VACINE FOR HIV/AIDS

For the first time, an experimental vaccine has prevented infection with the AIDS virus, a watershed event in the deadly epidemic and a surprising result. Recent failures led many scientists to think such a vaccine might never be possible.

The vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent in the world’s largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, researchers announced Thursday in Bangkok.

Even though the benefit is modest, “it’s the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine,” Col. Jerome Kim said in a telephone interview. He helped lead the study for the U.S. Army, which sponsored it with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The institute’s director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that this is “not the end of the road,” but said he was surprised and very pleased by the outcome. For the first time, an experimental vaccine has prevented infection with the AIDS virus, a watershed event in the deadly epidemic and a surprising result. Recent failures led many scientists to think such a vaccine might never be possible.

The vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent in the world’s largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, researchers announced Thursday in Bangkok.

Even though the benefit is modest, “it’s the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine,” Col. Jerome Kim said in a telephone interview. He helped lead the study for the U.S. Army, which sponsored it with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The institute’s director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that this is “not the end of the road,” but said he was surprised and very pleased by the outcome. It gives me cautious optimism about the possibility of improving this result” and developing a more effective AIDS vaccine, Fauci said in a telephone interview. “This is something that we can do.”

Even a marginally helpful vaccine could have a big impact. Every day, 7,500 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV; 2 million died of AIDS in 2007, the U.N. agency UNAIDS estimates.

“Today marks an historic milestone,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, an international group that has worked toward develping a vaccine.

“It will take time and resources to fully analyze and understand the data, but there is little doubt that this finding will energize and redirect the AIDS vaccine field,” he said in a statement.

The Thailand Ministry of Public Health conducted the study, which used strains of HIV common in Thailand. Whether such a vaccine would work against other strains in the U.S., Africa or elsewhere in the world is unknown, scientists stressed.

The study actually tested a two-vaccine combo in a “prime-boost” approach, where the first one primes the immune system to attack HIV and the second one strengthens the response. They are ALVAC, from Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis; and AIDSVAX, originally developed by VaxGen Inc. and now held by Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases, a nonprofit founded by some former VaxGen employees.

ALVAC uses canarypox, a bird virus altered so it can’t cause human disease, to ferry synthetic versions of three HIV genes into the body. AIDSVAX contains a genetically engineered version of a protein on HIV’s surface. The vaccines are not made from whole virus — dead or alive — and cannot cause HIV.

Neither vaccine in the study prevented HIV infection when tested individually in earlier trials, and dozens of scientists had called the new one futile when it began in 2003.

“I really didn’t have high hopes at all that we would see a positive result,” Fauci confessed.

The results proved the skeptics wrong.

“The combination is stronger than each of the individual members,” said the Army’s Kim.

The study tested the combo in HIV-negative Thai men and women ages 18 to 30 at average risk of becoming infected. Half received four “priming” doses of ALVAC and two “boost” doses of AIDSVAX over six months. The others received dummy shots. No one knew who got what until the study ended.

All were given condoms, counseling and treatment for any sexually transmitted infections, and were tested every six months for HIV. Any who became infected were given free treatment with antiviral medicines.

Participants were followed for three years after vaccination ended.

Results: New infections occurred in 51 of the 8,197 given vaccine and in 74 of the 8,198 who received dummy shots. That worked out to a 31 percent lower risk of infection for the vaccine group.The vaccine had no effect on levels of HIV in the blood of those who did become infected. That had been another goal of the study — seeing whether the vaccine could limit damage to the immune system and help keep infected people from developing full-blown AIDS.

That result is “one of the most important and intriguing findings of this trial,” Fauci said. It suggests that the signs scientists have been using to gauge whether a vaccine was actually giving protection may not be valid. It is conceivable that we haven’t even identified yet” what really shows immunity, which is both “important and humbling” after decades of vaccine research, Fauci said.

Details of the $105 million study will be given at a vaccine conference in Paris in October.

This is the third big vaccine trial since 1983, when HIV was identified as the cause of AIDS. In 2007, Merck & Co. stopped a study of its experimental vaccine after seeing it did not prevent HIV infection. Later analysis suggested the vaccine might even raise the risk of infection in certain men. The vaccine itself did not cause infection.

In 2003, AIDSVAX flunked two large trials — the first late-stage tests of any AIDS vaccine at the time.It is unclear whether vaccine makers will seek to license the two-vaccine combo in Thailand. Before the trial began, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said other studies would be needed before the vaccine could be considered for U.S. licensing.

Also unclear is whether Thai volunteers who received dummy shots will now be offered the vaccine. Researchers had said they would do so if the vaccine showed clear benefit — defined as reducing the risk of infection by at least 50 percent.

Those issues, plus how to proceed with future studies, will be discussed among the governments, study sponsors and companies involved in the trial, Kim said. Scientists want to know how long will protection last, whether booster shots will be needed, and whether the vaccine helps prevent infection in gay men and injection drug users, since it was tested mostly in heterosexuals in the Thai trial.

The study was done in Thailand because U.S. Army scientists did pivotal research in that country when the AIDS epidemic emerged there, isolating virus strains and providing genetic information on them to vaccine makers. The Thai government also strongly supported the idea of doing the study. 

Sources from http://www.arthurashe.org/site/?preloadFeature=/site/education/2010_11/?i=4&gclid=CMiqmZPwlagCFQoZ4QoduwdACg#wellness

About Fat Necrosis of the Breast

Fat necrosis is a benign condition that can occur in your breast.  It consists of fatty tissue that has been bruised, injured, or has died. Fat necrosis can result after any type of breast surgery, from biopsy to reconstruction.  Once fatty tissue has been injured or has died, it can gradually change into scar tissue or may collect as liquid within an oil cyst. Fat necrosis does not lead to the development of breast cancer, but it may sometimes cause breast pain.
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Symptoms of Breast Fat Necrosis
An area of fat necrosis in your breast may feel like a fairly hard lump, or like a section of thick skin. Your breast may feel tender or painful in the tissue near the fat necrosis. You may see some drainage from the nipple that is nearest the bruised region. Sometimes, your nipple may pull inward a little bit, or your breast skin may dimple above the lump of fat necrosis. If you have an oil cyst, it may feel like a smooth and squishy lump.
Causes of Breast Fat Necrosis

Fatty tissue in your breast may break down or die after any type of traumatic breast injury or surgery. A breast biopsy, whether it is a needle biopsy or a surgical biopsy  can also cause breast fat necrosis. Fat necrosis may also form around substances that have been injected into your breast, such as silicone or paraffin. Breast radiation treatment may sometimes cause an area of fat necrosis.

Fat Necrosis Imitates Other Breast Lumps
One reason that fat necrosis can be difficult to diagnose is that it resembles several other breast lumps. Masses made of breast fat necrosis may look like malignant breast tumors on mammograms and other imaging studies. The mass may look dense, have an irregular shape, a spiky border, and a collection of microcalcifications. Fat necrosis in the breast may appear to be atypical lipoma or liposarcoma, both very rarely found in breast tissue. If the fat has turned into liquid, it can look like a cyst on an ultrasound. Breast fat necrosis can take on different appearances over time, so follow-up mammograms will show a change in the mass.

How Breast Fat Necrosis Is Diagnosed
Fat necrosis often looks and feels like many other breast lumps. If you think you have an area of fat necrosis in your breast, see your family doctor or gynecologist for a clinical breast exam. You will need to have a list of breast surgeries and recent health conditions to show your doctor. Expect to be sent for a mammogram, which may reveal a dense, malignant mass with spiculated (spiky) edges and an irregular shape. It's very likely that a breast ultrasound will come next -- as this helps find oil cysts. If neither one of these images are conclusive, a breast MRI may be ordered. The final diagnosis may require a biopsy to confirm fat necrosis, because a microscopic examination of the cells will shed the most light on your condition
.
Treatment For Fat Necrosis Of The Breast
Each case of fat necrosis is unique, so treatments will vary. If your fat necrosis has occurred recently, using warm compresses may help it subside. When fat necrosis causes
pain, you can use ibuprofen and aspirin, but if that doesn't help, ask your doctor if a prescription medication may be used.

In cases where a lump of fat necrosis is large and causing discomfort or distress, it may be removed with a vacuum-assisted core needle or a lumpectomy. An oil cyst can be drained with a fine needle, or it can be surgically removed.

If you have recently had a breast injury or surgery and you suspect fat necrosis, try warm compresses and gentle massage -- because with care, sometimes the tissues will heal and the necrosis will resolve on its own.
Sourced From: Fat necrosis of the breast. Meyer JE, Silverman P, Gandbhir L. Arch Surg. 1978 Jul;113(7):801-5.

JESSY'S STORY

Hey, I'm Jess and I'm 17. My parents are divorced but my mum is re-married to her current husband. In October 2006, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went for chemotherapy, radiation and was in hospital for a long time but she beat it.

There was a lot of support for her in her breast cancer journey. She had my stepdad with her all the way.

Her friends were also very supportive and were helpful with practical things like cooking. (My stepdad was always at the hospital with her so coming home to a freezer full of already cooked meals helped him out a lot.)

"After that Mum always went to the doctor regularly for check ups."

When she came back from a holiday, she went to the doctor for her usual check up. But something wasn’t right and the doctor told Mum to go the hospital.

I was out with friends when my aunty called me. She said that Mum was in hospital and that I was to go home to pack because I was staying with her for the night.

I went home and I had to get my siblings ready to go as well. After my aunty had finished calling family members, she came to collect us.

"On the 14th of February 2009, after a very rough sleep, Mum was diagnosed with Myeloid Leukaemia."

We decided that I should stay with my uncle, and my other brothers and sister should stay together somewhere else. I had to sleep on the floor for about a month with regular visits to the hospital to see Mum.

She then dropped a bombshell and told us that she had to move to Sydney for extra treatment, which meant having a bone marrow transplant. Mum’s bone marrow was infected with cancerous cells and all of it had to be removed.

Her brother and sister were both tested for compatibility to be donors. They were both matches which is excellent as Mum had a better survival rate if the marrow came from a sibling rather than a complete stranger.

"My uncle was the one that was chosen for the transplant."

Mum spent 3 months in Sydney with my stepdad in intensive care. They told us the odds were good that the transplant would work. Once her immune system had recovered enough, she was allowed to come home.

I used to think whenever I saw ads about cancer, that I have no idea what living with cancer is really like. Now I do. It's impossible to imagine how hard it is before you've actually gone through it yourself.

"Luckily, I have a great support group made up of my closest friends."

They do a great job of taking my mind off Mum. I really appreciate it because while she was going through treatment, I was stressing out way too much.

My stress was causing my family more pain, which was in turn causing Mum to stress out. And it was our job to keep her calm and get her to focus on getting better!

Trust me when I say, always tell the ones you love that you love them or one day it will be too late.

sourced by http://www.stupidcancer.com

I WAS FIRST DIAGNOSED WITH HODGKINS LYMPHOMA CANCER 11th july,2008

I first knew something was wrong when I was becoming so tired for no real reason.

About a week before I had a CT scan, a few golf ball sized lumps started to rapidly grow in my neck.

THINGS BECAME EXTREMELY BUSY                                                                                                                                                                                          

In the first couple of weeks immediately after being diagnosed it was basically the same as starting a new full time job that you didn't want or didn't apply for.

Once the initial test showed that these were suspect growths, I had to have a biopsy under general anesthetic to remove one of the lumps in my neck.  After this experience it gave a new meaning to waiting for the results to come back. It took a bit over a week to get the results which confirmed what type of Hodgkins Lymphoma I had.

I EXPERIENCED A CRAZY MIX OF EMOTIONS

Thinking about how I was going to continue doing my job which I really enjoyed, what the future would hold, if I was going to survive, all of the things that I would now not be able to do due to cancer entering my life.

After the verdict was out I was told that I was going to go onto a chemotherapy called ABVD (Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine, Dacarbazine). The nurse at the chemo day unit went through all of the possible side effects that could happen once I started the chemotherapy. They stressed that even though these were all the possible side effects they might not all happen to me.

I T WAS EXTRMELY DIFFICULT TO COPE WITH SIDE EFFECTS

After I started the chemo – it did get easier as time when on – but having all these chemicals pumped into your blood stream was clearly not healthy for my body.

The good news was that after 2 cycles of ABVD I had a PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography) at Peter Mac in Melbourne which confirmed that my body was having a positive reaction to the chemo drugs and the cancer cells were shrinking to the point of not being able to show up on the scan.

DCIS TREATMENT

What is Lumpectomy?
Lumpectomy is a surgical procedure that removes the breast lump or suspicious tissue seen on the mammogram and some surrounding tissue as well. Lumpectomy is also called "breast sparing", "breast conserving" or "segmental mastectomy".

    Generally, lumpectomy is the first step in breast-conservation therapy. Lumpectomy is usually performed in an outpatient setting using local anesthesia. However, general anesthesia can be used for greater patient comfort. If cancer cells are present at the margin (the edge of the biopsied tissue), a re-excision needs to be done to remove the remaining cancer. If you are large-breasted, most of your breast can be preserved and you will still have the image you are accustomed to. If you are small-breasted and need additional surgery, lumpectomy may not result in a good cosmetic result; mastectomy with reconstruction can be a good option.

 Lumpectomy alone is adequate treatment if:

• Only one area of abnormality is found on exam or on a mammogram.
• The area of abnormality is very small.
• The surgeon is able to remove the DCIS completely and no DCIS is left behind in the breast.
• The mammogram of the breast shows no more suspicious findings after the lumpectomy.
• The woman is elderly or has other serious illnesses and would not be able to tolerate more extensive surgery or breast radiation therapy.
• The type of DCIS is a less aggressive, or non-comedo, type.
• The woman consents to close follow-up and surveillance.

 Lumpectomy alone carries special concerns and considerations. Because the remaining breast tissue is not treated with any other intervention, there is the possibility that if the woman lives many more years, she can develop cancer — either DCIS or invasive cancer in the same breast. This option is only effective for carefully selected patients with early, small DCIS lesions with very easily interpreted mammograms. Comedo-type DCIS tends to be more aggressive and careful judgment needs to be used in offering lumpectomy alone in women with this cell type of DCIS. 

Simple (total) mastectomy
this is a surgical procedure in which the entire breast is removed but not the lymph nodes under the arm or the muscle tissue from beneath the breast. The nipple will be removed in this procedure, but much of the original skin of the breast may be preserved.

Simple mastectomy is used to treat noninvasive breast cancer, and is one way to remove DCIS that is multifocal (appears in many places within the breast). The surgeon does not need to remove lymph nodes from under the arm, because DCIS does not spread to the axiliary lymph nodes.

If the DCIS is high grade and larger, your surgeon may suggest a sentinel node biopsy at the time of lumpectomy or mastectomy. This is because of the possibility of invasive cancer. By doing the sentinel node biopsy at this time, the need for additional surgery may be eliminated.

If invasive cancer is found, the surgeon will remove the entire breast tissue and some lymph nodes, which is important to determine spread of the disease. This is called a modified radical mastectomy. When lymph nodes are removed, there is a small risk of lymphedema, or swelling in the arm.

Simple mastectomy is appropriate management for all kinds of DCIS. It is the only recommended treatment for multifocal DCIS, extensive DCIS, or DCIS that has recurred after lumpectomy and radiation therapy. This procedure is a relatively short surgery, requires general anesthesia, with a short hospital stay followed by a quick recovery. Reconstructive surgery to recreate the breast can be done immediately at the time of mastectomy or at a later date. The recurrence rate and overall chance of dying from cancer after simple mastectomy is between 0 and 2%.

Women who have the simple mastectomy procedure rarely have difficulties with shoulder movement or arm swelling after surgery. As compared to a modified radical mastectomy, the surgery time is shorter and the recovery period faster.

If a simple mastectomy is chosen as treatment for DCIS, radiation therapy is not needed following surgery.

Modified radical mastectomy
Modified radical mastectomy is a surgical procedure in which the entire breast and some or all of the nearby lymph nodes are removed. Underlying muscles are left intact. This procedure is not usually used for treatment of DCIS, but may be used if invasive breast cancer is found.

Postoperative radiation therapy
If lumpectomy is chosen as the surgical method, the remainder of the breast is usually treated with radiation to minimize the chances of having a recurrence of DCIS in the breast. If, after biopsy, there are cancer cells present at the margin (the edge of biopsied tissue), an excision can usually be done again to remove the remaining cancer cells. Radiation treatment is usually begun three to four weeks after the lumpectomy or when the wound has healed.

     Sourced from http://www.dcis.info/treatment

Pictures from a Breast Cancer Bowling Event, held in Abuja.

www.bowling4boobs9ja.org

 Join the fight against cancer!

ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY, AGE DISCREPANCY, SEX ABUSE AND BIRTH CONTROL

     According to information available from the Guttmacher Institute, sex by age 20 is the normal age across the world, and countries with low levels of adolescent pregnancy accept sexual relationships among teenagers and provide comprehensive and balanced information about sexuality.

However, in a Kaiser Family Foundation study of US teenagers, 29% of teens reported feeling pressure to have sex, 33% of sexually active teens reported "being in a relationship where they felt things were moving too fast sexually", and 24% had "done something sexual they didn’t really want to do". Several polls have indicated peer pressure as a factor in encouraging both girls and boys to have sex. Inhibition-reducing drugs and alcohol may possibly encourage unintended sexual activity. If so, it is unknown if the drugs themselves directly influence teenagers to engage in riskier behavior, or whether teenagers who engage in drug use are more likely to engage in sex. Correlation does not imply causation. The drugs with the strongest evidence linking to teenage pregnancy are cannabis, alcohol, and amphetamines, including "ecstasy". The drugs with the least evidence to support a link to early pregnancy are opioids, such as heroin, morphine, and oxycodone, of which a well-known effect is the significant reduction of libido – it appears that teenage opioid users have significantly reduced rates of conception compared to their non-using, and cannabis, alcohol, and amphetamine using peers. Amphetamines are widely prescribed to treat ADHD – internationally, the countries with the highest rates of recorded amphetamine prescription to teenagers also have the highest rates of teenage pregnancy.

                                                          Birth control

 Adolescents may lack knowledge of, or access to, conventional methods of preventing pregnancy, as they may be too embarrassed or frightened to seek such information. Contraception for teenagers presents a huge challenge for the clinician. In 1998, the government set a target to halve the under-18 pregnancy rate by 2010. The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS) was established to achieve this. The pregnancy rate in this group, although falling, rose slightly in 2007, to 41.7 per 1000 women. Young women often think of contraception either as 'the pill' or condoms and have little knowledge about other methods. They are heavily influenced by negative, second-hand stories about methods of contraception from their friends and the media. Prejudices are extremely difficult to overcome. Over concern about side-effects, for example weight gain and acne, often affect choice. Missing up to three pills a month is common, and in this age group the figure is likely to be higher. Restarting after the pill-free week, having to hide pills, drug interactions and difficulty getting repeat prescriptions can all lead to method failure.

In the United States, according to the 2002 National Surveys of Family Growth, sexually active adolescent women wishing to avoid pregnancy were less likely than those of other ages to use contraceptives (18% of 15- to 19-year-olds used no contraceptives, versus 10.7% average for women ages 15 to 44). More than 80% of teen pregnancies are unintended. Over half of unintended pregnancies were to women not using contraceptives, most of the rest are due to inconsistent or incorrect use. 23% of sexually active young women in a 1996 Seventeen magazine poll admitted to having had unprotected sex with a partner who did not use a condom, while 70% of girls in a 1997 PARADE poll claimed it was embarrassing to buy birth control or request information from a doctor.

Among teens in the UK seeking an abortion, a study found that the rate of contraceptive use was roughly the same for teens as for older women.

In other cases, contraception is used, but proves to be inadequate. Inexperienced adolescents may use condoms incorrectly or forget to take oral contraceptives. Contraceptive failure rates are higher for teenagers, particularly poor ones, than for older users. Reversible longer term methods such as intrauterine devices, subcutaneous implants, or injections (Depo provera, Combined injectable contraceptive), require less frequent user action, lasting from a month to years, and may prevent pregnancy more effectively in women who have trouble following routines, including many young women. The simultaneous use of more than one contraceptive measure further decreases the risk of unplanned pregnancy, and if one is a condom barrier method, the transmission of sexually transmitted disease is also reduced.

                                          Age discrepancy in relationships

According to the conservative lobbying organization Family Research Council, studies in the US indicate that age discrepancy between the teenage girls and the men who impregnate them is an important contributing factor. Teenage girls in relationships with older boys, and in particular with adult men, are more likely to become pregnant than teenage girls in relationships with boys their own age. They are also more likely to carry the baby to term rather than have an abortion. A review of California's 1990 vital statistics found that men older than high school age fathered 77 percent of all births to high school-aged girls (ages 16–18), and 51 percent of births to junior high school-aged girls (15 and younger). Men over age 25 fathered twice as many children of teenage mothers than boys under age 18, and men over age 20 fathered five times as many children of junior high school-aged girls as did junior high school-aged boys. A 1992 Washington state study of 535 adolescent mothers found that 62 percent of the mothers had a history of being raped or sexual molested by men whose ages averaged 27 years. This study found that, compared with nonabused mothers, abused adolescent mothers initiated sex earlier, had sex with much older partners, and engaged in riskier, more frequent, and promiscuous sex. Studies by the Population Reference Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics found that about two-thirds of children born to teenage girls in the United States are fathered by adult men age 20 or older

Sexual abuse

                                                     Sexual abuse

Studies have found that between 11 and 20 percent of pregnancies in teenagers are a direct result of rape, while about 60 percent of teenage mothers had unwanted sexual experiences preceding their pregnancy. Before age 15, a majority of first-intercourse experiences among females are reported to be non-voluntary; the Guttmacher Institute found that 60 percent of girls who had sex before age 15 were coerced by males who on average were six years their senior.[citation needed] One in five teenage fathers admitted to forcing girls to have sex with them.

Multiple studies have indicated a strong link between early childhood sexual abuse and subsequent teenage pregnancy in industrialized countries. Up to 70 percent of women who gave birth in their teens were molested as young girls; by contrast, 25 percent for women who did not give birth as teens were molested.

In some countries, sexual intercourse between a minor and an adult is not considered consensual under the law because a minor is believed to lack the maturity and competence to make an informed decision to engage in fully consensual sex with an adult. In those countries, sex with a minor is therefore considered statutory rape. In most European countries, by contrast, once an adolescent has reached the age of consent, he or she can legally have sexual relations with adults because it is held that in general (although certain limitations may still apply), reaching the age of consent enables a juvenile to consent to sex with any partner who has also reached that age. Therefore, the definition of statutory rape is limited to sex with a person under the minimum age of consent.