It is now the week of Thanksgiving and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope that your day is spent enjoyably, but also being thankful for the blessings in your life.
I am thankful for all the wonderful family that surrounds and supports me. I am thankful that this semester is almost over as attaining my B.S. has been a long haul for me and I am ready for some down time. I love to learn and plan to continue to learn new things even when I no longer take any classes at the University. I am thankful for my health. This class has made me more aware of the dangers within our world and, although we should not dwell on the negatives, we must be diligent in helping to educate, be proactive and, most importantly, be personally responsible in not engaging in risky behavior.
What I have learned in this class is that we all must share in the responsiblity of working to erradicate the HIV virus. This is a world virus and if we want to save our world, we must all do what we can to stop the spread of HIV through talking and educating others about the virus, and we need to stand up to our peers and let them know the dangers and how their behavior could change their lives, or the lives of others, forever. This may seem like such a small thing to do and you may ask how could this possibly help save the world, but by word of mouth and by being bold and speaking the truth, even if one person is kept from getting HIV, it will have been worth it.
Since I am interested in research and HIV, I found a website, http://www.fhi.org/NR/Shared/enFHI/ that talks about "first generation" of microbicides. These are vaginal gels and lubricants that could possibly keep a female from getting HIV. There is currently no effective vaginal microbicide on the market, but there are several that are currently being tested for effectiveness and safety. There are three types of microbicides being tested. First generation, which stops the virus before it can penetrate the cells, the next is based on antiretroviral drugs and interact with the "viral life cycle" (Web: fhi, 2009), and the third is a combination of the first two. The microbicides would need to be inserted prior to sexual intercourse to be effective. The gel or lubricant would damage the virus so that it could not infect the female cells. They are also currently working on a microbicide for anal intercourse.
Web: fhi, 2009), Clinical Research Update, retrieved from http://www.fhi.org/NR/Shared/enFHI/, on Nov. 23, 2009.
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I am happy to read that there are still reaserching means to prevent the spead of the disease. I still would not recomend anyhting but condom use to anyone else for now though. I do have a friend that is allergic to latex. So that means condom use is out the window for her. These microbicides sound like a good alternative for her and anyone else that is allergic to latex condoms. Lets hope the development of these prove to be something worth investing in.
ReplyDeleteCongratualations on graduating! I am graduating next month as well so I know how happy you are. I enjoyed reading the section about research. I really look forward to the discoveries that will take place in the future due to advancements in research.
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