Back in Suds,but not for Long

YaYa so i will be heading back to SSM to give my step-father a hand with my mom.She has lost the ability to walk & cluade is too small to lift her & cannot bathe her properly so she gets washed with a facecloth.Her hair needs to be washed more then 1/week.She needs to take a shower or bath .Gary said he picked dirt from between her fingers...i have to see some drs before i leave so i can arrange my methadone script to be grabbed in SSM.They live 2 blocks from the oatc in SSM.This is was a depressing xmas.Lost another old friend Ronny belmore,u had to know him to apreciate his humour.today Mrs Bhutto Was assinated by Al Queda,the country is in kaoss,rioting has been going on & who knows what al queda's real aim is?Just how safe are the nuclear arsenal of pakistan???when there are thousands in the streets rising up in protest,it worrys the world & the reaction at money markets was swift,with oil rising to almost 100/barrel.This could be the beginning of the end.

DEPRESSION WORSENS PROGNOSIS of HIV TREATMENT!!!

Depression worsens prognosis of HIV treatment

By ANI
Saturday December 22, 01:18 PM
Washington, Dec 22 (ANI): A new study has found that depression can severely worsen HIV treatment in patients.

It is the largest study ever conducted on the effects of depression on HIV treatment.

The study showed that depression played a significant role in discouraging a patient from being loyal to the highly active antiretroviral therapy and clinical measures.

However, researchers from the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research and the Group Health Cooperative also found that the effects could be reversed by antidepressant medication.

For the study, researchers recruited 3,359 HIV-infected patients from seven Kaiser Permanente regions nationwide and Group Health in 2000 to 2003, and measured the effects of depression on their treatment.

The research, which was conducted with and without selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) use, measured the loyalty and changes in viral and immunologic control in patients starting a new highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimen. The patients' HAART adherence, viral loads and changes in CD4 T-cell counts over a 12-month period, were studied.

The results of the study showed that about 42 percent of the patient group, who were depressed had a lower loyalty rate and poorer viral therapy response than the non-depressed patients.

But depressed patients who were prescribed SSRI medication and adhered to it had the same outcomes as non-depressed patients.

"The take-home point of this study is that depression carries a worse prognosis for HAART in HIV patients. However, we also found that SSRIs can reverse this and improve outcomes for HIV-depressed patients," said Michael A. Horberg, MD, MAS, FACP, Director of HIV/AIDS for Kaiser Permanente and the lead author on the study.

"HIV and depression often go hand in hand. If you are HIV-infected, you should be screened regularly for depression, and if you are depressed and you are going to go on HAART, it's very worthwhile to treat your depression," he added.

The study has been published in the current online issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS). (ANI)