Mother to Child Transmission of HIV: A hopeful update
Posted by on January 3, 2013 - 2:30pm

On Tuesday, December 18th the Women’s Health Research Institute hosted speakers at the monthly lunch series to discuss women’s health, HIV and the vast advances made in HIV care the past 20 years. Although many aspects of HIV transmission, susceptibility, physicality and progress were examined, I was intrigued most by the research presented by Dr. Patricia Garcia on HIV transmission from mother to child.

Dr. Garcia thoughtfully described her vision of a generation without HIV. In that vision, she touched upon the methods through which rapid testing can detect whether a mother is HIV positive, and how that information can be used, along with new prevention methods to create a generation born without HIV.

The data Dr. Garcia presented was very powerful, showing how changes in HIV diagnosis vary greatly by race and gender. She highlighted that of all AIDS diagnoses from 1985-2010, the estimated percentage among adult and adolescent females increased from 7% in 1985 to 25% in 2010.

  Dr. Garcia further showed how the state of Illinois had progressed greatly over the last 15 year, making rapid HIV testing easily available in 2005, at which point the knowledge of HIV status among pregnant women increased significantly. This development influenced the considerable reduction in HIV+ births in the state of Illinois.

 The message is one of continued hope and the success of good health care research. With hard work, women’s health experts and community members saw an issue amongst women and children that could be improved with access, knowledge and prevention, giving new life to an entire generation of children.

The debate on personalized genetic testing
Posted by on July 24, 2012 - 11:10am

An estimated 848, 000 men and 790,000 women will be diagnosed with some form of cancer this year according to the American Cancer Society.  New genetic sequencing technologies have made it possible to get personalized genetic tests to determine one’s risk for developing a disease, including many different types of cancers.  The goal of genetic testing is to utilize the results that may indicate the presence of a disease-associated gene mutation to determine appropriate preventative care or targeted treatments.

So why have experts from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists  (ACOG) recommended against individuals using such technologies to provide answers about their personal genetic risks? To read more, visit the Oncofertility Consortium blogsite.

Vitamin D and Obesity in Women
Posted by on June 10, 2011 - 7:08am

Overweight women with low Vitamin D levels who lose more than 15% of their body weight experience a significant increase in levels of this nutrient, according to a new study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. "Since vitamin D is generally lower in persons with obesity, it is possible that low vitamin D could account, in part, for the link between obesity and diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes," said Caitlin Mason, PhD, lead author of the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption and is needed for bone growth and bone healing.   Along with calcium, vitamin D helps protect older adults from osteoporosis.  This nutrient also influences cell growth, neuromuscular and immune function and reduces inflammation.

The study involved 439 overweight-to-obese, sedentary, postmenopausal Seattle-area women, ages 50 to 75 who were randomized into four groups:   exercise only, diet only, exercise plus diet and no intervention.  Those who lost between 5-10% of their weight saw some moderate increase in vitamin D levels, but women who lost more than 15% of their weight experienced a nearly threefold increase in vitamin D, independent of dietary intake of the nutrient.   Optimal levels of vitamin D are between 20 and 50 ng/mL.  Levels below 20 ng/mL are inadequate for bone health and levels above 5o ng/mL can have adverse side effects such as an increased risk of kidney stones.