Using Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) as a Prevention Tool for MSM: The Promise Comes with Challenges

via Blog.AIDS.gov, by Dr. Ron Valdiserri

Excerpts:

On Saturday, February 26^th, I attended a day-long meeting organized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and hosted by the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston. The theme of the meeting was “Moving forward with PrEP Implementation.” Meeting participants included researchers involved in the original iPrEX study and other ongoing HIV prevention studies, health care providers caring for men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), state and local health department program directors, MSM community advocates, policy experts, and federal officials...

Several of the major questions raised by participants were:

• Among the diverse communities of MSM in the U.S., what subset of men would be the most appropriate candidates for this new prevention tool?
• Given the disproportionate burden of HIV infection among MSM of color—many of whom also live at or near the poverty level—how will daily drug treatments be financed?
• In the real world of competing needs and resource constraints, how should PrEP programs for MSM be combined with other prevention approaches for MSM to result in the greatest pay-off in terms of decreasing new HIV infections?
• How do we build the needed capacity among medical providers, health departments, and community-based organizations so that PrEP can be implemented as part of a comprehensive package of HIV prevention services for MSM at risk for HIV?
• Could PrEP serve as a “gateway” into other equally effective—and perhaps less costly—prevention approaches for MSM?

Read the rest.

Tenofovir gel protects anal tissue

via Reuters

An experimental gel containing a prescription HIV drug has been shown for the first time to protect rectal tissue against the virus that causes AIDS, according to new research.
The gel, containing Gilead Sciences Inc's AIDS drug tenofovir, has previously been shown to sharply reduce HIV infections in women when applied inside the vagina.

The latest study, which involved rectal tissue biopsies taken from HIV-negative men and women who used the product daily for one week, provides the first evidence that tenofovir gel could help reduce the risk of HIV from anal sex.

The researchers, who presented the findings at a medical meeting in Boston, are reformulating the gel so that it is less harmful to the rectum than the original vaginal microbicide.

The risk of becoming infected with HIV from unprotected anal sex may be at least 20 times greater than unprotected vaginal sex, in part because the rectal lining is only one-cell thick compared to the vagina's multiple layers, making it easier for the virus to reach cells to infect, the researchers said in a statement.

Read the rest.

Just a phase!

On Wisconsin!

We Are Wisconsin from Finn Ryan on Vimeo.

Chicago POZ Guys of Color! Regain control of your healthcare with Project IN-CARE

Project IN-CARE is a new program offered by AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Brothers Health Collective, Howard Brown Health Center, Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center and Test Positive Aware Network.

IN-CARE is about men supporting men in regaining control of their healthcare and their lives. This project is designed specifically to assist bisexual, gay/same-gender-loving and down low/discrete men of color who’ve recently tested positive for HIV or have been positive for some time but haven’t seen a doctor in at least 6 months.

IN-CARE participants are paired with a Peer Health Navigator - someone who is successfully managing their own health care and knows the resources available in Chicago as well as how to access them. Peer Health Navigators work with participants to help them access HIV medical care, as well as the knowledge needed to gain and maintain their health and many other resources they may need.

For further information please contact …

Test Positive Aware Network – Juan Mercado 773-989-9400 ext. 294

CORE Center – Kathy Jacobs-McLoyd 312-572-4633

Brothers Health Collective – Leveon Perkins 773-363-0055

Howard Brown Health Center – Julio Maldonado 773-388-1600

VIDEO: Iowa grandmother speaks in favor of gay marriage, and rocks it

Feel the Love... Sister Glo Understands

Love is life. 

All,
everything
that I understand, 

I understand 

only because I love.

~Leo Tolstoy

Love is all you need with Sister Glo each Friday on LifeLube.

 

Friday is for Faeries - Chillaxed

every friday

Who's that Queer? [Pete Burns]

Pete Burns- 80s British music icon, Celebrity Big Brother finalist, transexual and cosmetic surgery fanatic.

Pete Burns is a British singer-songwriter who founded the band Dead or Alive in 1980, for which he acted as the vocalist and songwriter, and which rose to mainstream success with their 1985 single "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)".

Burns became famous with his strikingly individual, androgynous image. Originally labeled as gay, due to his gender atypical appearance and sexual relations with men, Burns is reportedly bisexual and was married to Lynne Corlett. Burns has accused fellow pop star Boy George of appropriating his unique image, although of course they didn't look or dress alike.
In January 2006, Burns appeared on Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother 2006, eventually reaching fifth on the show's final episode. The show featured Burns' scathing verbal attacks on other housemates, most notably former page three girl Jodie Marsh and former Baywatch star Traci Bingham.

In the same year he announced his engagement to his partner, Michael Simpson, on Channel 4's daytime television show Richard & Judy, where he displayed their matching engagement rings designed by Vivienne Westwood. The following day, Simpson called off the engagement citing that he was finding it difficult to deal with the newfound fame, although their engagement was soon back on and their civil partnership took place on 6 July. Burns appeared on Celebrity Wife Swap, which aired on 30 September 2007, where he lived with Neil Ruddock for five days. Simpson also took part in the program. The couple separated in May 2008. Burns made a statement saying that gay marriage does not work and that it is better to be married to a woman.

Burns has had extensive polyacrylamide injections into his lips, cheek implants, several rhinoplasties and many tattoos. In early 2006 he revealed in an interview that he had spent most of his life savings on eighteen months of reconstructive surgery after a procedure on his lips went horribly wrong. Burns' autobiography, Freak Unique, was released in May 2006. In it he writes about his life and reveals that he was raped at a young age by a man who was never prosecuted. He also writes about chronic depression and several suicide attempts.

Read more about Pete Burns here.

VIDEO: Optician David Borges Tells it RAW

MORE ON LUBE: Study Authors Call for More Testing of Personal Lubricant Safety

via About.com, by Cory Silverberg

Last May two studies were released that got a lot of attention for pointing out the potential role personal lubricants might play in STD transmission during anal intercourse. Specifically, lab studies raised the possibility that lubricant could actually make transmission easier by irritating the rectal lining.

The work was supported by the interdisciplinary group, International Rectal Microbicide Advocates, who have been doing their best to help researchers and health care providers contextualize the findings so they are neither blown out of proportion, nor cast aside as irrelevant.

This week more findings were published in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Researchers studied forty-one brands of lubricants (taken from the IRMA list of most frequently used lubricants), looking for any anti-HIV-1 activity, toxicity, and essentially the salt content of lubricants that could contribute to damage at the cellular level.

Read the rest.

Woof Wednesday Happy to See You

Andrew’s Anus and the Quack [a LifeLube exclusive - Part 3 in a series]

Last week I talked about Andy’s foray into urban life and how he found out I had HPV. Things hadn’t worked out on the coast, and as we headed home he wondered if he had AIDS, and I worried about how we were going to deal with my warts.

I’m Andrew’s anus – that last inch and a half or so of his digestive tract connecting his rectum with the outside world.

Andy had a hella hard time finding competent treatment for me then, and I’m sorry to tell you he still does today.

It was 1987 and finding a job with benefits was Andy’s top priority.  Fortunately, his work experience got respect in his home town and in no time he started with a temporary agency. Just when he least expected it, his assignment with a large firm turned into a solid full time job. 

Corporate America had just started smarting from the cost of health insurance.  Because of this, PPOs (preferred provider organizations) were hot, but the newest kid on the block was the HMO, or health maintenance organization. Supposedly designed to promote prevention and cost savings, HMOs strictly limited where employees could get care and contracted providers at a flat “per insured” rate. Andy attended a meeting where it was announced that his company was going that route.

It had been months since the warts on me were diagnosed.

Anxious, he regularly checked me out while soaping up in the shower.

He was worried that those small, rough-surfaced bumps just inside me might grow or multiply. The wait for insurance seemed to last forever. As the weeks passed,the warts did grow and extended a little bit outside of me, horrifying us/both.

Andy thought more and more about AIDS. Had the local guy who’d shared Hepatitis B with him before his big adventure shared something else? Or… could Patrick have? Before leaving the city, he’d come to realize that Patrick had quite an illustrious past. He also recalled how I sometimes bled a little after Patrick fucked me. 

His doctor had recommended against an AIDS test, but Andy finally decided he just had to know. When the health department nurse told him the results were positive, Andy wasn’t surprised. He was referred to the single fledgling support agency in town where services were pretty much limited to hospital visitation and support group meetings which he began to attend.

Andy’s HMO coverage finally kicked in and his first appointment was a nightmare. 

When he told the new doctor about his Hepatitis B, the doc darted out of the exam room like his ass was on fire and grabbed the thermometer that his nurse had used to check Andy’s temperature. “Here,” he said as he stuffed it in Andy’s shirt pocket. “We’ll just let you keep that.”

The phrase universal precautions wasn’t yet common, but even I knew something was very wrong – and so did Andy.

Still, he was desperate to have me treated. When he mentioned the warts, the doctor said, “No problem -we can handle that here and now.” He had Andy lay face down on an exam table, numbed me with injections, and while the nurse held Andy’s cheeks apart the doc came at me with some electrical device. 

“You don’t have any internal warts, do you?” he asked as the odor of burnt flesh and ozone wafted forward. 

Traumatized, and with his own ass now definitely on fire, Andy muttered “I don’t know” but wondered “isn’t it his job to know that?”

The quack sent Andy home with a prescription for Lortab and a wad of gauze in his briefs. I hurt and bled a little for a day or two but slowly began to feel better. When enough time had passed to make it seem less scary, Andy gently probed me to check things out. His heart sunk when he realized the quack had done a half-assed job - I still had warts inside of me.

After participating in the support group for a couple of months, the social worker who ran the AIDS agency asked Andy if he would be willing to serve as a peer facilitator for a new group that was forming. Andy said yes to this first opportunity to help.

Andy still didn’t know where to turn for care. He asked the social worker for the name of an AIDS specialist. “We can’t ethically recommend a doctor,” he said, “but you can call the local academy of medicine for a referral.” Andy did and explained to the person on the phone that he needed someone who knew about AIDS. He and the staffer identified an HMO-approved provider, and Andy took the earliest available appointment.

(to be continued, read part 4 next tuesday, march 1)

As told to Mark Hubbard

Read previous installments.

How is Aaron DeWinter Williams Healthy?

Good health is a state of mind.

I've been living with HIV and associated depression for ten years. Regular medical checkups, strict adherence to my treatment regimen, a proper diet and being a non-smoker and non-drug user certainly helps. Running, cycling and yoga keeps me physically fit. And I try to maintain a proper work/life balance.

However, I believe my greatest compensation comes from maintaining my mental and emotional health. Psychiatric counseling and an awesome group of loving, supportive friends helps stave off depression.I truly believe in the healing power of pets. The cold wet nose, soft purr and furry cuddle of my cat makes the most stressful day a distant memory. In addition to physical fitness, remaining active allows me to give back to the community, whether I'm volunteering at my local animal shelter, completing marathons, triathlons or cycling for various charities. As cliche as it sounds, altruism nourishes my soul.

As I approach my 45th birthday, I feel youthful and have a zest for life that I didn't possess 5 years ago. 

I'm still a work in progress. But I've learned that a positive mental attitude and a few laughs go a long way to maintaining good health.

-- Aaron DeWinter Williams
Chicago

How are you healthy?
Join in the conversation.
Tell us HERE. Send a pic to the same place.
And we'll blog it, right here.
Gay men and all allies welcome to participate.
Read past posts.
Learn more about the campaign

Feel the Love... The Essence Lasts

Love is something eternal; 

the aspect may change, 

but not the essence.

~Vincent Van Gogh

Love is all you need with Sister Glo each Friday on LifeLube.

 

 

Friday is for Faeries - the more the faerier

Who's that Queer? [Lea. T]

Lea. T- Transexual model and Kate Moss's kiss for Love Magazine.

The latest Brazilian supermodel is making headlines for more than just her striking looks. Lea T, the 28-year-old muse of Givenchy's creative director Riccardo Tisci and star of the label's new ad campaign, was actually born Leandro Cerezo. She is undergoing hormone replacement therapy in preparation for a full sex change from male to female.

Meanwhile, the newest Brazilian on the catwalk since Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima first strutted their stuff is quickly becoming a fixture in the world of high fashion, modeling for Givenchy's haute couture show and appearing in last month's Italian Vanity Fair.

Lea is also made waves, posing nude in the August 2010 issue of French Vogue. Her hair cascading past her breasts, Lea has one hand wrapped around her narrow waist and the other barely covering her genitals -- which have not been surgically altered.

In Italian Vanity Fair, Lea, whose father is former soccer star Toninho Cerezo, described how she struggled with her identity but always felt feminine. Even in a previous career as a male model -- then called Leo -- casting directors often confused her with the female models.

"I had a big Afro similar to Michael Jackson's in his Jackson Five days," she told the magazine. "When I walked into a room for a casting, there would always be someone who would say: 'The girls' casting is that way!'"

Tisci first noticed Lea's "innate elegance" when he hired her as his personal assistant. "She's a true goddess!" he told the industry bible WWD. "She's always been very feminine -- super-fragile, very aristocratic."

While Lea, who is also studying veterinary medicine in Milan, may be hoping to eliminate confusion by becoming a woman, she told Italian Vanity Fair the transition to female has not been easy. She has faced taunts on the streets of Italy and her hormone treatment has her feeling "constantly premenstrual."

A transgender model in the world of high fashion may seem rare, but it's not new, according to Kelly Cutrone, owner of fashion PR firm People's Revolution and star of the Bravo reality series "Kell on Earth."

Read more about Lea. T here.

Lube Alert! Population Council Releases New Data on Safety of Lubes Used for Anal Sex

via AIDSmeds, by David Evans

A forthcoming research report suggests a number of personal lubricants can damage anal tissue cells and increase HIV replication, potentially heightening the risk of contracting HIV, notably if condoms aren’t used.

The “personal lubricant” market is a thriving one. One popular website sells 53 different brands, with many boasting several varieties. If you’d like one that tastes like fruit or chocolate, or adds the sensation of heat, you’ve got multiple options to choose from. The same goes for the degree of slipperiness, the type of sex you want to have, the ease of cleanup and, most important, condom compatibility.

What sexual accoutrement retailers can’t tell you is whether a lube will increase, decrease or have no effect on your chance of becoming infected with HIV if the condom breaks or you decide not to use a condom in the first place. Until recently, it wasn’t a question high on the list of researchers’ or manufacturers’ priorities—lubes are intended to keep condoms from tearing during sex, end of story. But for scientists at the Population Council, a New York City–based research organization at the forefront of HIV microbicide development efforts, the positive or negative effects of lubricants on HIV transmission has been a nagging issue for years.

New research results from the nonprofit organization suggest there may be reasons for concern. According to laboratory studies the group conducted—on schedule to be published in a forthcoming issue of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses and currently available online—a large number of popular lubes may actually make it easier for HIV to get past the body’s defenses, notably during anal sex without a condom. Even more alarming is the finding that four lubes in particular cause HIV to reproduce up to four times faster than it does in the absence of such products.

Read the rest.

Read the Q&A on Lube Safety produced by IRMA - International Rectal Microbicide Advocates.

PODCAST: LifeLube Helps Get Your Butt Out of the Sand

via Feast of Fun (one of the exclusive places LifeLube advertises, cuz they're worth it)

Your body is a magical wonderland waiting to be explored, but proceed with caution because risks may be lurking around the backside. You can’t just stick your butt in the sand and pretend there’s nothing behind there to deal with.

Today health advocate (and LifeLube minion) Jim Pickett joins us to answer your vital questions about your butt. Yes, your derriere, your bon bon, your gluteus maximus, because overcoming our bashfulness over the booty is key to gay men’s health.(And rectal microbicides too!)

Why do gay men enjoy anal sex? How do I know if my boyfriend is good for me? Are some types of lube safer than others? How do I keep my booty fresh and fabulous?

Plus we take a closer look at the Asset Based Lifestyle- the secret every gay man needs to know about focusing on what works in your life in order to bring about the change you need to shine.

And of all the hot hot hot news... Listen.

VIDEO: Fashion Stylist Antonio Vega Tells it RAW

Woof Wednesday Salute to Egypt