Health Buzz: Scientists Expose an HIV Hiding Spot

March 8, 2010 RSS Feed Print

Scientists Expose a Spot Where HIV Hides in the Body

Researchers have sniffed out an HIV hide-out in the body. In the bone marrow, which makes blood cells, the virus can linger unaffected by therapies designed to curb the virus's spread, HealthDay reports. Study coauthor Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan tells HealthDay that current drugs stop the virus from infecting new cells but cannot destroy already-infected cells and prevent them from staging a new attack. Any potential treatment would have to target only the bone marrow cells that contain the virus, Collins says. Another expert tells HealthDay there are other sites of latent infection, which must be found in order to rid the body of HIV. The findings are published in the journal Nature Medicine.

[Read Gene Therapy Shows Promise Against HIV and Recent HIV News Is Encouraging—but Also Provides Cause for Concern.]

Bullets Flying Over Abortion Coverage in Health Reform Bill

It's high noon for abortion coverage in the health reform bill, and the pistols are drawn, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz writes. Who will win the duel over abortions if and when a final bill is passed remains to be seen. Simply put, abortion-rights activists want the language in any final healthcare bill to allow insurance plans in the federal exchange system to provide abortion coverage as part of their comprehensive plans. Those opposed to abortion don't want any plans in the exchange to offer abortion coverage. The Senate bill and the White House tweaks to it that will be the basis of the final reconciliation bill contain language that's something of a compromise—allowing abortion coverage but with restrictions.

Planned Parenthood, which supports abortion coverage, fired off a missive last week from President Cecile Richards, who said that she wasn't happy with either the House bill or the Senate version. "Under the burdensome Nelson provision in the Senate healthcare reform bill," Richards said in an E-mailed statement, "it is anticipated that most private health insurers would no longer offer coverage for abortion. Since most women with private health insurance have coverage for abortion, the Nelson provision would take away coverage that women have now." The Nelson provision does allow plans to offer coverage, but it requires every enrollee who wants it to write a separate check for it. Read more.

[Read Obama to End Ban on Abortion Funding. What Next? and Planned Parenthood's Response to Undercover Sting Videos.]

How to Identify Suicide Risk Before It's Too Late

Every 17 minutes, someone dies by suicide in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide is the 11th-leading cause of death for Americans, and while it often comes as a surprise to friends and loved ones, it is largely considered to be preventable if warning signs are heeded, U.S. News's January Payne writes.

"The tragedy of completed suicide is that most could have been prevented if family members knew what to look for," says Lisa Boesky, a psychologist and author of When to Worry: How to Tell if Your Teen Needs Help—and What to Do About It. "Research shows that most people who die by suicide have a mood disorder like depression or bipolar disorder or [have] a substance abuse problem, or both," either diagnosed or undiagnosed, she says.

Suicide has no "face," no race, no age or income level that determines who is at risk. Recent celebrity-related deaths make this clear. Andrew Koenig, 41, an actor who once starred on the TV show Growing Pains, hanged himself from a tree in Canada last month after battling depression for years. Read more.

[Read Teen Suicide Risk Factors: Parents Are Too Often Clueless and Depressed and Coping: Treating Depression When Medication Fails.]

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