Source:
Vermont Public Radio
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Patti Daniels
Colchester, VT

Today is World AIDS Day and the Vermont Department of Health is using the occasion to encourage HIV testing.

The department says 482 people in Vermont are known to be living with HIV/AIDS. But that doesn’t account for people who are HIV-positive, but haven’t been tested.

Rob Lunn directs HIV/AIDS programs for the Health Department. He says the federal Centers for Disease Control is changing the way it estimates the number of people who are HIV-positive but don’t know it:

(Lunn) “We’re not able to calculate the unknown cases at this point in time due to recent information from the CDC. There used to be statistics that the CDC would follow that approximately 25 percent of people may not know their infection rate. But we’ve been waiting to have a new estimate form come out so we can accurately determine what that is at this point.”

(Host) Accurate data about HIV cases is important because it determines funding public health services, prevention and testing programs.
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP via USA Today) — Iran said Monday that the country has registered more than 18,000 HIV-positive citizens and is worried that number could rise in a rare government disclosure about the AIDS causing virus.

Health Minister Kamran Bagheri Lankarani said increasingly Iranians were transmitting HIV through “illegal sexual relations,” meaning adultery, prostitution and homosexuality, which are all illegal in Iran.

Talk of HIV, AIDS and sex outside of marriage is taboo in Iran, especially by government officials. Though Iranian officials have acknowledged HIV exists, it is also rare for the government to announce any figures or admit the virus was spreading through sexual contact.

“What we are worried about is a third wave of the AIDS epidemic through sexual contact given that a majority of our population are young people,” Lankarani said on state television Monday to mark World AIDS Day.
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Source: The New York Times; RONI CARYN RABIN

The American College of Physicians is urging doctors to screen all patients for H.I.V. routinely beginning at age 13, whether or not they engage in risky behaviors.

The guidelines differ slightly from those of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends routine screening of patients until age 64 unless the prevalence of H.I.V. is known to be less than 0.1 percent in the patient population. The recommendations also differ from those put forth by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which urges routine screening only of patients at increased risk for infection.

But most patients don’t tell their doctors about their risky behaviors, said Dr. Amir Qaseem, senior medical associate with the American College of Physicians, a professional group that represents internists. Moreover, it is almost impossible for a physician to know what the H.I.V. prevalence rate is among certain patients, Dr. Qaseem added.
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Early HIV testing and treatment procedures have proved to be life-saving for newborn babies exposed to the virus, a United Nations report said here Monday.

The report, released to coincide with the World AIDS Day, said that diagnosing infants soon after birth and providing a course of medical action can significantly improve their chances of survival.

“Without appropriate treatment, half of children with HIV will die from an HIV-related causes by their second birthday,” said the executive director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ann M. Veneman. She made the statement in introducing the report here Monday.

“Survival rates are up to 75 percent higher for HIV-positive newborns who are diagnosed and begin treatment within their first Ǭ weeks,” she added. But the report noted that last year fewer than 10 percent of infants born to HIV-positive mothers were tested before they were two months old. Read more

These days everybody seems to be feeling stress. Between the economy and all the uncertainty swirling around us, it’s enough to make any sane person head straight to the nearest candy shop. Stress seems to be getting a lot of unwanted attention lately. I can see it by the amount of questions asked of me on how stress impacts on our lives — from the foods we eat, to the reaction on our bodies. How does stress affect our diet, and — are there any foods that will make stress easier to handle.

There is no question that stress can affect how and what you eat. Some people eat more and some people eat less. And it’s no accident that we call certain foods comfort foods — they really have that effect for some.

The fact is stress is real and there really is no diet that will make it go away. But there are some things you can do to manage your eating habits through stressful times. Here are some tips:

- Start your day with a healthy breakfast. It will set you up for the rest of the day. If you are hungry, if your blood sugar is low (after a night of fasting), if there is no fuel in your body, you will have a harder time coping with stress and may find it harder to think well and make good decisions.

- Eat slowly and eat mindfully. Read more