Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Rwanda Launches Campaign To Address Cross-Generational Sex
The Rwanda Ministry of Youth recently launched a six-month campaign aimed at reducing the trend of cross-generational sex, which some health officials say is contributing to the spread of HIV among young people in the country, the New Times/AllAfrica.com reports. Rwanda"s National Commission for the Fight Against AIDS, USAID and Population Services International launched the campaign urging youth to avoid having sex with older people. The minister of youth, Protais Mitali, said that all institutions in the country should help address the trend in order to curb the spread of HIV among young people. According to Anita Asiimwe, executive secretary of the commission, data show that Rwandan women ages 20 to 24 are five times more likely to be HIV-positive than men their age. She added that statistics indicate that one out of every 10 girls had her first sexual experience with a man 10 or more years older. She added, "Since older men are much more likely to be [HIV-positive] than their male counterparts, young girls appear to be getting infected by older men, rather than by boys of their age." Staci Leuschuer with PSI Rwanda said that there are lower rates of condom use among young people, noting that about 40% of young people report condom use and that about 24% to 25% of girls ages 15 to 24 are using condoms (Mutara, New Times/AllAfrica.com, 5/24).
generic viagra online
Nancy-Ann DeParle: Congress "Very Much On Track"
Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, predicted in an interview with Kaiser Health News that a comprehensive health care reform bill would reach President Obama by Thanksgiving, and that she hasn"t given "a moment"s thought" to accepting a scaled-back package.
News of the day
Compliance And Cost: Bitter Pills To Swallow In The Age Of Oral Chemotherapy
Though the growing shift toward oral chemotherapy agents offers cancer patients greater freedom and independence during their treatment, physicians say use of the new medications also poses more chances for patients to skip doses, miss prescription refills, and take their drugs in a dangerous way. An increasing number of cancer patients who receive chemotherapy now do so at home, with the click of a pill bottle each day rather than the drip of an IV medicine that must be delivered in a doctor"s office or hospital.
Health Insurance

Patients With Compulsive Hair Pulling Disorder Reported Feeling Much Improved After Taking Supplement

University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered that a common anti-oxidant, widely available as a health food supplement, may help stop the urges of those with trichotillomania, a disorder characterized by compulsive hair-pulling. Fifty people enrolled in a double-blind 12 week study; half were given N-Acetylcysteine, an amino acid commonly found in health food supplements. The average age of patients who enrolled was about 34, and most started pulling hair compulsively by the age of 12. Patients were given 1,200 mg of N-Acetylcysteine every day for six weeks. For the following six weeks, the dosage was increased to 2,400 mg per day. After nine weeks, those on supplement had significantly reduced hair-pulling. By the end of the 12 week study, 56 percent reported feeling much or very much improved, while only 16 percent on the placebo reported less pulling. The study is published in the July, 2009 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. "Trichotillomania is compulsive in the sense that people can"t control it. People feel unable to stop the behavior even though they know it is causing negative consequences," said Jon Grant, M.D., J.D., a University of Minnesota associate professor of psychiatry and principal investigator of the study. "Some people don"t even know they are doing it." Those who have trichotillomania compulsively or habitually pull their hair to the point of noticeable loss. It is most commonly associated with women, but men can also be affected, and pulling can occur anywhere on the body. Grant believes 2 to 4 percent of the general population is impacted by trichotillomania on some level. "These are people who have tried all kinds of things that have never worked," Grant said. "The reality is that if you pull hair and it is on a noticeable part of the body, people are really disabled by this. It"s not easy to go out in public if people are noticing your bald spots. Self esteem is a huge problem. This supplement may offer hope." The study is significant on another level because it"s one of the first studies of compulsive behaviors to look at lowering levels of glutamate - a chemical that triggers excitement - in the brain to curb harmful behavior rather than serotonin, a naturally occurring chemical most commonly linked to compulsive behavior. This supplement affects levels of glutamate in a specific area of the brain, making it easier for patients to put the breaks on their harmful behavior. For that reason, Grant believes glutamate modulators such as N-Acetylcysteine may be applicable to other disorders, addictions, and compulsive behaviors. The study is funded by The University of Minnesota Medical School. Nick Hanson University of Minnesota


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009