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Nassau, The Bahamas: The 2011 Caribbean HIV Conference: Strengthening Evidence To Achieve Sustainable Action will sharpen the focus on HIV in the Caribbean, the region with the world's second highest adult HIV prevalence. In 2008, approximately 240,000 people in the region were living with HIV, 20,000 new infections occurred, and 12,000 deaths resulted from AIDS-related illnesses (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Caribbean Factsheet: Latest epidemiological trends, 2009). Over the course of November 18-21, 2011, a wide range of Caribbean HIV stakeholders will assemble again to build on earlier successes and to demonstrate the synergistic results of regional cooperation and collaboration. The conference is expected to attract 2,000-2,500 participants and will highlight scientific research findings, implementation lessons learned, skills-building tools, and networking opportunities. The audience for the conference includes individuals living or working in the Caribbean, such as: people living with HIV members of vulnerable groups researchers and clinicians allied health care professionals caregivers patient advocates advocates for social justice and health parity members of community- and faith-based organizations regional and international governmental representatives policy analysts and decisionmakers civil society and regional media representatives The conference is sponsored by the Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the University of Puerto Rico, and conference co-chairs are Professor Daisy M. Gely, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico; Dr. Perry Gomez, Director, Bahamian National AIDS Programme, Princess Margaret Hospital; and Dr. Jack Whitescarver, NIH Associate Director for AIDS Research and Director, Office of AIDS Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Follow @YardFlex

Can you remember the last time you couldn't wait to get home and shimmy between the sheets? Was it last week, last month? Last... year? We get it: Sometimes it's easier to give into your excuses -- I'm too tired, let's just do it this weekend, it doesn't even feel that great to begin with. But we don't need to tell you that sex is essential for a healthy marriage -- and also a healthy you. Research shows that a happy sex life can stamp out stress, reduce heart disease risk, and even improve immunity. But enough of the non-sexy talk. Try just one of these libido-lifting tricks today. You can thank us later.

1. Take a lunchtime stroll

Research shows that the more fit you are, the more sex you'll crave. In a study of women ages 45 to 55, sexual satisfaction correlated directly to fitness. "The less exercise they got, the lower their desire and sexual satisfaction," says study author Judith R. Gerber, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

2. Book a rubdown

A pampering massage not only relieves stress... but "the skin-on-skin contact stimulates the sex hormone oxytocin," says Ian Kerner, PhD, author of "She Comes First."

"The more oxytocin released, the more desire a woman will feel."

3. Read something hot

Skip the evening news and flip through a sexy novel instead.

Erotic literature "can quickly jump-start arousal," says Carol Queen, PhD, a sexologist who works at Good Vibrations, a female-owned sex shop in San Francisco. She recommends the Herotica series, written by women, and The Diary of Anais Nin.

"Perfect for anyone who's not ready to get into bold four-letter words," says Queen.

4. Get really relaxed

Just a few meditation sessions can jack up your sex drive and speed arousal.

Researchers at Canada's University of British Columbia and Israel's Hadassah University Hospital measured reactions among 24 women watching an erotic film, then again after the subjects had attended three mindfulness meditation courses. Watching the same movie, the women were markedly more turned on than during the first viewing. "Mindfulness can directly change brain processing and allow women to experience arousal more acutely," says study co-author Lori Brotto, PhD.

 

5. Pop a multi

Too tired to feel sexy? It may be a diet deficiency.

Two overlooked nutrients may be to blame for sex-derailing exhaustion. "Low folate levels can make you feel tired, with no energy for sex," says Martha Morris, PhD, a Tufts University researcher; national surveys show that many women aren't getting enough of this B vitamin. And low iron can deplete brain neurotransmitters, which can lead to lethargy, says Swiss researcher Bernard Favrat, MD. The fix for both problems: a daily multivitamin with 100% of the DV for iron (18 mg) and folate (400 mcg).

6. Break a sweat beforehand

Exercise primes your body to get in the mood.

For some people, exercising too close to bedtime makes it hard for them to sleep. Take advantage of that found energy. "After 35 to 40 minutes of moderate exercise, everything in your body is going right," says Janet Hyde, PhD, a professor of psychology and women's studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Your blood is circulating, your nervous system is firing, so scheduling sex right after you exercise makes for good sex."

 

7. Smell your way sexy

These surprising scents will move you from the kitchen to the bedroom.

Cucumber, licorice, and baby powder have been shown to turn women on, increasing vaginal blood flow by 13 percent. Pumpkin pie and lavender increase blood flow by 11 percent. Try this: To cap a romantic dinner, serve pumpkin pie and keep a cucumber-scented sachet next to your pillow.

8. Ask about those little blue pills

The same meds that put your partner in the mood may also give your sex drive a lift Pills like Viagra increase blood flow to the genital area -- something women need for arousal just as much as men do. Though the FDA hasn't approved the pill for women, doctors can prescribe it off-label. Ask your healthcare provider if these meds might help you too.

9. Check your medicine cabinet

Any antidepressants in there? They could be stealing your orgasm. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of drugs that includes Prozac and Zoloft, "are probably the number one cause of anorgasmia [inability to have an orgasm]," says Andrew Goldstein, MD, of the Sexual Wellness Center in Annapolis, MD. They short-circuit your pleasure center by decreasing levels of the brain chemical dopamine (one of the sexual triumvirate, along with estrogen and testosterone).

10. Patch it up

If your sex drive has cooled down -- because of hormone abnormalities or surgery -- a testosterone patch may help rekindle your fire.

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There has been an outbreak of Chicken Pox at the Constant Spring Police lock up in St. Andrew.

Officials of the Public Health Department ordered a quarantine of the lock up, after five prisoners were diagnosed with the virus on Wednesday.

The lock up has been placed under quarantine for the next two weeks.

The Police High Command has ordered that no new prisoners should be taken to the lock up and those currently there should remain until the quarantine is lifted.

The High Command has ordered that the prisoners with the virus be isolated and that protective gear be provided for police personnel who work in the cells.

Among the 80 prisoners being housed in the lock-up is Garnett Reid, Jamaica Labour Party caretaker.

Chicken Pox is a highly contagious illness caused by primary infection with the varicella zoster virus.

It usually starts as a vesicular skin rash mainly on the body and head, which becomes itchy with raw pock marks that normally heal without scarring for some persons.

 

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Doctors of the University of Texas Medical School in Houston claim to have found an "innovative way to kill the (HIV) virus."

Drs. Sudhir Paul and Miguel Escobar say that they are not talking about suppressing HIV, but destroying it permanently.

Dr. Paul said that they have "...discovered the weak spot of HIV," - a key protein in HIV's structure which does not mutate. He calls it the Achilles heel, which they will attack using a treatment called abzyme.

The theory that this treatment could be used to control the disease for people with HIV and prevent infection for those at risk has already passed lab and animal testing. However, extensive funding is required to launch the human trials as clinical testing is expensive.

Dr. Paul calls his theory "...the holy grail of HIV research..."

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The Caribbean Launch of the UNAIDS Global 2008 report revealed that last year an estimated 23,000 - 270,000 persons were living with HIV, while an estimated 20,000 - 25,000 were newly infected, while 14,000 have died of illnesses related to AIDS. However, the spread of the illness has stabilized, while the numbers have declined in a few urban areas. This is most evident in the Dominican Republic and Haiti where the epidemic is most rampant. An estimated 30,000 people with HIV have received antiretroviral treatment, which is a 50 percent increase since 2006.

Edwin Carrington, Secretary General of CARICOM, said that the Caribbean is the only region in the world which has built strong partnerships against the epidemic, in the form of Pan Caribbean Partnerships against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP).

AIDS still remains one of the leading sources of death among the 25 - 44 age group in the Caribbean, but with continued scaling of the antiretroviral treatment, the number of persons with HIV progressing to AIDS could be reduced.

UNAIDS said that the main cause of HIV transmission in the Caribbean remains unprotected heterosexual sex, but "unprotected sex between men is also a significant factor..."

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Florida HIV/AIDS Advocacy Groups, Health Departments To Increase HIV Awareness Among Minorities Ahead of National HIV Testing Day.

HIV/AIDS advocacy groups and health departments in Florida are planning several events aimed at increasing awareness about HIV among minorities ahead of National HIV Testing Day, which is scheduled for Friday, the Naples Daily News reports.

According to the Daily News, Florida in 2006 reported the third-highest AIDS rate for blacks and fourth-highest rate for Hispanics nationwide, as well as the highest rate for whites. Amalia Zamot, regional minority HIV/AIDS coordinator for the Florida Department of Health, said that there is a "general disproportion" in HIV/AIDS rates among white and minority communities in the area. She added that the disparity is especially true for the area's black community, in which one in every 72 people is living with HIV/AIDS.

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By: Janice Dayle

Are you sick of hearing about especially youth who end up HIV positive because "They had no clue?" Are you lyrically fit and ready for a challenge?

Then get out your writing tools and carve out a good 60 second rhyme to express the importance of getting tested for HIV. Hip-hop Grammy winning artist Common has collaborated with It's Your (Sex) Life, a public information partnership between the Kaiser Family Foundation and MTV, and the Common Ground Foundation, with support from Youth Speaks, to launch: "A Minute," a new lyrics contest to encourage young people to get tested for HIV.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends routine HIV screening for all adults and adolescents (ages 13-64) in the United States. Through this new joint initiative, Common, MTV and Kaiser are encouraging young people to take a minute to inform themselves and others about HIV testing.

CDC estimates that in the United States 1 in 4 people do not know that they are HIV positive.

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UNAIDS – The joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS & WHO - The World Health Organization - issued the following statement following a Swiss medical journal bulletin that negates the high possibility of HIV transmission under certain circumstances. YardFlex will follow up with more on the Swiss research and their controversial announcement.

Antiretroviral therapy and sexual transmission of HIV

Geneva, 1 February 2008 - Following the recent publication of an article on Antiretroviral Treatment (medicines taken by people living with HIV that can reduce the amount of the virus in the blood to the point that the virus becomes undetectable) and sexual transmission of HIV in the Swiss medical journal 'Bulletin des médecins suisses', UNAIDS and WHO reiterate the importance of a comprehensive approach to HIV prevention including correct and consistent use of condoms.

The article, published by Switzerland's Federal AIDS Commission (La Commission fédérale pour les problèmes liés au Sida), states that seropositive (HIV Positive) individuals do not risk transmitting HIV to a seronegative (HIV Negative) partner under the following conditions:

The seropositive partner has to have had undetectable HIV in the blood for at least 6 months, there must be strict with adherence to his/her antiretroviral regimen, and he/she must be free of any other sexually transmitted infections.

In the article the Commission states that although available medical and biological evidence does not rule out the possibility of HIV transmission they feel that there is nonetheless enough information to support its statement.

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By: Dr. S. Lawson MD and Dr. H. Boothe PharmD

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic illness that requires continuing medical care and patient self-management education, to prevent acute complications and to reduce the risk of long-term complications. The disease is characterized by excess glucose in the blood that leads to excessive urination and results from inadequate production and or utilization of insulin.

• The different types of diabetes include Type 1, Type 2, Gestational (GDM), and Pre-diabetes.

• Diabetes not only complicates every other disease condition, it can precipitate other diseases.

• 171 million world-wide suffer from diabetes. One in 13 people in the USA have diabetes.

• In the year 2005 a total of 20.8 million have diabetes, of these 6.2 million are undiagnosed. 80% - 90% of the diagnosed are obese when diagnosed.

• It reduces life expectancy by 5 to 10 years.

• Diabetes is associated with obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and an increase in the elderly population.

• The Hispanic, African American and Aboriginal population (with high numbers of poor people with poor diets and inadequate medical attention) are at increased risk to develop diabetes than the rest of the population.

• It is the number 6 leading cause of death in the USA.

• Individuals with diabetes have a 2-4 times the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

• It is the leading cause of kidney failure, blindness, and non-traumatic amputation.

• Prediabetes is characterized by insulin resistance and a compensatory increase in blood glucose (hyperinsulinemia).

Approximately 1.2 million are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes mellitus.These numbers will double by the year 2030.

• Type 1 diabetes (results from beta-cell destruction, usually leading to absolute insulin deficiency, it is of autoimmune origin that occurs in the adolescence period of life, usually before the age of 30. Type 1 diabetes presents with sudden onset weight loss, fatigue, irritability and was previously called insulin dependent diabetes.

• Type 2 diabetes (results from a progressive insulin secretory defect on the background of insulin resistance, and is caused by inadequate insulin production by the beta cells in the pancreas, defective insulin, or resistance to insulin function at the insulin cell receptors. When insulin binds to its receptor on cell membrane, it allows glucose to enter the cell (i.e. muscle, liver, and fat cells); this is like the key that opens the lock to let glucose into the cell. When glucose is unable to leave the circulation, the blood glucose level rises above optimum level resulting in organ damage.

• Insulin, glucagons, adiponectin, amylin are hormones involved in glucose regulation. Glucagon accelerates the conversion of glycogen in the liver (and promotes the formation of glucose from lactic acid and certain amino acids).

• Insulin stimulates the release of glucose from the liver into the blood. And counteracts the action of glucagons by transporting glucose into cells. Insulin promotes the formation of fatty acids, increases the storage of glycogen, protein synthesis and DNA replication. Amylin is a hormone that acts like insulin.

• Human growth hormone, neurotransmitters, and regulatory peptides also play a role in glucose metabolism.

• In obese individuals, there is abnormal insulin activity (insulin resistance) at the muscles insulin receptors (sites on the muscle cells where insulin acts to pull glucose out of the blood into the cells).

• Cells use glucose as energy and when you have reduced production of insulin or the insulin is not working right glucose increases in the blood. If the cells don’t receive adequate supply of energy this sends message to the brain that results in increased hunger, at the same time, the blood becomes hyperosmolar( too thick) and absorbs water from tissue, this results in dehydration and increased thirst.

• Excess blood glucose destroys the kidney's filtering capability which results in excessive glucose and protein in the urine causing increased urination.

• In type1 diabetes there is a total destruction of the insulin producing cells by antibodies (an autoimmune dysfunction).

• Viral infection of the pancreas is implicated in this destructive mechanism.

• Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) requires insulin. Without insulin the body has to get its energy from fats. This results in Diabetic keto Acidosis (DKA) which leads to metabolic abnormalities. Treatment is Intravenous insulin and glucose. Type 1 diabetes is a result of the complete absence of insulin production in the pancreas, of viral etiology, genetic factors, presence of ketones in the blood (ketoacidosis), sudden onset and usually presents before age 30. These individuals with Type 1 diabetes usually have lean body composition. The diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes is made by detecting of antibodies and C-peptides in the blood.

These individuals usually do not have a family history of diabetes.
• Type2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) frequently presents with poor wound healing, blurry vision, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, recurring skin and gum infections, vaginal yeast infection, and urinary tract infection. Factors that predispose people to developing T2MD include obesity (waist to hip ratio) fetal malnutrition, gestational diabetes, children born prematurely, a positive family history of T2DM, cigarette smoking, hypothyroidism, trans fat, saturated fats, endothelial dysfunction, high levels of testosterones in women, decrease levels of sex hormones binding protein in men, HIV/AIDS.

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