Health Tips and News Updates

Men Health, Circumcision Study Supports HIV Theory  hiv-treatment  A new study offers support for the theory to the idea that circumcisions reduce a man's risk of HIV infection by at least half. The study, conducted by Dr. Cindy Liu and her colleagues in a paper published in the journal mBio, offers support for the theory that removing the foreskin deprives troublesome bacteria of a place to live, leaving the immune system in much better shape to keep the human immunodeficiency virus at bay. Participants in the study ranged in age from 15 to 49. There were 5,000 Ugandan males who volunteered for the study, which showed that on average, there was an 81% reduction in bacteria in the circumcised men one year after surgery, the researchers reported. Some of the biggest drops were recorded for anaerobic bacteria. The men in the uncircumcised control group also experienced a reduction in bacteria, but not to the degree that the circumcised men did. This was probably bec...

 Exclusive Breastfeeding For More Than 4 Months Lowers Mother-To-Infant HIV Risk. Breast Feeding HIV-infected mothers who exclusively breastfeed for more than the first four months of life have a lower risk of transmitting the virus to their babies through their milk. The finding came from scientists at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. "Women who stopped breast feeding earlier than four months had the highest concentrations of HIV in their breast milk, and those who continued to breastfeed, but not exclusively, had concentration levels in-between the two practices." Babies generally have a 10% to 15% risk of receiving the virus through their HIV-infected mother's breast milk. However, since infectious diseases are widespread and often potentially fatal in sub-Saharan Africa, breastfeeding is crucial for keeping infants healthy. Several critical components that help developin...