US Considers Approving Drug to Prevent HIV

US Considers Approving Drug to Prevent HIV – This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com | http Studies show that a drug called Truvada can prevent HIV infections. The pill is taken once a day. Studies showed it was ninety percent effective when people took it every day. It was only half as effective when people did not take it every day. Currently, in the United States, the drug is only approved for use as a treatment for people already infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Now a government advisory committee says Truvada should become the first drug approved for use to prevent HIV. The Food and Drug Administration is not required to follow the advice of its Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee, but it usually does. The FDA is expected to decide by June fifteenth.The advisory committee held a twelve-hour hearing on May tenth to consider the evidence for Truvada. The committee urged the FDA to approve the drug for use by those considered at high risk for getting infected. These include gay and bisexual men and heterosexual couples where one partner has HIV. Mitchell Warren, head of the HIV prevention group AVAC, explains that Truvada is a combination pill. It contains two different antiretroviral drugs that had already been approved individually by the FDA. Then about eight years ago they were approved as a combination. But all of those approvals only related to the use of the drug for treating people who are already infected with HIV.The manufacturer of Truvada, Gilead, would …

Wood drug court helps addicts to change

Filed under: drug treatment news

"There was a huge need for substance abuse treatment, we were finding jails full of addicts, and we were looking for ways to solve the problems, give people a second chance," Boggs said. Not everyone charged with a drug related offense ends up in the …
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New type of molecular switch could turn up the volume on bowel cancer treatment

Filed under: drug treatment news

The research showed that common drugs, 5-FU and oxaliplatin, were more effective in treating bowel cancer cells with damaged forms of K-RAS, and bowel cancer cells with healthy K-RAS in which the miR-224 switch had been blocked. Lead author, Dr …
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Acupucture pinpoints alternative therapy to addiction, anxiety

Filed under: drug treatment news

Once a week, Virginia Rapin has five needles stuck in each of her ears for a treatment that she says helps alleviate her depression and anxiety. The treatment Rapin receives is a form of acupuncture called acu-detox where thin, sterilized needles are …
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