The Right To Kill 2

After the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, I wrote a piece called The Right To Kill.

I basically said that the insanity of “rights” over the safety of human life has come home to roost. The events in Aurora, preceded by shootings in Tulsa, Seattle, Oakland, Chardon, have brought a little attention to the deadliest shooting crimes in U.S. history– and the world ranking of the United States in terms of gun-related murders (4th highest). Nothing is changing. In fact, it’s probably just getting worse. Joe the Plumber blamed the holocaust on gun control. The American Family Association blames the murders on “liberal churches“- I know- I couldn’t believe it either. Except that I do. Any tragedy to bring the collection money rolling in is fair game for crazy pastors.

And that’s the problem. Crazy people who act out in public seem to give permission to crazy people in charge of congregations and political positions permission to act out, too. To act out with ideology front and center. Not compassion, ideology. And fear. Like I said, crazy. And people believe them. Instead of statistics. Instead of science. Instead of facts.

Roger Ebert, writing for the New York Times, has one of the most eloquent summaries of the Aurora shooting that I’ve read so far. From We’ve Seen This Movie Before:

That James Holmes is insane, few may doubt. Our gun laws are also insane, but many refuse to make the connection. The United States is one of few developed nations that accepts the notion of firearms in public hands. In theory, the citizenry needs to defend itself. Not a single person at the Aurora, Colo., theater shot back, but the theory will still be defended.

I was sitting in a Chicago bar one night with my friend McHugh when a guy from down the street came in and let us see that he was packing heat.

“Why do you need to carry a gun?” McHugh asked him.

“I live in a dangerous neighborhood.”

“It would be safer if you moved.”

This would be an excellent time for our political parties to join together in calling for restrictions on the sale and possession of deadly weapons. That is unlikely, because the issue has become so closely linked to paranoid fantasies about a federal takeover of personal liberties that many politicians feel they cannot afford to advocate gun control.

I’ve no doubt that posturing will constipate any real discussion of this issue- but Ebert adds a final, jarring note to his piece:

Immediately after a shooting last month in the food court of the Eaton Centre mall in Toronto, a young woman named Jessica Ghawi posted a blog entry. Three minutes before a gunman opened fire, she had been seated at the exact place he fired from.

“I was shown how fragile life was,” she wrote. “I saw the terror on bystanders’ faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath.”

This same woman was one of the fatalities at the midnight screening in Aurora. The circle of madness is closing.

Indeed. And it’s closing in on all of us.

Why Gun Control Is So Contentious In The U.S. (LiveScience)
Toronto shooting victim’s grandfather pleads for witnesses (cbc.ca)
Joe the Plumber releases ad blaming gun control for the Holocaust (dailykos.com)
We are insane if we sign the UN “Arms Trade” gun control treaty (fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com)
Republican blames Holocaust on Germany’s gun control laws (thejc.com)
Debunking The Fast & Furious Gun Control Conspiracy (outsidethebeltway.com)
Former Giffords aide wins election to finish her term (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)

HIV Treatment Breakthrough: Weekly Injection Could Replace Daily Pill Regimen

Jul21 by D Gregory Smith

HIV-1 Gag (Photo credit: AJC1)

For a number of people with HIV, treatment can be troublesome because medicine should be taken at the same time every day- sometimes more than once a day. Some medications must be taken with food, some without. Some can only be taken near bedtime because they cause drowsiness.

Science Daily reports a treatment breakthrough:

(A) University of Nebraska Medical Center research team’s progress toward developing weekly or twice-monthly injectable antiretroviral therapy (ART) nanomedicines for patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection will be highlighted as the cover story in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

A long-acting, nanoformulated ART (nanoART) would be a substantive improvement over daily and sometimes more complex regimen of pills, said Howard Gendelman, M.D., the lead investigator on the development of nanoART for HIV/AIDS and professor and chairman of the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience (PEN) at UNMC.

The journal article hails the successful testing of UNMC’s ART injectables as treatment of HIV-infected mice and in preventing new infections.

“We actually followed the process exactly as we would with a person — and it worked,” Dr. Gendelman said. “This is all very exciting. Although there are clear pitfalls ahead and the medicines are not yet ready for human use, the progress is undeniable.”

This could prove to be helpful- most especially in the developing world- where people have trouble managing a regimen of pills or have low access to long-term medication treatments. But it may have significant impact everywhere, changing the way HIV is treated….

Full article here.

First HIV-prevention pill approved by FDA (cbsnews.com)
Truvada Approved For HIV Prevention (dgsmith.org)
Could New Anti-HIV Pill Reshape AIDS Strategy in Africa? – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)

Truvada Approved For HIV Prevention

Jul17 by D Gregory Smith

From Mother Nature News:

The first-ever daily pill to help prevent against HIV was approved Monday by U.S. regulators for use in uninfected adults who are at risk for getting the virus that causes AIDS.

Truvada, made by Gilead Sciences in California, has been on the market since 2004 and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for a new use as a tool to help ward off HIV in otherwise healthy people, in combination with safe sex and regular testing.

The pill as pre-exposure prophylaxis has been hailed by some AIDS experts as a potent new tool against human immunodeficiency virus, but some health care providers are concerned it could encourage risky sex behavior.

In addition, the regimen is estimated to cost around $14,000 per year, making it out of reach of many.

The National Association Of People With AIDS (NAPWA) had this to say:

The National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA) strongly supports today’s move by the United States Food and Drug Administration to approve use of Truvada (emtricitabine/ tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection.

“It’s time for people at high risk of HIV infection to be empowered to protect themselves and others,” said Frank J. Oldham, Jr., NAPWA’s President and CEO. “Today’s approval of Truvada for HIV prevention gives them an important new tool to do that.

“PrEP is not a final solution to the spread of HIV,” Oldham continued, “but it can be one tool, and a very useful one, in a well stocked toolkit of prevention measures. We urge all Americans to assess their HIV risk realistically and use condoms if they are at risk, but we thank the FDA for approving Truvada for PrEP for those who cannot or will not.”

Truvada is one of the pills I take every day- if it can prevent anyone from getting HIV- it should. The “how” is still being determined.

FDA approves Truvada, the first pill to help prevent HIV – USA TODAY (usatoday.com)
FDA Approves First Medication to Reduce HIV Risk (fda.gov)

AIDS Vaccine Possible Before End Of This Decade, HIV Scientist Says

Jul16 by D Gregory Smith

From The New Civil Rights Movement:

HIV Particle (Photo credit: AJC1)

A vaccine to protect against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and AIDS may be available before the end of this decade, a leading HIV research scientist says. RV144 may be the answer to fighting HIV/AIDS.

“We’re really working as fast as we can,” said Colonel Nelson Michael, director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, “who expects large-scale effectiveness studies to start in 2016,” according to a report in Reuters:

The hope is to have at least 50 percent effectiveness, a level that mathematical modelers say could have a major impact on the epidemic. Michael thinks this might be the pathway for getting the first HIV vaccine licensed, possibly by 2019.

Exciting news- Read the rest here

Scientists see AIDS vaccine within reach after decades (todayonline.com)
AIDS 2012: Time to recognize and recommit US support for R&D (one.org)
Secret of HIV’s natural born killers out (bigpondnews.com)

What Captures Your Attention Controls Your Life

Jul9 by D Gregory Smith

Neurobiology has been very clear in recent findings- giving something full attention is the best way to change, understand or deepen the experience of that something. And repeated focus is the key to successfully changing the very pathways of our brains. This can be very helpful when dealing with depression or substance abuse, for example.

An interesting article in the Harvard Business Review gives a more accessible overview of what monks and nuns (of many religions) have known for millennia: Focusing regularly changes your brain- and your life. Excerpt:

“A few years ago, DisneyWorld executives were wondering what most captured the attention of toddlers and infants at their theme park and hotels in Orlando, Florida. So they hired me and a cultural anthropologist to observe them as they passed by all the costumed cast members, animated creatures, twirling rides, sweet-smelling snacks, and colorful toys. But after a couple of hours of close observation, we realized that what most captured the young children’s attention wasn’t Disney-conjured magic. Instead it was their parents’ cell phones, especially when the parents were using them.

Those kids clearly understood what held their parents’ attention — and they wanted it too. Cell phones were enticing action centers of their world as they observed it. When parents were using their phones, they were not paying complete attention to their children.

Giving undivided attention is the first and most basic ingredient in any relationship. It is impossible to communicate, much less bond, with someone who can’t or won’t focus on you. At the same time, we often fail to realize how what we focus on comes to control our thoughts, our actions, and indeed, our very lives.

Whatever we focus upon actually wires our neurons. For example, pessimistic people see setbacks and unhappy events as Personal (It’s worst for me), Pervasive (Everything is now worse) andPermanent (It will always be this way) according to Learned Optimism author Marty Seligman. Yet, with practice, he found that we can learn to focus more attention on the positive possibilities in situations to craft a redemptive narrative of our life story. Consciously changing what you pay attention to can rewire your brain from a negative orientation to a positive one. “Attention shapes the brain,” as Rick Hanson says in Buddha’s Brain.”

Read the rest here.

“… a cow, a chicken and some grass” (empwaynek.wordpress.com)
Geeky Brain Stuff: “Emotions promote social interaction by synchronizing brain activity across individuals” like music – duh (kevinkindsongs.com)
It’s Hard To Concentrate With a Lazy Brain – 5 brain exercises that will better your concentration skills (seungreenworld.wordpress.com)

Impact of Affordable Care Act On HIV/STD Prevention

Jun29 by D Gregory Smith

Wondering about the Supreme Court’s decision on HIV/STD prevention and care? Some help from The National Coalition Of STD Directors:

As you consider the impact of today’s Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act on different populations, I would like to share with you the impact of today’s ruling on our fight to prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain a major epidemic in the United States. Each year, there are approximately 19 million new cases of STDs, approximately half of which go undiagnosed and untreated[i], giving the United States the highest STD rate in the industrialized world.[ii]

STDs cost the U.S. health care system $17 billion every year—and cost individuals even more in immediate and life-long health consequences, including infertility, higher risk of acquiring HIV, and certain cancers.[iii]

Young people will continue to have expanded coverage under their parent’s insurance. Young people bear a disproportionate burden of STDs—those aged 15-25 make up half of the STDs contracted annually, but make up only one-fourth of the sexually active population.
Private insurance will continue to have to cover prevention services with no cost out-of pocket costs to patients. Many of those who visit STD clinics are low-income and would not be able to receive prevention sexual health services without coverage by insurance. While there is still work to be done for certain at-risk populations, such as men who have sex with men, expanded STD testing and STI counseling will be covered by insurance under this expansion of preventative care in the law and it is a great start.
The continued need for safety-net service providers is underscored. With the narrowing of the Medicaid expansion provisions, the very real possibility exists that many low-income individuals will not have access to affordable health care coverage. Patients at STD clinics are young, minority, and poor—populations that are bear a much higher burden of STD disease—and may be left without coverage in a state that may choose not to expand their Medicaid coverage.

HIV-specifics from Lambda Legal:

“This is a victory for all Americans, but in particular, the Court’s decision today will save the lives of many people living with HIV – as long as states do the right thing. The Affordable Care Act will finally allow people living with HIV to access medical advancements made years ago but that have so far remained out of reach of many. With continuing prevention education, early detection, and quality care for everyone living with HIV, we have the power to stem the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“But this is not a complete victory, because today’s decision allows states to opt out of the Medicaid expansion that would provide insurance coverage for many low-income people who cannot otherwise afford it. Our continuing challenge will be to make sure that states opt to expand Medicaid so that more low-income people, and particularly those with HIV, can get the health care they urgently need.”

Who should go for a STD test? (healthnfitnesstips.typepad.com)
Teens don’t identify with STD messages (futurity.org)
Affordable Care Act a lifeline for people with pre-existing conditions (king5.com)
Obama: ‘National HIV Testing Day highlights the importance of HIV testing and the fight against HIV/AIDS’ (miamiherald.typepad.com)

Clergy Can Fight HIV On Faith-friendly Terms

May19 by D Gregory Smith

An excellent article from Science Daily:

In the United States, where blacks bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, black religious institutions could help turn the tide. In a new study in PLoS ONE based on dozens of interviews and focus groups with 38 of Philadelphia’s most influential black clergy, physicians and public health researchers find that traditional barriers to preaching about HIV prevention could give way to faith-friendly messages about getting tested and staying on treatment.

The public health community has long struggled with how best to reduce HIV infection rates among black Americans, which is seven times that of whites. In a new paper in the journal PLoS ONE, a team of physicians and public health researchers report that African-American clergy say they are ready to join the fight against the disease by focusing on HIV testing, treatment, and social justice, a strategy that is compatible with religious teaching.

“We in public health have done a poor job of engaging African-American community leaders and particularly black clergy members in HIV prevention,” said Amy Nunn, lead author of the study and assistant professor of medicine in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. “There is a common misperception that African American churches are unwilling to address the AIDS epidemic. This paper highlights some of the historical barriers to effectively engaging African American clergy in HIV prevention and provides recommendations from clergy for how to move forward.”

The paper analyzes and distills dozens of interviews and focus group data among 38 African-Amereican pastors and imams in Philadelphia, where racial disparities in HIV infection are especially stark. Seven in 10 new infections in the city are among black residents. With uniquely deep influence in their communities, nearly all of the 27 male and 11 female clergy said they could and would preach and promote HIV testing and treatment.

That message, delivered by clergy or other influential figures, would provide a needed complement to decades of public health efforts that have emphasized risk behaviors, Nunn said. Research published and widely reported last year, for example, suggests that testing and then maintaining people on treatment could dramatically reduce new infections because treatment can give people a 96-percent lower chance of transmitting HIV.

“For decades, we’ve focused many HIV prevention efforts on reducing risky behavior,” said Nunn, who is also based at The Miriam Hospital. “Focusing on HIV testing and treatment should be the backbone of HIV prevention strategies and efforts to reduce racial disparities in HIV infection. Making HIV testing routine is the gateway to getting more individuals on treatment. African American clergy have an important role to play in routinizing HIV testing.”

The barriers clergy members face

Many religious leaders acknowledged that they’ve struggled with how best to combat the epidemic, particularly with challenges related to discussing human sexuality in church or mosque, according to the analysis in the paper.

“One time my pastor spoke to young people about sex, mentioning using protection,” the paper quotes a clergy member as saying in one example. “I was sitting in the clergy row; you could feel the heat! I was surprised he said that. Comments from the clergy highlighted they were opposed to that. It’s a tightrope walk.”

Many clergy members also said they face significant barriers to preaching about risk behaviors without still emphasizing abstinence.

“It’s my duty as a preacher to tell people to abstain,” one pastor told the research team, “but if they’re still having sex and they’re getting HIV, there has to be another way to handle this.”

What clergy can do

Many clergy members suggested couching the HIV/AIDS epidemic in social justice rather than behavioral terms, Nunn said. They also recommended focusing on HIV testing as an important means to help stem the spread of the disease and reduce the stigma.

“We need to standardize testing,” one pastor told the researchers. “One thing that we could do immediately is to encourage our congregations — everybody — to get tested. … We’re not dealing with risk factors. And we’re all going to get tested once a year. That’s the one thing that we could do that doesn’t get into our doctrine about sexuality.”

In general, many of the religious leaders said they could encourage discussion of HIV not only in main worship services, but also in ministries and community outreach activities.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Video: HIV It’s Not Classified
HIV Is In Montana- It’s No Bull (dgsmith.org)
FDA Approves New In-Home HIV Test (philadelphia.cbslocal.com)
Some Startling HIV Facts (dgsmith.org)

Some Startling HIV Facts

May8 by D Gregory Smith

…from The CDC’s Annual Report from the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP), Accelerating Progress, Investing for Impact. This report provides an overview of some of the HIV prevention activities conducted and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during late 2010 to the end of 2011.

Too few Americans with HIV are getting the testing, treatment, and care they need to stay healthy and prevent transmission to others.

Surprisingly, only 28% of all HIV-infected persons are considered to have HIV under control ( viral load less than 200/ml). That’s not enough.

Percentage of HIV-infected Individuals Engaged in Selected Stages of the Continuum of HIV Care, 2010-11

All HIV positive individuals- 100%

Aware of their infection- 80%

Linked to HIV care- 62%

Retained in HIV care- 41%

Receive antiretroviral therapy- 36%

Have their virus under control*- 28%

*Plasma viral load < 200 cells/ml

Source: MMWR 60(47);1618-1623

HIV Diminishes Lung Function (dgsmith.org)
77 nations share HIV, AIDS best practices at IMilHAC (dvidshub.net)
Predictive tool could cut HIV test costs (scidev.net)
Fact and Fiction About HIV Transmission (everydayhealth.com)
Gay partners’ HIV transmission study due to start, despite practical barriers (lass.org.uk)

History Lesson: Rachel Maddow Spotlights AIDS Activist Organization ACT UP

Apr30 by D Gregory Smith

Rachel Maddow highlighted the group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) on its 25th birthday- and reveals that she was part of the work.

I remember ACT UP- and I remember the malaise and apathy they remedied. When the government and elected officials didn’t act, activists and mothers and lesbians held them accountable. A healthy reminder of where we’ve been- may we never return.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Rachel Maddow Salutes The AIDS Coalition To Unl…, posted with vodpod

Rachel Maddow Takes On ‘Pray Away The Gay’ Lies: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
Watch Rachel Maddow Own GOP Strategist Alex Castellanos After He Claims that Women Don’t Actually Make Less Than Men [Politics] (jezebel.com)
Rachel Maddow is a Goddess (ipreferheels.com)

Study: That Queer-bashing Bully Could Be Gay

Apr29 by D Gregory Smith

A fascinating study, discussed in the New York Times this morning, reveals that, at least in a clinical setting, “very straight” persons often struggle with same-sex feelings:

No Homophobia logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One theory is that homosexual urges, when repressed out of shame or fear, can be expressed as homophobia. Freud famously called this process a “reaction formation” — the angry battle against the outward symbol of feelings that are inwardly being stifled. Even Mr. Haggard seemed to endorse this idea when, apologizing after his scandal for his anti-gay rhetoric, he said, “I think I was partially so vehement because of my own war.”

It’s a compelling theory — and now there is scientific reason to believe it. In this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, we and our fellow researchers provide empirical evidence that homophobia can result, at least in part, from the suppression of same-sex desire.

Well, as anybody whose been following Glee knows, the bully can often turn out to be the would-be boyfriend. I remember a few of them from my own life- who were the most vehement haters of the gays- and later turned out to be, as one of them told me later “a relieved homosexual.” The authors conclude:

It’s important to stress the obvious: Not all those who campaign against gay men and lesbians secretly feel same-sex attractions. But at least some who oppose homosexuality are likely to be individuals struggling against parts of themselves, having themselves been victims of oppression and lack of acceptance. The costs are great, not only for the targets of anti-gay efforts but also often for the perpetrators. We would do well to remember that all involved deserve our compassion.

Read the full article here.