affect immune response, which could increase the risk of asthma.
Exposure to power lines has been fodder for significant debate, and while many studies have found an effect of some sort -- ranging from immune disorders and poor semen quality to certain types of cancers -- Li said his study offers a stronger argument that concerns about magnetic fields may affect human health.
"This really needs to be studied," Li said. He said there have been a lot of dismissive attitudes about the health effects of exposure to magnetic fields, and he hopes his study -- which measured exposure levels ahead of time -- will encourage others to look further.
Still, he concedes that his findings need to be replicated by different scientists.
Li said if the findings are confirmed, it may offer new strategies for preventing the chronic disease in children.
Sources : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-pregnancy-asthma-idUSTRE77066420110801
Acute-care hospitals to see higher Medicare payments
The U.S. government announced an increase in reimbursement rates to acute-care hospitals for 2012, a sharp contrast to the cut it announced for skilled nursing facilities on Friday.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) increased payment rates to acute-care hospitals by 1 percent, compared with a 0.5 percent cut it had proposed earlier.
The CMS expects the rate increase will result in Medicare's operating payments to acute-care hospitals rising by $1.13 billion, or 1.1 percent.
On Friday, the CMS cut 2012 payments for skilled nursing facilities by 11.1 percent, or $3.87 billion, leading to a sharp decline in shares of Skilled Healthcare, Kindred Healthcare and Sun Health Care.
There was a broad sell-off in healthcare stocks on Monday on fears that the debt-ceiling deal to be voted on by the U.S. Congress would cut healthcare spending for federal programs such as Medicare.
Acute-care hospital operators such as HealthSouth Corp, Kindred Healthcare Inc, Tenet Healthcare Corp and Community Health Systems Inc are expected to benefit from the hike in payment rate.
Sources : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-acutecarehospitals-idUSTRE77062U20110801
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) increased payment rates to acute-care hospitals by 1 percent, compared with a 0.5 percent cut it had proposed earlier.
The CMS expects the rate increase will result in Medicare's operating payments to acute-care hospitals rising by $1.13 billion, or 1.1 percent.
On Friday, the CMS cut 2012 payments for skilled nursing facilities by 11.1 percent, or $3.87 billion, leading to a sharp decline in shares of Skilled Healthcare, Kindred Healthcare and Sun Health Care.
There was a broad sell-off in healthcare stocks on Monday on fears that the debt-ceiling deal to be voted on by the U.S. Congress would cut healthcare spending for federal programs such as Medicare.
Acute-care hospital operators such as HealthSouth Corp, Kindred Healthcare Inc, Tenet Healthcare Corp and Community Health Systems Inc are expected to benefit from the hike in payment rate.
Sources : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-acutecarehospitals-idUSTRE77062U20110801
Boys who masturbate likelier to have safe sex?
Masturbation could play an important role in sexual self-awareness and condom use in teenage boys, according to a new report.
Researchers found 86 percent of boys who said they'd worn a condom last time they had sex also reported masturbating over the past year, compared to only 44 percent of boys who didn't masturbate.
While that link doesn't prove that masturbation itself leads to safer sex, "the association of any behavior with increased condom use deserves further investigation, given the rates of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections in adolescents," the report says.
In 2009, there were nearly 410,000 births to girls aged 15 to 19 in the U.S., where teen motherhood racks up public costs of an estimated $9.1 billion.
The new study, supported by Trojan condom maker Church & Dwight Co, is based on a nationally representative survey of 820 adolescents between 14 and 17 years old.
Dr. Cynthia Robbins at Indiana University in Indianapolis and colleagues found that nearly three-quarters of boys said they masturbated, while less than half of girls did so.
Those kids who masturbated reported having more sex than those who didn't, including oral sex and vaginal intercourse.
After taking age and partner status into account, sexually active boys who masturbated were about eight times as likely to have used a condom during their last intercourse as boys who didn't masturbate.
For unknown reasons, there was no such link for girls.
Writing in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, the researchers note that masturbation is a highly stigmatized topic in the U.S., and that many doctors shy away from discussing the common phenomenon.
"The findings of this study together with existing publications on masturbation should be used by health care providers to inform, educate and reassure adolescents about masturbation to provide competent and comprehensive sexuality education in the clinical setting," they conclude.
Sources : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-masturbate-idUSTRE7705VM20110801
Researchers found 86 percent of boys who said they'd worn a condom last time they had sex also reported masturbating over the past year, compared to only 44 percent of boys who didn't masturbate.
While that link doesn't prove that masturbation itself leads to safer sex, "the association of any behavior with increased condom use deserves further investigation, given the rates of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections in adolescents," the report says.
In 2009, there were nearly 410,000 births to girls aged 15 to 19 in the U.S., where teen motherhood racks up public costs of an estimated $9.1 billion.
The new study, supported by Trojan condom maker Church & Dwight Co, is based on a nationally representative survey of 820 adolescents between 14 and 17 years old.
Dr. Cynthia Robbins at Indiana University in Indianapolis and colleagues found that nearly three-quarters of boys said they masturbated, while less than half of girls did so.
Those kids who masturbated reported having more sex than those who didn't, including oral sex and vaginal intercourse.
After taking age and partner status into account, sexually active boys who masturbated were about eight times as likely to have used a condom during their last intercourse as boys who didn't masturbate.
For unknown reasons, there was no such link for girls.
Writing in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, the researchers note that masturbation is a highly stigmatized topic in the U.S., and that many doctors shy away from discussing the common phenomenon.
"The findings of this study together with existing publications on masturbation should be used by health care providers to inform, educate and reassure adolescents about masturbation to provide competent and comprehensive sexuality education in the clinical setting," they conclude.
Sources : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-masturbate-idUSTRE7705VM20110801
Thursday, July 28, 2011
WHO renews push to cut hepatitis infections in babies in Asia
Nine Asia Pacific countries will not meet a 2012 target to reduce hepatitis B infections among children, according to the World Health Organization which plans to intensify its fight against the disease.
Nine out of 10 remain chronically infected for the rest of their lives because their immune systems are undeveloped, which can lead to liver cirrhosis and then liver cancer later on.
But a WHO expert said the goal of reducing infection rates among children to below 2 percent by 2012 will not be met in Cambodia, Kiribati, Laos, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
"These nine countries don't look like they are going to make the 2 percent goal," said Karen Hennessey, technical officer for WHO's expanded program on hepatitis B immunization.
Hennessey, who spoke by telephone from Manila, said infection rates among children in these countries were around 8 percent before vaccination programs were introduced at different times starting from the 1980s.
While infection rates have fallen to about 3 to 4 percent, these programs have stalled because of the lack of technical expertise and training, or money, she said.
China is one of the exceptions with infection rates among its children down dramatically in the last five years to below 2 percent due to a successful vaccination program, Hennessey said. However, it still has a huge 10 percent pool of infected adults.
Hepatitis B, which is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV, is mostly passed from mother to child when the mother's infected blood comes into contact with open wounds on her newborn during delivery. But a vaccine given within the first 24 hours of birth can prevent infection.
To renew efforts to fight the virus, WHO wants to push a three-pronged approach, which includes getting more pregnant women to deliver in healthcare facilities so that their babies can be immunized soon after delivery.
"If it's very difficult to get women into hospitals, either because (their homes are) remote or very poor, the other possibility is to make sure there is a skilled attendant at every birth ... who are trained to give vaccine within 24 hours," Hennessy said.
The WHO will also help with providing training, she said.
"It is important to get that first dose within 24 hours. But it's not clear. Is it the first hour, first three hours? Who is responsible? Who writes it down? That is enough for people to not want to do it. There has to be training," she said.
About 2 billion people worldwide have been infected by this virus and 350 million of them live with chronic infection. About 600,000 people die each year from the virus, which is also passed through sexual contact and unclean needles. Apart from hepatitis B, other common forms of hepatitis are A, C and E.
Sources : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/28/us-asia-hepatitisb-idUSTRE76R1J120110728
Nine out of 10 remain chronically infected for the rest of their lives because their immune systems are undeveloped, which can lead to liver cirrhosis and then liver cancer later on.
But a WHO expert said the goal of reducing infection rates among children to below 2 percent by 2012 will not be met in Cambodia, Kiribati, Laos, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
"These nine countries don't look like they are going to make the 2 percent goal," said Karen Hennessey, technical officer for WHO's expanded program on hepatitis B immunization.
Hennessey, who spoke by telephone from Manila, said infection rates among children in these countries were around 8 percent before vaccination programs were introduced at different times starting from the 1980s.
While infection rates have fallen to about 3 to 4 percent, these programs have stalled because of the lack of technical expertise and training, or money, she said.
China is one of the exceptions with infection rates among its children down dramatically in the last five years to below 2 percent due to a successful vaccination program, Hennessey said. However, it still has a huge 10 percent pool of infected adults.
Hepatitis B, which is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV, is mostly passed from mother to child when the mother's infected blood comes into contact with open wounds on her newborn during delivery. But a vaccine given within the first 24 hours of birth can prevent infection.
To renew efforts to fight the virus, WHO wants to push a three-pronged approach, which includes getting more pregnant women to deliver in healthcare facilities so that their babies can be immunized soon after delivery.
"If it's very difficult to get women into hospitals, either because (their homes are) remote or very poor, the other possibility is to make sure there is a skilled attendant at every birth ... who are trained to give vaccine within 24 hours," Hennessy said.
The WHO will also help with providing training, she said.
"It is important to get that first dose within 24 hours. But it's not clear. Is it the first hour, first three hours? Who is responsible? Who writes it down? That is enough for people to not want to do it. There has to be training," she said.
About 2 billion people worldwide have been infected by this virus and 350 million of them live with chronic infection. About 600,000 people die each year from the virus, which is also passed through sexual contact and unclean needles. Apart from hepatitis B, other common forms of hepatitis are A, C and E.
Sources : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/28/us-asia-hepatitisb-idUSTRE76R1J120110728
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