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Prominent Bioinformatics Expert To Join Harvard School Of Public Health Faculty And Become Chair Of Dana-Farber Department Of Biostatistics
Giovanni Parmigiani, PhD, a noted leader in applying bioinformatics tools to cancer studies and medical decision-making, has been appointed professor of biostatistics at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and as chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
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Probability Of Developing Precursor Of Heart Failure Increased By 4 Risk Factors
Four well-known risk factors for heart attack significantly increased the size of the heart"s left ventricle, a key precursor of heart failure, according to a study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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Study Shows Decreased Risk Of Death From Opportunistic Infections With Earlier Antiretroviral Treatment
HIV-positive people with opportunistic infections who receive earlier antiretroviral treatment lower their risk of death compared with people who delay treatment, according to a new study conducted by the Stanford University School of Medicine and published in PLoS One, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The findings could lead to changes in recommendations for antiretroviral treatment protocol, specifically for patients diagnosed with HIV at an advanced stage, the Mercury News reports. The study included 262 HIV-positive participants at 39 health care sites across the U.S., and 20 participants in South Africa. During the yearlong study, the researchers found that among the participants who were treated promptly after developing an opportunistic infection, 14% died or developed another infection. The researchers also found that 24% of participants who deferred treatment for an average of 45 days died or had a decrease in health outcomes. According to the Mercury News, the question of when to start HIV-positive people on antiretroviral treatment remains unclear because of issues such as the high cost of medicines, side effects, and drug interactions or resistance. Andrew Zolopa, head of Stanford University School of Medicine"s division of infectious diseases and lead investigator of the study, said that physicians often treat HIV-positive people for an "acute crisis, then follow up later with treatment for HIV." He continues, "But that answer is wrong. The study shows very clearly that there is no safety downside to doing this -- and the benefit is quite substantial, reducing death by 50%." "Even in San Francisco, one of the first epicenters of HIV in the United States, we still find that many people present late in the course of their illness with an opportunistic infection," Mitch Katz, director of San Francisco"s Department of Health who was not involved in the study, said. He added, "This study shows that it is lifesaving to treat those persons with antiretroviral drugs while they are still in the hospital." Katz said that the results could lead to changes in HIV/AIDS practices worldwide. The International AIDS Society, CDC and the British AIDS Society have developed guidelines recommending that early antiretroviral treatment be considered in patients with opportunistic infections, Zolopa said. In addition, NIH is considering an international study to examine earlier initiation of antiretroviral treatment involving more than 9,000 people from both developed and developing countries (Krieger, San Jose Mercury News, 5/15).
Cardiovascular

Prevalence Of Ureaplasma Urealyticum And Mycoplasma Hominis In Women With Chronic Urinary Symptoms

UroToday.com - Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma Hominis are members of a unique group of microorganisms commonly identified in the genital tract of women. With the onset of sexual intercourse the prevalence of Mycoplasma increases dramatically an isolation is strongly dependent on the number of sexual partners. Convincing evidence of an infection caused by genital Mycoplasma is not easy, because they usually are not isolated in pure culture, making the evaluation even more difficult. Dr. Stavroula Baka and colleagues from Athens, Greece evaluated the prevalence of U. urealyticum and M hominis in women presenting with chronic urinary symptoms, and the subsequent improvement, if any, of symptom severity and urinary frequency after appropriate therapy targeting these microorganisms. The 153 patients who completed the study had symptoms including dysuria, pelvic pain, urgency, frequency, and dyspareunia. They had either failed a course of antimicrobial therapy or had negative routine cultures. Urine samples (midstream and catheter specimens), and urethral, vaginal, and cervical swabs were obtained. U. urealyticum was detected from 1 or more sites in 52.9% and M. hominis was detected in 5 women, all of whom were positive for U. urealyticum. In 82.3% of patients positive for U. urealyticum, other pathogens were also identified. A single-dose regimen of 1 gram azithromycin was given to all culture positive patients and recommended for their sexual partner. Those with a positive culture one month after therapy (4.9%) were successfully treated with 7 days of doxycycline 100mg twice daily. Significant improvement was observed in all symptoms. When the mean difference in the urinary symptom scores before and after treatment in women with positive cultures for Mycoplasma only was compared with those from women with Mycoplasma and other organisms as well, dysuria, dyspareunia, urinary urgency, and urinary frequency had improved significantly, while there was no difference in pelvic pain between the groups. The authors conclude that the significant improvement noted in all symptom scores after treatment in women with positive cultures for U. urealyticum and M. hominis suggests that these pathogens might have been involved in the etiology of chronic urinary symptoms experienced in this group of patients. Baka S, Kouskouni E, Antonopoulou S, Sioutis D, Papakonstantinou M, Hassiakos D, Logothetis E, Liapis A Urology. 2009 Jul;74(1):62-6 10.1016/j.urology.2009.02.014 Written by UroToday.com Contributing Editor Philip M. Hanno, MD, MPH UroToday - the only urology website with original content written by global urology key opinion leaders actively engaged in clinical practice. To access the latest urology news releases from UroToday, go to: www.urotoday.com Copyright © 2009 - UroToday


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