The Truth About HIV Rates Within the Gay Community

Recent reports have shown that HIV is the biggest threat to the sexual health and wellness of gay men, and can also affect their mental wellbeing. These same reports have also suggested that the rates of HIV infection amongst the gay male community are out of control. But is the disease really as ‘out of control’ as all that?

 

This was a direct quote from The Lancet Infectious Diseases, an important scientific journal and is just one of a number of recent publications that has made this alarming claim about the HIV rates amongst gay men. Another article noted that young gay men in Belgium were generally showing high rates of unprotected sex, leading to reinfection amongst one another. It showed that the young men who had HIV were hooking up with one another and not using condoms, and this circle was widening as more men became infected.

 

HIV studies are very difficult to conduct properly, because there is a hugely variable time between infection of the disease and diagnosis. You could get HIV from having a one night stand and then discover it a few weeks later when you start to suspect that something has gone wrong. On the other hand, you could get HIV from a long-term partner who is not aware that they have the disease and only find out years and years later when you show symptoms of having AIDS.

 

However, studies do not seem to support the use of the alarmist ‘out of control’ type phrases being used. The transmission of HIV does not appear to have increased amongst any of the populations.

 

On the other hand, the rate of decline in HIV transmission amongst gay men is significantly lower than the decline in any other population. So whilst rates do not appear to be ‘out of control’, the reduction in infection is not what it should be, and further research is needed into why this is.

Categories: control, Disease, gay, gay men, HIV, hiv rates, infection, men, nbsp, Rates

Boosting Local Recycling Rates with Extra Collections

A UK council is leading the way in helping its residents recycle more batteries and small electrical items. Sandwell Council, a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands that includes the town of West Bromwich, has joined forces with its waste partner Serco in a new, expansive collection scheme.

The scheme is designed to boost the borough’s recycling rates and reduce landfill taxes. Sandwell Council already has one of England’s best recycling rates, up from 29% in 2009 to almost half of all domestic waste in 2012.

Now residents will be able to recycle even more waste products from the comfort of their own home. Each home in the borough will receive a starter pack that contains an information leaflet on exactly what can be recycled, a large bag for electrical items and a small bag for batteries. Any batteries can be left out for recycling on the usual collection days with uplift arranged for the larger electrical items by telephone.

The new scheme is a great opportunity for both residents and the council to improve the borough’s recycling rates. Anyone who has used batteries at home that are just lying at the back of a drawer or in a cupboard can get rid of them with little or no effort. And any broken or unwanted electrical items that might once have attracted a fee when uplifted will be removed at the cost of only one call to an 0845 number.

The Sandwell/Serco scheme has been given funding of £1.06million by the UK Government’s Department of Communities and Local Government to improve the council’s recycling services over a three-year period.

Sandwell Council is also behind a Go Green Reward scheme in which residents are encouraged to boost recycling rates with the carrot of a financial investment by the council in their local community.

 

Boosting Local Recycling Rates with Extra Collections

Categories: batteries, council, Electrical, electrical items, Rates, recycling, recycling rates, sandwell council, scheme

Breast Cancer in The UK - How Does it Compare?

According to new research, the UK is lagging behind other countries in Europe in terms of cancer-female/">breast cancer survival rates. With the decreasing rates, in comparison to international standards, it seems that the UK is lacking the facilities and treatment centres to keep the rate of survival cases in keeping with those in Europe. The research shows that fewer women survived this form of cancer than in Australia, Norway, Spain and Canada. Currently, the survival rate in the UK for three-year survival is between 87 to 89 percent, compared to between 91 to 94 percent in the other four countries.

The UK isn’t the only destination with disappointing figures though, according to the data. Denmark also has similar results – however, unlike Britain, this is associated to the majority of women being diagnosed too late. Researchers claim that the reasoning behind the survival rates are very different for both countries. In the UK, while women are being diagnosed at the same stages as in other countries, the survival is lower at the same stages of the disease in women. The reasons behind this need to be investigated in order to find out how medical experts can boost the rates to help more women fight the disease.

The results of the research were interesting – it was discovered that older women fighting cancer-female/">breast cancer in more advanced stages were likely to be treated less aggressively in the UK than in other locations. Researchers noted that the results have offered key information in how the survival gap for cancer-female/">breast cancer can be closed. Early diagnosis remains to be one of the key ways to help fight the disease, so if you think you may have symptoms of the disease, it is vital that you seek advice from your GP who can determine whether or not further tests need to be carried out.

Breast Cancer in The UK - How Does it Compare?

Categories: breast cancer, cancer, countries, Rates, survival, survival rate, survival rates, treatment, Women

Does Your RA Drug Affect Your Chances of Having an Abortion?

If you’re on medications to treat your rheumatoid arthritis, the drug you take may affect your likelihood to have an abortion. This is according to a new study published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, which found that women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) taking methotrexate (MTX) – which is a commonly used drug to treat inflammation caused by the autoimmune disease – had lower induced abortion rates compared to women with RA not taking the medication.

However, the researchers from the Montreal General Hospital of the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) in Canada also found that women who took anti-TNF drugs like Enbrel, Humira, and Remicade to improve their joint wellness had higher abortion rates than women not exposed to the drugs. Using Quebec’s physician billing hospitalization databases from 1996 to 2008, the team, led by Dr Évelyne Vinet, evaluated the induced abortion rates in women with RA exposed to MTX. These women were all between the ages of 15 and 45, and MTX exposure was defined as filling a prescription for the drug less than 16 weeks prior to the date of abortion.

Of the 5967 women who had an abortion, the researchers identified 112 RA patients and the rest were controls. The investigators discovered that almost 11% of those women whose wellbeing had been affected with RA were exposed to MTX, as were 22% of the controls. In a journal release, Vinet commented, ‘Our study shows that women with RA who were on MTX had lower rates of induced abortions, while those exposed to anti-TNF medications had potentially higher abortion rates.’

She added, ‘These findings highlight the importance of research on reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies in women with RA taking MTX or TNF inhibitors. Further examination of counselling practices and contraceptive use is warranted to further reduce the need for abortions in women with RA.’ Vinet explained, ‘Women with RA who become pregnant may have disease-specific reasons which might influence their decision to end a pregnancy. Exposure to teratogenic drugs, such as MTX, which can affect the development of the foetus, is one such reason women with RA may choose an induced abortion.’

Does Your RA Drug Affect Your Chances of Having an Abortion?

Categories: abortion, abortion rates, anti tnf, higher abortion, induced abortion, Rates, Research, Rheumatoid Arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Women

Why Have Puerto Rican Asthma Rates Left Experts Baffled?

Puerto Rico has one of the highest rates of asthma prevalence in the world, with the respiratory condition affecting the wellbeing of tens of thousands of children. In the US Caribbean territory, child wellness is nearly 300% more likely to be affected by asthma than white non-Hispanic children in the continental United States and cases of the respiratory condition have jumped in the last year.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Puerto Rico, with its population of 4million, has 2.5 times the death rate stemming from asthma as the mainland. Health officials suspect that the prevalence has something to do with the island’s heavy rains that unleash millions of spores, but even Puerto Ricans living in the US have been hit hard by asthma, being 2.5 times more likely to have an asthma attack than their white counterparts, so what’s going on?

Another problem is that Albuterol, the number one inhaler medication prescribed to asthmatics to relieve sudden attacks, isn’t as effective in Puerto Rican children, compared to other ethnic groups. With this in mind, several major pharmaceutical companies are working to create another medication, but this could take years. According to Dr Esteban Gonzalez Burchard, director of the Centre for Genes, Environments & Health at the University of California, San Francisco, the challenge is that ‘Puerto Ricans are not all the same,’ but rather they ‘are racially mixed.’ He added that those with European ancestry are most at risk of developing asthma.

Despite decades of research, no one knows for certain why Puerto Ricans suffer so much from asthma. One theory is that it’s due to the volcanic ash that drifts in from nearby Montserrat, whilst others believe that the clouds of Sahara dust that blanket the city in the summer have a part to play. Or else the fungi that flourish in the tropical humidity is the culprit, which would explain why asthma rates have been particularly bad this year, as it was the wettest season on record.

‘There is nothing worse than watching a child have an asthma attack. You think they are going to die,’ said Dr. Gilberto Ramos, a professor at the graduate School of Health at the University of Puerto Rico. However, he added, ‘unfortunately, the children in Puerto Rico do have the highest rates in the world. Whether it’s more genetics or more environment, we don’t know.’

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Why Have Puerto Rican Asthma Rates Left Experts Baffled?

Categories: Child asthma, Puerto Rico, Rates