Trial examines diaphragm use in preventing HIV in womenJuly 13, 2007A clinical trial involving 5,045 women in South Africa and Zimbabwe found no statistical difference in the rate of new HIV infections in the two study arms: those who received a diaphragm plus lubricant along with male condoms for their partners and those who only received male condoms. "In the context of a comprehensive HIV prevention package provided to all participants, the trial found no additional protective benefit against HIV infection from adding the diaphragm plus lubricant in the intervention arm," said the trial's lead investigator, Nancy Padian, PhD, director of UCSF's Women's Global Health Imperative. The study, to be published online in The Lancet, reported an overall HIV incidence rate of 4.0 percent: 4.1 percent in the intervention arm that included provision of diaphragm and lubricant and 3.9 percent in the control arm that included only provision of condoms. Findings also showed 158 new HIV infections in the intervention arm and 151 in the control group. "These results do not support the addition of the diaphragm to current HIV prevention strategies. Condoms remain the only proven barrier method for HIV prevention," said Padian. All participants in the trial received a comprehensive package of safer-sex and family planning counseling, free male condoms, diagnosis and treatment of curable sexually transmitted infections, and free contraception. The investigators could not evaluate whether using the diaphragm alone was better than using nothing, because most women in both arms of the trial reported male condom use. The trial, known at "Methods for Improving Reproductive Health in Africa, or MIRA, began in 2003 and was conducted at sites in Harare, Zimbabwe, and Soweto and Durban, South Africa. The trial was launched because previous data has suggested that the cells in the cervix are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection, and use of a diaphragm presented the potential for protection. A flexible, dome-shaped rubber disk, a diaphragm is inserted vaginally with a gel to cover the cervix. University of California - San Francisco |
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| Related Diaphragm Current Events and Diaphragm News Articles Many patients with sleep apnea also suffer from GI tract conditions Patients who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) also tend to have additional gastrointestinal (GI) tract conditions, such as gastric reflux and hiatal hernia, which form at the opening in your diaphragm where your food pipe (esophagus) joins your stomach. Mutation responsible for cystic fibrosis also involved in muscle atrophy Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) usually experience significant muscle loss, a symptom traditionally considered to be a secondary complication of the devastating genetic disease. Faster protein folding achieved through nanosecond pressure jump A new method to induce protein folding by taking the pressure off of proteins is up to 100 times faster than previous methods, and could help guide more accurate computer simulations for how complex proteins fold. Nervous system may be culprit in deadly muscle disease Brain may win out over brawn as the primary cause of breathing problems in children with a severe form of muscular dystrophy known as Pompe disease. New flat flexible speakers might even help you catch planes & trains A groundbreaking new loudspeaker, less than 0.25mm thick, has been developed by University of Warwick engineers, it's flat, flexible, could be hung on a wall like a picture, and its particular method of sound generation could make public announcements in places like passenger terminals clearer, crisper, and easier to hear. Love handles put the squeeze on lungs There's more bad news for people who carry excess weight around their waists: Not only is abdominal obesity associated with diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and a host of other health problems collectively known as "metabolic syndrome," a new study has found that a high waist circumference is strongly associated with decreased lung function-independent of smoking history, sex, body mass index (BMI) and other complicating factors. Tiny refrigerator taking shape to cool future computers Researchers at Purdue University are developing a miniature refrigeration system small enough to fit inside laptops and personal computers, a cooling technology that would boost performance while shrinking the size of computers. Lou Gehrig's protein found throughout brain, suggesting effects beyond motor neurons Two years ago researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that misfolded proteins called TDP-43 accumulated in the motor areas of the brains of patients with amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. Long-term use of mechanical ventilation contributes to the deterioration of human diaphragm muscle A new study by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows, for the first time in humans, that ventilators combined with diaphragm disuse contributes to muscle atrophy in the diaphragm in as little as eighteen hours. New CPR promises better results by compressing abdomen, not chest A biomedical engineer at Purdue University has developed a new method to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation that promises to be more effective than standard CPR because it increases nourishing blood flow through the heart by 25 percent over the current method. More Diaphragm Current Events and Diaphragm News Articles |
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