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HIV Testing Can Save Thousands Of Lives, CDC Official Says
"Although HIV/AIDS continues to pose a serious threat to the nation"s health, HIV testing is a powerful weapon against the disease," Kevin Fenton, director of CDC"s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, writes in a CNN.com opinion piece. Fenton writes that every 9 1/2 minutes someone in the U.S. becomes infected with HIV. "That"s 56,000 people every year," Fenton writes, adding, "But there"s something we can all do to help protect ourselves and our partners from this disease - get tested for HIV." He continues, "By increasing the number of people who know their HIV status, we can decrease the number of new HIV infections, and help save thousands of lives" (Fenton, CNN.com, 6/26).
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Test Detects Molecular Marker Of Aging In Humans
In 2004, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center announced a crucial discovery in the understanding of cellular aging. They found that as cells and tissues age, the expression of a key protein, called p16INK4a, dramatically increases in most mammalian organs. Because p16INK4a is a tumor suppressor protein, cancer researchers are interested in its role in cellular aging and cancer prevention.
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Washington, D.C., Church Addresses HIV Stigma, Teaches Safe Sex To Black, Gay Congregation
The Washington Post on Sunday featured Washington D.C.,-based Inner Light Ministries, a 16-year-old black community church with about 100 members, where many go "to share their experience of being black and gay, living and loving in a city where HIV and AIDS lurk in epidemic proportions. ò€¦" Some members of the congregation, as well as four of its leaders including Bishop Rainey Cheeks are HIV-positive. Cheeks teaches safe sex as a part of his sermons and the church provides condoms to its members. The article also discusses the stigma associated with HIV among gay black men. "Some men are reluctant to reveal their health status to possible partners for fear of being rejected," according to the Post. "That attitude, Cheeks said, is part of why gay black men in the District are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. And why he has to keep preaching the message of safe sex," the article states (Fears, 7/26).
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Linking Schizophrenia To Specific DNA Region With The Help Of LSUHSC Research

For the first time, an international group of researchers has found genetic evidence linking schizophrenia to a specific region of DNA - on chromosome 6. This is the same area where key genes for immune function are located. The LSUHSC research team was led by Nancy Buccola, APRN, PMH CNS-BC, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, who also coordinated the ten clinical sites. The work, Common variants on chromosome 6p22.1 are associated with schizophrenia, along with two related papers, is published in the July 1, 2009 issue of the journal Nature. The researchers recruited study participants, people with diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, plus controls from the general population. They analyzed data collected and also conducted a meta-analysis of data from the Molecular Genetics of Schizophrenia, International Schizophrenia Consortium and SGENE data sets - thousands of DNA samples. While a single gene does not appear to be the of the development of schizophrenia, the researchers found variations on chromosome 6 that appear to be associated with higher risk. These variations were found most often in people with schizophrenia, leading the scientists to believe that these common variations contribute to the development of schizophrenia. This area of chromosome 6, in the same area where genes important to the immune system function, provokes questions about whether or not treatments for autoimmune disorders might also be helpful in treating schizophrenia. "Schizophrenia can be a devastating disease, and while treatments are improving, there are still people who do not respond or only partially respond," notes Buccola, principal investigator on the LSUHSC study. "Understanding the underpinnings of this illness will open doors to new and potentially better treatments." According to the National Institute of Mental Health, schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that affects about 1.1 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. People with schizophrenia sometimes hear voices others don"t hear, believe that others are broadcasting their thoughts to the world, or become convinced that others are plotting to harm them. These experiences can make them fearful and withdrawn and cause difficulties when they try to have relationships with others. The LSUHSC research team, which included LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Margaret Baier, MD, and Erich Conrad, MD, LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, as well as Sherri Chalona, completed the work while evacuated from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to LSUHSC"s temporary campuses in Baton Rouge. The research was supported by funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. "Scientists have been looking for schizophrenia susceptibility genes since the early 1900s," says Buccola. "This study shows that these genes can be found and sets the stage for future research." Article: "Cognitive Functioning in Alzheimer"s and Vascular Dementia: A Meta-Analysis," J. L. Mathias, PhD, and J. Burke, M.Psych.(Clinical), University of Adelaide; Neuropsychology, Vol. 23, No. 4. Leslie Capo Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center


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