I know it has been a long time since we've opened the room,..
I have been busy in life, work and everything now this Friday, the room is going
to be open and everyone please try to make it.
I really miss talking to you guys :)
Try to come up with some hot topics that we can talk about :)
Talk to you soon guys,
sweet
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
R.I.P Haregewoin Teferra
I heard the bad news today, humantirean Haregwoin Tefferra, a mother of many orphan childern, passed away in her home in Ethiopia. As I always do, I reguraly follow up Melissa Fay Greene's Occasional blog. And today when I checked Melissa Fay'S Occasional Blog, I leared the bad news. Melissa stated on her blog that "She felt sick, called for a friend, and died in her bed. I have no more details at this time. I will post here as I learn more."
I remember how the first time I found out about Haregwoin Teferra, I was browsing around and I found this inspiring site/story about Haregewoin Teferra and Melissa Fay Greene herslef. Melissa Fay adopted five kids from Ethiopia and other countries as well. You may check the site and you would love what you see and a beatufil big family. You can even see how the kids adapted to the new environment and grow up fast. They all look so cute :)
I want to convey my deepest condolences to Hargewoin Teferra's family, friends and to all the orphan childern that she has been taking care off. May her soul rest in peace.
I remember how the first time I found out about Haregwoin Teferra, I was browsing around and I found this inspiring site/story about Haregewoin Teferra and Melissa Fay Greene herslef. Melissa Fay adopted five kids from Ethiopia and other countries as well. You may check the site and you would love what you see and a beatufil big family. You can even see how the kids adapted to the new environment and grow up fast. They all look so cute :)
I want to convey my deepest condolences to Hargewoin Teferra's family, friends and to all the orphan childern that she has been taking care off. May her soul rest in peace.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
BREAKING the SILENCE: Lifting the Stigma of AIDS in Ethiopia (Amharic version) (2006)
BREAKING the SILENCE: Lifting the Stigma of AIDS in Ethiopia (Amharic version) (2006)
STEPPING FORWARD: Men Teaching and Learning about HIV/AIDS (Amharic version)(2006)
STEPPING FORWARD: Men Teaching and Learning about HIV/AIDS (Amharic version)(2006)
Man appears free of HIV after stem cell transplant
(CNN) updated 4:51 p.m. EST, Wed February 11, 2009
A 42-year-old HIV patient with leukemia appears to have no detectable HIV in his blood and no symptoms after a stem cell transplant from a donor carrying a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to the virus that causes AIDS, according to a report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“The patient is fine,” said Dr. Gero Hutter of Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin in Germany. “Today, two years after his transplantation, he is still without any signs of HIV disease and without antiretroviral medication.”
The case was first reported in November, and the new report is the first official publication of the case in a medical journal. Hutter and a team of medical professionals performed the stem cell transplant on the patient, an American living in Germany, to treat the man’s leukemia, not the HIV itself.
However, the team deliberately chose a compatible donor who has a naturally occurring gene mutation that confers resistance to HIV. The mutation cripples a receptor known as CCR5, which is normally found on the surface of T cells, the type of immune system cells attacked by HIV.
The mutation is known as CCR5 delta32 and is found in 1 percent to 3 percent of white populations of European descent.
HIV uses the CCR5 as a co-receptor (in addition to CD4 receptors) to latch on to and ultimately destroy immune system cells. Since the virus can’t gain a foothold on cells that lack CCR5, people who have the mutation have natural protection. (There are other, less common HIV strains that use different co-receptors.)
People who inherit one copy of CCR5 delta32 take longer to get sick or develop AIDS if infected with HIV. People with two copies (one from each parent) may not become infected at all. The stem cell donor had two copies.
While promising, the treatment is unlikely to help the vast majority of people infected with HIV, said Dr. Jay Levy, a professor at the University of California San Francisco, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. A stem cell transplant is too extreme and too dangerous to be used as a routine treatment, he said.
“About a third of the people die [during such transplants], so it’s just too much of a risk,” Levy said. To perform a stem cell transplant, doctors intentionally destroy a patient’s immune system, leaving the patient vulnerable to infection, and then reintroduce a donor’s stem cells (which are from either bone marrow or blood) in an effort to establish a new, healthy immune system.
Levy also said it’s unlikely that the transplant truly cured the patient in this study. HIV can infect many other types of cells and may be hiding out in the patient’s body to resurface at a later time, he said.
“This type of virus can infect macrophages (another type of white blood cell that expresses CCR5) and other cells, like the brain cells, and it could live a lifetime. But if it can’t spread, you never see it– but it’s there and it could do some damage,” he said. “It’s not the kind of approach that you could say, ‘I’ve cured you.’ I’ve eliminated the virus from your body.” Health.com: 10 questions to ask a new partner before having sex
Before undergoing the transplant, the patient was also found to be infected with low levels of a type of HIV known as X4, which does not use the CCR5 receptor to infect cells. So it would seem that this virus would still be able to grow and damage immune cells in his body. However, following the transplant, signs of leukemia and HIV were absent.
“There is no really conclusive explanation why we didn’t observe any rebound of HIV,” Hutter said. “This finding is very surprising.”
Hutter noted that one year ago, the patient had a relapse of leukemia and a second transplant from the same donor. The patient experienced complications from the procedure, including temporary liver problems and kidney failure, but they were not unusual and may occur in HIV-negative patients, he said.
Researchers including Hutter agree that the technique should not be used to treat HIV alone. “Some people may say, ‘I want to do it,’” said Levy. A more logical — and potentially safer — approach would be to develop some type of CCR5-disabling gene therapy or treatment that could be directly injected into the body, said Levy.
Less invasive options to alter CCR5 could be on the horizon within the next five years, said Levy. “It’s definitely the wave of the future,” he said. “As we continue to follow this one patient, we will learn a lot.”
One drug that’s currently on the market that blocks CCR5 is called maraviroc (Selzentry). It was first approved in 2007 and is used in combination with other antiretroviral drugs.
A 42-year-old HIV patient with leukemia appears to have no detectable HIV in his blood and no symptoms after a stem cell transplant from a donor carrying a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to the virus that causes AIDS, according to a report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“The patient is fine,” said Dr. Gero Hutter of Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin in Germany. “Today, two years after his transplantation, he is still without any signs of HIV disease and without antiretroviral medication.”
The case was first reported in November, and the new report is the first official publication of the case in a medical journal. Hutter and a team of medical professionals performed the stem cell transplant on the patient, an American living in Germany, to treat the man’s leukemia, not the HIV itself.
However, the team deliberately chose a compatible donor who has a naturally occurring gene mutation that confers resistance to HIV. The mutation cripples a receptor known as CCR5, which is normally found on the surface of T cells, the type of immune system cells attacked by HIV.
The mutation is known as CCR5 delta32 and is found in 1 percent to 3 percent of white populations of European descent.
HIV uses the CCR5 as a co-receptor (in addition to CD4 receptors) to latch on to and ultimately destroy immune system cells. Since the virus can’t gain a foothold on cells that lack CCR5, people who have the mutation have natural protection. (There are other, less common HIV strains that use different co-receptors.)
People who inherit one copy of CCR5 delta32 take longer to get sick or develop AIDS if infected with HIV. People with two copies (one from each parent) may not become infected at all. The stem cell donor had two copies.
While promising, the treatment is unlikely to help the vast majority of people infected with HIV, said Dr. Jay Levy, a professor at the University of California San Francisco, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. A stem cell transplant is too extreme and too dangerous to be used as a routine treatment, he said.
“About a third of the people die [during such transplants], so it’s just too much of a risk,” Levy said. To perform a stem cell transplant, doctors intentionally destroy a patient’s immune system, leaving the patient vulnerable to infection, and then reintroduce a donor’s stem cells (which are from either bone marrow or blood) in an effort to establish a new, healthy immune system.
Levy also said it’s unlikely that the transplant truly cured the patient in this study. HIV can infect many other types of cells and may be hiding out in the patient’s body to resurface at a later time, he said.
“This type of virus can infect macrophages (another type of white blood cell that expresses CCR5) and other cells, like the brain cells, and it could live a lifetime. But if it can’t spread, you never see it– but it’s there and it could do some damage,” he said. “It’s not the kind of approach that you could say, ‘I’ve cured you.’ I’ve eliminated the virus from your body.” Health.com: 10 questions to ask a new partner before having sex
Before undergoing the transplant, the patient was also found to be infected with low levels of a type of HIV known as X4, which does not use the CCR5 receptor to infect cells. So it would seem that this virus would still be able to grow and damage immune cells in his body. However, following the transplant, signs of leukemia and HIV were absent.
“There is no really conclusive explanation why we didn’t observe any rebound of HIV,” Hutter said. “This finding is very surprising.”
Hutter noted that one year ago, the patient had a relapse of leukemia and a second transplant from the same donor. The patient experienced complications from the procedure, including temporary liver problems and kidney failure, but they were not unusual and may occur in HIV-negative patients, he said.
Researchers including Hutter agree that the technique should not be used to treat HIV alone. “Some people may say, ‘I want to do it,’” said Levy. A more logical — and potentially safer — approach would be to develop some type of CCR5-disabling gene therapy or treatment that could be directly injected into the body, said Levy.
Less invasive options to alter CCR5 could be on the horizon within the next five years, said Levy. “It’s definitely the wave of the future,” he said. “As we continue to follow this one patient, we will learn a lot.”
One drug that’s currently on the market that blocks CCR5 is called maraviroc (Selzentry). It was first approved in 2007 and is used in combination with other antiretroviral drugs.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Gene Therapy Study Shows Method Is Safe, Somewhat Beneficial
February 22, 2009 on 10:20 pm | In Science and Medicine |
Gene Therapy Study Shows Method Is Safe, Somewhat Beneficial, Researchers Report
A study of gene therapy to treat HIV has shown that the treatment is safe and somewhat beneficial — a “major advance” in efforts to combat the virus — researchers said in a study published recently in the journal Nature Medicine, AFP/Google.com reports. According to the researchers, the study — which was headed by Ronald Mitsuyasu of the University of California-Los Angeles — confirms that this avenue of gene therapy in HIV research is a valid approach (AFP/Google.com, 2/15). The study involved 74 HIV-positive people, half of whom received blood stem cells that included a molecule, called OZ1, which is designed to block HIV from replicating by targeting two key proteins (BBC News, 2/16). The other half were given a placebo. The study aimed to determine whether the stem cells would survive the body’s immune system and if this would curb the replication of HIV. The researchers found that after 48 weeks, there was no statistical difference between the two groups. However, after 100 weeks, the group that received the RNA enzyme gene had higher levels of CD4+ T cells and low HIV viral loads. The study also showed that the new blood stem cells depleted over time — although DNA tests showing that the modified cells were present in 94% of the gene group at four weeks, this fell to 12% by week 48 and 7% by week 100. According to the researchers, the study’s results showed the treatment was “safe” and modestly effective. Mitsuyasu said that instead of putting the technique through to a Phase III trial, the team plans to modify the technique and introduce new tests on a smaller group of participants. He said the study “gives some hope” to the gene therapy approach as a treatment for HIV and other diseases, such as cancer, adding, “It’s a positive finding for the field and should move the field forward” (AFP/Google.com, 2/15).
Reaction
Mitsuyasu said that the treatment is “not yet as effective or as complete as current antiretroviral therapy in controlling HIV,” although the recent study “did show proof” that using a single gene in an HIV-positive patient’s own blood cells could reduce the spread of the virus. Jo Robinson of the HIV/AIDS organization Terrence Higgins Trust said, “Gene therapy is an exciting area which aims to create a one off treatment for HIV, avoiding the need for people to take daily medication,” adding that the therapy is in its “early days in research terms, so we’re a long way from something like this being on the market.” Robinson said that the new study “has shown some promising results, which definitely warrant further investigation.” Keith Alcorn of the U.K.-based HIV information service NAM added that although the study’s results are “very modest,” the researchers showed “enough of an effect for us to be hopeful that a gene therapy approach to HIV treatment might eventually deliver effective treatments for the disease” (BBC News, 2/16).
Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report
Gene Therapy Study Shows Method Is Safe, Somewhat Beneficial, Researchers Report
A study of gene therapy to treat HIV has shown that the treatment is safe and somewhat beneficial — a “major advance” in efforts to combat the virus — researchers said in a study published recently in the journal Nature Medicine, AFP/Google.com reports. According to the researchers, the study — which was headed by Ronald Mitsuyasu of the University of California-Los Angeles — confirms that this avenue of gene therapy in HIV research is a valid approach (AFP/Google.com, 2/15). The study involved 74 HIV-positive people, half of whom received blood stem cells that included a molecule, called OZ1, which is designed to block HIV from replicating by targeting two key proteins (BBC News, 2/16). The other half were given a placebo. The study aimed to determine whether the stem cells would survive the body’s immune system and if this would curb the replication of HIV. The researchers found that after 48 weeks, there was no statistical difference between the two groups. However, after 100 weeks, the group that received the RNA enzyme gene had higher levels of CD4+ T cells and low HIV viral loads. The study also showed that the new blood stem cells depleted over time — although DNA tests showing that the modified cells were present in 94% of the gene group at four weeks, this fell to 12% by week 48 and 7% by week 100. According to the researchers, the study’s results showed the treatment was “safe” and modestly effective. Mitsuyasu said that instead of putting the technique through to a Phase III trial, the team plans to modify the technique and introduce new tests on a smaller group of participants. He said the study “gives some hope” to the gene therapy approach as a treatment for HIV and other diseases, such as cancer, adding, “It’s a positive finding for the field and should move the field forward” (AFP/Google.com, 2/15).
Reaction
Mitsuyasu said that the treatment is “not yet as effective or as complete as current antiretroviral therapy in controlling HIV,” although the recent study “did show proof” that using a single gene in an HIV-positive patient’s own blood cells could reduce the spread of the virus. Jo Robinson of the HIV/AIDS organization Terrence Higgins Trust said, “Gene therapy is an exciting area which aims to create a one off treatment for HIV, avoiding the need for people to take daily medication,” adding that the therapy is in its “early days in research terms, so we’re a long way from something like this being on the market.” Robinson said that the new study “has shown some promising results, which definitely warrant further investigation.” Keith Alcorn of the U.K.-based HIV information service NAM added that although the study’s results are “very modest,” the researchers showed “enough of an effect for us to be hopeful that a gene therapy approach to HIV treatment might eventually deliver effective treatments for the disease” (BBC News, 2/16).
Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report
The Ride: Seven Days to end HIV/AIDS
Some of the riders share their stories of their HIV status and their personal reasons for joining The Ride. Watch the video
click here.
Living with HIV and AIDS
Watch the Video
Love Lessons: Perry, Part- 1
Love Lessons: Perry, Part- 2
Love Lessons: Perry, Part-3
Love Lessons: Perry, Part- 4
click here.
Living with HIV and AIDS
Watch the Video
Love Lessons: Perry, Part- 1
Love Lessons: Perry, Part- 2
Love Lessons: Perry, Part-3
Love Lessons: Perry, Part- 4
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