Fw: News & Views: Homophobia and HIV Risk; HIV and the Brain; Magic on The Announcement; and More

[Guest guest]

If you have trouble reading this e-mail, you can see the online version at: www.thebody.com/updates.html

February 23, 2012

Top Stories at TheBody.com

News & Views Library

Change/Update Subscription

Blog Central

HIV Treatment & Health Issues

HIV in the News

Opinions & Perspectives

Back to Basics

BLOG CENTRAL

Khafre Abif: Community or Chaos -- Roland , Rampant Homophobia and HIV Risk

"Homophobia represents a threat to public health in black America. The bullying, rejection and resulting low self-esteem and depression continues to fuel the epidemics of drug abuse and HIV in our community. There's no point in giving HIV prevention tools to someone who doesn't believe his or her life matters."

Rev. Andrena Ingram: I Get Tested Too!

"I can't believe how many years I have been doing this. I got tested once for HIV, and now I still get my blood tested every three months to see what the virus is doing in my body. ... The next visit, it is always stressful to sit in Lizzy's office and wait for her to read off my numbers."

Maloney: For Those Who Love and Have Loved

"You know that one box we all have with pictures, notes, etc. from our exes? Every couple years or so you'll open that box, because you remember how happy you were at that moment in time, and you need to read the notes to reassure yourself ... that you are still loveable and deserve love again."

How Can I Get My Dad to Start the HIV Treatment He Needs?

(A recent post from the "My Loved One Has HIV/AIDS" board)

"My dad was recently diagnosed with AIDS. He and my mom (who is negative) did tell myself and my siblings. We have all been supportive and have let him know that we are always there for him. He is very depressed and was supposed to start treatment two weeks ago and declined treatment. I am worried he is giving up and don't know what to do to help. I love him so much and he is so progressed that the docs say he only has a year at most if he doesn't start treatment. I know it is his choice, but am so, so broken hearted. What more can we be doing as his family to help him?"

-- lovingdaughter

Click here to join this discussion, or to start your own!

To do this, you'll need to register with TheBody.com's bulletin boards if you're a new user. Registration is quick and anonymous (all you need is an email address) -- click here to get started!

HIV TREATMENT & HEALTH ISSUES

A Day in the Life: off on Stopping Meds for Financial Reasons (Video)

"Why should I have to choose between groceries and my medication?" off asks. started taking HIV meds to protect her son while she was pregnant, but now she's in a position that all too many HIVers share: She can no longer afford to stay on treatment vital to her own health.

Good News About HIV and the Aging Brain

Despite how long HIV has been around, it's remained uncertain exactly how (and why) it affects the brain. As CATIE reports, recent research on HIV and the brain has led some experts in the field to wonder whether HIV-related brain deterioration can be held off indefinitely with effective HAART.

Outsmarting HIV With Healthy Eating

There's more to staying healthy when you're HIV positive than just taking your meds. In this Positively Aware article, expert Vergel talks about some basic nutritional steps you can take to improve metabolism, body shape and quality of life.

More Headlines on HIV Treatment and Health Issues:

WHO Affirms Safety of Contraceptives for Women Living With or at Risk for HIV (From the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Tenofovir Linked With Risk of Kidney Damage (From Positively Aware)

Fears About Sudden Death Risk of Some Protease Inhibitors Appear Overblown, Study Finds (From the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

New Protein Discovery Could Lead to New HIV Drugs (From Positively Aware)

Similar Efficacy and a Few Gender-Related Differences in Side Effects With Rilpivirine Versus Efavirenz at 96 Weeks (From HIV i-Base)

Detail from:

"Aluminum Foil #3," 1985

Jimmy DeSana

Visit the February 2012 Visual AIDS Web Gallery to view our latest collection of art by HIV-positive artists! This month's gallery, "This Belongs to Us," is curated by Haines.

HIV IN THE NEWS

Advocates Push for HIV Criminalization Reform in the Heartland

Advocates are fighting back against an Iowa HIV criminalization law that could result in a prison term of up to 25 years and a lifetime label of "sex offender." Even if they are on HIV meds and have an undetectable viral load, people can be found guilty if they have consensual sex without disclosing their HIV status.

ESPN Announces New Documentary About the Day Magic Disclosed His HIV Status

ESPN Films and NBA Entertainment announced the upcoming debut of the documentary The Announcement. The film will take viewers back to Nov. 7, 1991, the day that basketball great Earvin "Magic" disclosed to the world that he is HIV positive.

More News Headlines:

Outrage Over HIV-Positive Journalist's Dismissal and Deportation From Qatar (From PlusNews)

France: Untested Gay Man Found Criminally Liable for Two Previous Partners' HIV Acquisition (From Criminal HIV Transmission)

New Documentary About Blacks and AIDS Set to Premiere at International AIDS Conference (From "D.C. HIV/AIDS Examiner" on TheBody.com)

Illinois Senator Introduces Bill to Extend Lottery Game to Fund HIV/AIDS Programs (From Positively Aware)

International HIV/AIDS Alliance Releases Report Examining Potential Effects of Global Fund Shortfall (From the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)

Sue Saltmarsh (From Chicago, Ill.) on "The Health Cost Crisis? Who Cares?!"

"Right now, there's a disturbing amount of 'spin' about the sea changes supposedly coming from PPACA (the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act) being generated by respected AIDS organizations at the same time that Republicans in Congress and state legislatures are doing their best to repeal, dismantle, or prevent funding it. We need to wake up and get real. That 2014 expansion of Medicaid to "cover everybody" is never going to happen. And even if it happened the way it's supposed to, 23 million people would be left with no access to health care."

Read the rest of this comment and join the discussion on this article!

OPINIONS & PERSPECTIVES

Sexual Rights of HIV-Positive Transwomen

"I'm puzzled by the question of what the sexual rights of HIV-positive transgender women are," Dee Borrego writes in this article from U.S. Positive Women's Network. "Just because transwomen don't fit into culturally predefined standards for male or female expression or behavior doesn't mean that we lose the right to have an independent sexual identity."

How Does Poverty Fuel the African-American HIV Epidemic?

"People who live in poverty are more concerned with food and housing than condom negotiation and safe sex behaviors," writes Ingrid Floyd, the executive director of the HIV organization Iris House in New York City. "Let's be real, if I can't afford my next meal or next month's rent, do you think I'm going to make a big deal about using condoms?"

More Opinions & Perspectives:

Death by Denial: The Campaigners Who Continue to Deny HIV Causes AIDS (From The Guardian)

YouTube Video Highlights Stupid Things Gay Men Have Said About HIV (From gmfaTV)

Charm Offensive Is UNAIDS Chief's Strategy (From The New York Times)

California: An HIV/AIDS Support Group Allows Kids to Learn and Express Themselves Without Being Judged or Ridiculed (From the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

BACK TO BASICS

HIV and Pregnancy: Health Information for Patients

AIDSinfo recently updated its in-depth series of fact sheets and important information for HIV-positive women who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant. The series focuses on preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission and the safety of various HIV meds for the expectant mother and her child.

Six Tips for Sizing Up Web Health Sources

"On the Web we have access to more health information than we could ever use," Plews writes. "So how do we know we have the best information and that we can trust it?" In this checklist from the HIV organization CATIE, Plews outlines six key questions to ask yourself when assessing health information on the Internet.

Worried Your Spam Filter Might Trash Our Mailings?

TheBody.com's e-mail updates are especially prone to being caught up in spam filters, since our newsletters tend to refer frequently to sex, drugs, the human anatomy and so forth.

To make sure you never miss one of our mailings because anti-spam software labeled it as junk mail, add update@... to your address book, talk to the person who manages your e-mail security or check your anti-spam program's instructions for more information.

About This E-mail

This e-mail update has been sent to nelsonvergel@....

Want to change your subscription? Click here or send us a message at updates@....

Missed an update? Our archive of past updates will keep you in the loop.

Have any other questions or comments, and don't want to send an e-mail? Feel free to snail-mail us at:

TheBody.com's E-Mail Updates

Remedy Health Media, LLC

250 West 57th Street

New York, NY 10107

Young AIDS Activists! Apply for C2EA's 2012 Youth Action Institute -- June 10 - 16, 2012

Ohioans Living With HIV/AIDS Need Our Help!

Activists Launch New Survey to Help Speed HIV Cure Research

Demand Hershey Reverse Decision on HIV+ Student and Dismiss School Officials

Count HIV+ Women In! PWN Launches National Campaign on World AIDS Day

African American HIV University Community Mobilization College: Apply Today!