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Seven Tips for Men's Health and Safety
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have some useful men's health tips for the summer months.
Practice Water Safety - In 2004, men accounted for 78% of accidental drowning deaths. Learn how to swim, and never swim alone. Also, don't mix alcohol and boating.
Protect your skin - Skin cancer effects men as well as women, so most should consider wearing sunscreen with a SPF factor of 15 or more. (Read more about Seven Tips for Men's Health and Safety)
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Emergency Rooms and STDs
A new medical study raises an important question: should anyone who is seen in an emergency room be automatically screened and treated for other essential problems and conditions that in the end affect society as a whole—such as sexually transmitted illnesses?
Some experts are saying a visit to the emergency room should mean much more to many patients besides ice, ace wraps, and sutures.
“Unfortunately without a primary care physician they are missing out on a lot of important services,” says second-year pediatric resident Dr. David Kessler and supervising physician Dr. Karin Sadow at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
They recognized that once a patient is finally seeing a doctor in the E.R., for whatever reason, while it’s certainly not an ideal or inexpensive place to have a patient visit, at least they’re there.
And maybe, screening for other health issues that are costly to society as a whole makes sense.
The researchers had young males coming in for any reason, complete an anonymous questionnaire on sexual behavior.
They also performed urine-screening tests for gonorrhea and Chlamydia.
They found a high frequency of high-risk sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted illness among those who use the E.R. as their only means of health care, and did not go to a regular doctor--like Knemal Moore, who doesn'’t have a doctor, came in for a sore throat and didn’'t know he was, by chance, also carrying a sexually transmitted illness. (Read more about Emergency Rooms and STDs)
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Oral HIV Test Failure
There are concerns tonight surrounding a widely used HIV test’s accuracy. There are reports it incorrectly diagnoses many as having HIV, when they in fact don’t.
“With something like 40,000 new infections in the United States every year, and almost a third of those people that are infected not knowing their HIV status it is really important for us to reach those people that are not testing,” argues Drew De Los Reyes of Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York.
Part of the problem is, the HIV test is a scary, nerve-wracking test to take. (Read more about Oral HIV Test Failure)
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NATIONAL HIV TESTING DAY
Have you every wondered or worried if you should be getting an HIV test?
This coming Monday is National HIV Testing Day. It’s a day when everyone should stop and consider getting an HIV test.
This is an annual event put on by the National Association of People with Aids. Its official intent is to encourage at-risk individuals to get voluntary HIV counseling and testing. (Read more about NATIONAL HIV TESTING DAY)
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HIV GEL SPECIAL REPORT
In recent years the scientific community has made big strides in the treatment of AIDS, meeting with considerable success in holding off progression of the disease. Now some researchers are focusing their fight on HIV prevention.
As the fight against AIDS rages on, on many fronts worldwide, it may be making headway in a laboratory in New York City. (Read more about HIV GEL SPECIAL REPORT)
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AIDS STRAIN CONCERN
Concern about the case of the highly resistant aids strain has not abated. In fact, there are growing numbers of reports around the country that this might not be the only case.
Still, there are many questions and unresolved issues.
The first case in New York is of a man, whose identity is being withheld, is in his mid-40s and admitted to taking part in unprotected anal intercourse with multiple…literally hundreds of sex partners, often times while high on crystal methamphetamine. The case progressed rapidly, which is what particularly concerns New York health officials (Read more about AIDS STRAIN CONCERN)
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RESISTANT HIV STRAIN
Health officials remain concerned tonight over the case reported in New York City of a man who has a rapidly progressive case of AIDS that is also resistant to multiple medications.
Is this cause for alarm? (Read more about RESISTANT HIV STRAIN)
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HIV TESTING
There is a debate on about whether it would be worthwhile to carry out early HIV testing on large sections of the population. Should our entire population get routine AIDS testing, rather than targeting those groups at high risk? There is new evidence tonight that says we should promote early HIV testing, and that it could have important public health ramifications.
Almost a third of Americans infected with HIV don’t know it.
Yet, today, it’s easy to conduct early HIV tests that can detect the virus accurately. Currently in the United States, diagnosis of AIDS usually occurs at a more advanced stage of the disease, when the patient comes in with a serious illness due to the HIV virus. Early screening would help patients get access to care before they get severely ill, and according to this study, would prolong life (Read more about HIV TESTING)
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HIV
The virus that causes aids is called HIV. Once it end on a person's blood stream, the aids HIV virus attaches itself to the surface of the active T-cells, then inserts its own genetic information inside of that nucleus. (Read more about HIV)
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Aids Vaccine
The first experimental vaccine against the aids virus has been approved for test among humans. However, it combats the A strain of the virus which predominates only in Africa. (Read more about Aids Vaccine)
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