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U=U  [message #75952] Sat, 28 September 2019 02:03 Go to next message
arich is currently offline  arich

Really getting into it
Location: Seaofstars
Registered: August 2003
Messages: 563



Just a bit curious...

I'm a member of a community advisory board for a HIV clinical trial unit, and was wondering how many of you are aware of U=U?



Re: U=U  [message #75954 is a reply to message #75952] Sat, 28 September 2019 07:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



I guess you need answers.  I can say I have not.  Would you like me to create a simple poll/surveyon the site for it? If so please tell me the questions you woudl like to ask



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: U=U  [message #75961 is a reply to message #75954] Mon, 30 September 2019 11:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
arich is currently offline  arich

Really getting into it
Location: Seaofstars
Registered: August 2003
Messages: 563



No, but thank you.

What I would like to do, with your permission, is to disseminate some of the latest information about infection rates and new drug treatments and vaccine trials for HIV/AIDS, on your forum.

We know so much more now, and so much has happened in the years since I was last here. 

Basically, the pandemic could end today... But that is not happening. 

[Updated on: Mon, 30 September 2019 11:27]

Re: U=U  [message #75962 is a reply to message #75961] Mon, 30 September 2019 12:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



With pleasure. Also please consider giving me the material in a form to add to the site, perhaps in HIV Risk Factors, perhaps in its own page

[Updated on: Mon, 30 September 2019 12:09]




Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: U=U  [message #75963 is a reply to message #75962] Mon, 30 September 2019 16:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
arich is currently offline  arich

Really getting into it
Location: Seaofstars
Registered: August 2003
Messages: 563



Yeah, let me know what form you'd like that in.

Re: U=U  [message #75964 is a reply to message #75963] Mon, 30 September 2019 18:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



A word or open office document would be fine as a place to start. If I need anything specialist I'll brief you. I support all useful avenues to rid us of the scourge of HIV.

I've looked up U=U and realised that I 'knew' this already, though knowing isn't the same as being aware. The Lancet is a substantially authoritative source, I think.

I am now aware

[Updated on: Mon, 30 September 2019 19:04]




Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: U=U  [message #75966 is a reply to message #75952] Wed, 02 October 2019 19:08 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NW is currently offline  NW

On fire!
Location: Worcester, England
Registered: January 2005
Messages: 1558



I'm very aware of U+U - both as a campaign/slogan, and as a reality.

Hardly surprising, as I've followed scientific progress on HIV/AIDS since 1983 (back when the virus was labelled HTLV-iii). Maurice (my last partner) was HIV+ (I'm not), so I had particular reason to follow recent developments closely, until he died about 18 months ago.



"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
Re: U=U  [message #75967 is a reply to message #75966] Wed, 02 October 2019 21:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
arich is currently offline  arich

Really getting into it
Location: Seaofstars
Registered: August 2003
Messages: 563



I'm sorry to here that,NW. My condolences. It's been a complicated few decades.

I personally feel HIV is no longer a scourge, unless you live in Africa.. But, I have to say there are a few places in the, U.S., I live in one where the infection rates are incredible high. Until this year I hadn't known that, and it astounded me when I found out, I live in a city with two of the top (both in the top 10)Teaching Hospitals in the U.S.. All things being considered, I am sad to say it's African American MSM. This should not be happening! Not here, not now...

Sighs, I did a vid today for my local Community advisory board.The upshot is that we have the means at this point in time, a real paradigm shift in the battle against HIV... 

I'd really like to hear how many have heard of, "Prep?" You can protect your selves from ever being infected....! Right now it's a pill a day and there are programs where I live that will pay for the meds even copays. It looks like it may soon be a shot once a month.

In the near future I'll have information on Vaccine trials that are going on right now and some that are in the pipe line, that I'm not sure I can talk about yet.

One trial I wanted to take part in involved gene splicing. Blood platelets were too low😕

If you want a page dedicated to this subject. Might call it "World AIDS day year one. The end."

It's still going to be a few years, but the light is clearly at the end of the tunnel.

[Updated on: Wed, 02 October 2019 21:17]

Re: U=U  [message #75968 is a reply to message #75967] Thu, 03 October 2019 06:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



I have heard of Prep. I am not quite sure what it is, but I have heard of it and of discussions surrounding it.

A dedicated page can be called whatever we want. You write it, I'll host it. Any picture elements need to be licenced either to us or be genuinely Public Domain



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: U=U  [message #75970 is a reply to message #75968] Fri, 04 October 2019 18:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
arich is currently offline  arich

Really getting into it
Location: Seaofstars
Registered: August 2003
Messages: 563



I'm going to go ahead and paste this little comment from the web:

"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved PrEP for high-risk groups on July 16, 2012. But despite Truvada's awesome potential to help send into retreat the scourge of HIV among MSM in particular--an estimated 70 percent of all new infections occur among this population--PrEP hit the scene with barely a whisper. July 13, 2017."

This very subject came up at our Aug CAB meeting. I ask how we could address the infection levels in our county, it just didn't make sense to me... My county is in the top 3 of new infections nation wide. How?

A quote from a move called "Cool Hand Luke;" "We have had a failure to communicate."

This is why I'm here, and well, I kinda missed the place. And I have come to think that U=U is good enough. If people have questions I will do my best to get the best possible answers .

Thing is, I would like this to be a discussion. From my POV I discuss HIV all the time, sort of a geek about it. Then I,m slapped in the face, with the real world giving me a wake up call. What we have been doing has not been enough. Been paying too much attention to the virology and not enough to the epidemiology.

I have a small pebble and this is a great pond in to which to drop it. I just ask that join this discussion, be a pebble.

I'm just a voice... But my week little voice reaches people in the main flow, yours can and should as well.

LOL think of it this way; We are the human body's immune system. In a way the human consciousness needs to be reinfected. Just a thought🧐I'm trying, though I have to take care cuz when I do think people say it makes me look like I'm having a BM...😬

Now more than ever, be a pebble. LOL I know there a bunch of you out there, you don' post... That's okay, you don't have to out your self. Be an advocate, be informed. Time for a species defragmentation.

As I get info I will be posting it here. I have to be careful as I find myself with glazed faraway look in my eyes with a lot of this stuff... Please be patient.




.

[Updated on: Fri, 04 October 2019 19:18]

Re: U=U  [message #75971 is a reply to message #75970] Fri, 04 October 2019 19:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



Two good things here.

One: You have a real mission

Two: You are back here and using the place exactly as it shoudl be used

Don't worry about the BM!  We have a cleaner!!!




Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: U=U  [message #76084 is a reply to message #75952] Wed, 23 October 2019 19:51 Go to previous messageGo to next message
arich is currently offline  arich

Really getting into it
Location: Seaofstars
Registered: August 2003
Messages: 563



Hey all

Wanted to come back and pass on some interesting information about PrEP.

The first drug approved as a pre exposure prophylaxis was truvada, there is a new drug out called Discovy, both are made by, Gilead.

Here's my POV take it or leave.

The patent is about to or has run out on Truvada... How convenient they come out in such timely manner, Discovy.

They will tell you that in some rare cases truvada can cause liver damage, I am well aware of this and know it indeed can be harmful. What can I say I was on truvada for about a decade, LOL I think. And I very much to try/need to be aware of what I'm doing to my self... Or allowing to be done.

FDA not long ago approved Discovy, but only for MSM. Seems they only did the trials on men, no women.... They did try to get it approved for everyone but the panel of Dr's wouldn't go for it. Can we say yay?

Something you might watch for. I think they will push the liver damage danger with truvada. As I said on rare occasion truvada can cause damage, but if at this stage, anyone wanting to use either of these drugs will be monitored, and if they find adverse reaction from truvada they will take you off and the damage would reverse...

The thing they're not telling all those gay men who are going to want to take PrEP, is that Discovy causes weight gain.😬 Gona try and get some statistics but being a new drug... All we really have at this point is what we know from the trials.... Probably just a few thousand at this point? I need to check exact numbers.

It disturbs me that Gilead doesn't seem to be being totally transparent. What really chaps my a** is that they tried to get it approved for women based statistical analysis rather than actual trials...

A case of bottom of the bottom line.

If anyone ever has any questions, I'll be happy to try and get the latest, and hopefully, as in unbiased info as I can. Any bias will be on my part.

Peace





Re: U=U  [message #76087 is a reply to message #76084] Wed, 23 October 2019 23:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Camy is currently offline  Camy

Likes it here
Location: UK
Registered: February 2008
Messages: 116



Many thanks. I'd never heard of U=U or PrEP until now.

I've put up a topic in the News forum at www.awesomedude.com ( https://forums.awesomedude.com/topic/11153-uu-prep/ )



"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: Music and Cats." - Albert Schweitzer

It's like Mad Max out here: guys doing guys, girls doing girls, girls turning into guys and doing girls that used to do girls and guys!
- from Alex Truelove
Re: U=U  [message #76089 is a reply to message #76084] Thu, 24 October 2019 05:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
pandareader is currently offline  pandareader

Toe is in the water

Registered: October 2019
Messages: 51



Hi, thanks for the post Arich. I think it´s really important that you´re disseminating information about Undetectable = Untransmittable and about PrEP.
I´d like to add a few thoughts about that if you don´t mind... I know Timmy linked the study from Lancet but just in case

U = U (Undetectable = Untransmittable)
Studies with couples in which one of the partners had HIV and the other didn´t showed that people living with HIV who are taking effective antiretroviral therapy and have undetectable levels of viral load did not transmit HIV sexually.

PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) 
PrEP is the use of antiretroviral drugs for people that are HIV negative to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV infection. It usually is done with the daily use of a combination of two HIV drugs in one pill. There were a few recent studies with different regimens of treatment and nowadays there´s the discussion of "on-demand" PrEP (use of a different dose before sex and then 24 and 48h after). I think Canada, Australia have already included this possibility of use for men who have sex with men but it´s not FDA approved yet. I´m not sure about Europe.     
In England I found places that have PrEP available here: https://www.prepimpacttrial.org.uk/

I think it´s really important to raise awareness about PrEP and how it can be an effective strategy to lower the risk of HIV infection. I also think it´s important to talk to a healthcare professional to discuss the pros and cons of starting PrEP (or even the possibility of different ways of taking PrEP). I´d just like to remind also that PrEP will not protect from other STIs. Syphilis is on the rise and drug-resistant gonorrhea is becoming a global concern. Other infections like hepatitis B can be sexually transmitted but there is a vaccine.
Sorry, I didn´t mean to sound overly alarmist, and I´m not advocating against PrEP. I´m very much in favour of PrEP as a way of reducing the risk of HIV infection but I think it´s important to be aware of those other risks to make informed decisions about one´s own sex life and be as safe as possible. 

One last thing I think would be important to mention is PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis). If for some reason there is the possibility of unprotected HIV exposure (for instance, having unprotected sex or the condom broke when having sex with someone with HIV that is not undetectable) it is possible to use antiretroviral medications AFTER the exposure to try to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV. It has to be started up to 72 hours of the exposure (the sooner the better) and usually means taking HIV medications (usually 3 - treatment regimens probably vary from country to country) for 28 days. In some situations (like in cases of sexual assault, for example) it can be near impossible to know the HIV status of the other person. So, it´s important to seek medical attention as soon as possible after the exposure so they can assess the risk of HIV exposure and discuss if PEP is appropriate for the situation.
I read somewhere that California was passing a law that would allow people to get PrEP and PEP without a prescription. This can be a good thing especially considering that timing is important for PrEP/PEP but I think people should have access to information about it and have discussed the subject at least once with a healthcare professional before deciding to start taking antiretrovirals. 

Sorry if this ended up sounding preachy but I think you raised an important issue and I wanted to contribute with some thoughts.


Re: U=U  [message #76090 is a reply to message #76089] Thu, 24 October 2019 14:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
arich is currently offline  arich

Really getting into it
Location: Seaofstars
Registered: August 2003
Messages: 563



Thank you, campy and pandareader, you are making an important contribution, that's what I hoped would start to happen, a discussion, pebbles in the pond. Everyone has a perspective, and to me they are all relevant.

Hopefully an open discussion will remove some of the taboo/stigma for something that is actually classified as a "condition" in the western world.

What I see is that if we leave one person behind, that person can become a vector.... I'll get into that more later

And yes one must always be mindful of the other STD's. BTW there is a vaccine for hep B and a cure for hep C but it cost about half a million US to treat hep C. Though that too is changing.

As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say "It's always something."

Sorry about not doing a very good job editing my post. I tend to write these post late at night and have enjoyed most of the evening and am often in an altered statesish.😏😇

Peace


Re: U=U  [message #76196 is a reply to message #76090] Fri, 15 November 2019 03:26 Go to previous message
arich is currently offline  arich

Really getting into it
Location: Seaofstars
Registered: August 2003
Messages: 563



Couple of things I'd like to address real quick like.

First, the new strain of HIV, well it isn't actually new I think it was first discovered back in 02 or 07.

They just now classified it basically. And if you followed the news about this strain you will know it is treatable.

As to the cure clam out of the lab in Maryland... ? They are fishing for investors... Just going into phase one trials at this point. Somewhat like the gene splicing trial I was trying to get into, only the one I wanted on is a couple years ahead , already been human trials in that one.....Very early days for them.... I do wish them luck.... well at least there is a mouse that seems to have been cured anyway.🤔

Good news on the PrEP front. The US gov. Is suing Gilead for the patent rights to truvada.... Blew me away when I heard they wanted to make it free and available to every one....For free 🤞. Hope that wasn't just a rumor.

[Updated on: Fri, 15 November 2019 03:32]

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