
                      AIDS Daily Summary 
                       December 15, 1994

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement
by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

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"Eye Device May Help AIDS Patients"
"Promising AIDS Trial of AZT with 3TC Spurs Debate on Combination
Therapies"
"Mayor's Office Disbands Advisory Unit on AIDS"
"Triumphing Over AIDS"
"Serving Compassion with a Meal"
"Home Tests for HIV Supported"
"Family Portraits"
"Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center Press Conference Dec. 15"
"Hope for Sale"
"Use of Living Wills in HIV Infection and AIDS"
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"Eye Device May Help AIDS Patients"
Washington Post (12/15/94) P. A12

A double-layered plastic membrane saturated in ganciclovir may be
able to control the potentially blinding infection 
cytomegalovirus (CMV).  While CMV is benign in healthy people, it
poses a serious threat to people with weakened immune 
systems--such as AIDS patients.  Carl Kupfer, director of the 
National Eye Institute, says that approximately one-fourth of all
AIDS patients develop CMV infection in the eye.  Currently, CMV 
is treated with daily intravenous doses of ganciclovir or 
foscarnet.  AIDS patients must take the drugs for the rest of 
their lives because they lack the necessary immune system 
response.  With the new device, once the membrane is implanted in
the eye, the drug is slowly released, controlling the infection. 
After eight months in a study of 26 patients with 30 infected 
eyes--of which 14 of the eyes received the implant--the CMV 
infection had not progressed in any of the eyes with the 
implants.  An application for Food and Drug Administration 
approval may be made after two additional clinical trials.
      
"Promising AIDS Trial of AZT with 3TC Spurs Debate on Combination
Therapies"
Wall Street Journal (12/15/94) P. B6;  Moore, Stephen D.
     A debate on "combination therapies" has erupted after studies 
found that a combination of the drugs AZT and 3TC could 
significantly slow HIV progression.  While some researchers 
warned that the supporting evidence is still too preliminary, 
drug makers and other researchers said the studies clearly 
demonstrate that a combination of drugs used against HIV can be 
effective.  Drug companies Wellcome PLC and Glaxo Holdings 
responded enthusiastically to the findings.  "There's no doubt 
that these [study] results are encouraging," said Dr. Brian 
Gazzard, clinical director for HIV Services at London's Chelsea 
and Westminster Hospital.  "But I think you have to be cautious."
Gazzard wants to see whether the combination therapy actually 
prolongs the lives of AIDS patients or produces statistically 
significant differences in survival rates between groups of 
patients receiving varied therapies.  Researchers hope to dispel 
some of the doubts about combination therapy by testing several 
three- and four-drug combinations during the next two years.
      
"Mayor's Office Disbands Advisory Unit on AIDS"
New York Times (12/15/94) P. B5;  Dunlap, David W.
     New York City Deputy Mayor Fran Reiter on Wednesday disbanded the
group of outside experts who were trying to restructure the 
city's Division of AIDS Services.  In a letter to the committee's
members, Reiter said that "protests, discussions of process, 
non-negotiable demands and grandstanding" by some AIDS 
organizations had resulted in "unproductive, time-wasting 
meetings."  She specifically blamed the Housing Works 
group--which provides housing and other services to about 1,500 
HIV and AIDS patients--for disrupting a private meeting last May.
The situation will likely prolong the debate over the city 
agency, which the Giuliani administration considered eliminating 
earlier this year but abandoned in the face of strong protest.
      
"Triumphing Over AIDS"
Washington Post (12/15/94) P. D.C. 3;  Young, Vincent
     "How I Got Over," a special ceremony that celebrated the lives of
long-term AIDS survivors, was held in Washington, D.C., on 
Saturday.  "It's time to hear from people who are living, 
surviving, and thriving," said organizer Gregory Ford, who tested
HIV-positive eight years ago.  More than 250 people attended the 
event, where they shared personal testimonies and spoke openly 
about the difficulties of living with HIV.
      
"Serving Compassion with a Meal"
Washington Post (12/15/94) P. D.C.1;  Young, Vincent
     Chocolate Strawberries, a newly opened restaurant in the 
Washington, D.C., area, reserves its lunch hour to serve free 
meals to anyone who is hungry and HIV-infected.  "We're trying to
help give people with HIV-AIDS, who might live on fixed incomes 
or can't afford to buy food, a chance to get out of the house and
eat a healthy meal in a restaurant with friendly people, nice 
table settings, flowers, and music," said Marsha Richardson, 
co-founder of the restaurant.  The majority of the volunteers who
prepare and serve the luncheon meal are HIV-positive or have 
AIDS.  The lunch is open to anyone with HIV, but it is requested 
that a health or social worker make a referral.
      
"Home Tests for HIV Supported"
Houston Chronicle (12/14/94) P. 29A;  Lum, Lydia
     Two Texas legislators, Reps. Glen Maxey  and Debra Danburg, said 
on Monday that they hope to pass legislation to make an HIV 
home-test kit legal for use in the state.  The Food and Drug 
Administration is currently considering approval of the kits.  At
this point in Texas, such a kit could not be used because it does
not provide the in-person counseling required by state law.  With
the home-testing kits, people would learn the results over the 
phone with trained counselors offering advice.  The 
representatives' remarks came during a public hearing on Tuesday 
in Houston, during which people voiced their opinions and 
concerns about the home-testing concept.  The concerns mirrored 
the national debate over the kits--impersonal notification, risk 
of misdiagnosis, and protecting confidentiality.
      
"Family Portraits"
Toronto Globe and Mail (12/14/94) P. A15;  Mitchell, Alanna
     A survey of sexually active young adults aged 16 to 19 has shown 
that teenagers from higher-income families seem to have a greater
awareness of sexual health.  The 1990 Ontario Health Survey found
that while 46 percent of low-income teenagers never used a 
condom, only 40 percent of middle income and 32 percent of high 
income teenagers never used one.  Sexually active teens from 
low-income families are also less likely to use other forms of 
birth control.  The result will be an increasing number of 
teenage pregnancies and greater likelihood of sexually 
transmitted diseases, such as AIDS, among teenagers of poorer 
families.
      
"Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center Press Conference Dec. 15"
PR Newswire (12/14/94)
     The husband and wife research team of Dr. Yuan Chang and Dr. 
Patrick Moore are holding a press conference at the 
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York on Dec. 15 to 
discuss their findings of what they believe is a new human herpes
virus that may be responsible for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in 
patients with AIDS.  KS is the most common cancer in AIDS 
patients and often first appears as red or purplish sores on the 
face and in the mouth.
      
"Hope for Sale"
American Medical News (11/21/94) Vol. 37, No. 43, P. 13;  
Pinkney, Deborah Shelton
     The lack of a therapeutic vaccine for HIV has led to an 
increasing interest in unconventional AIDS therapies, such as 
acupuncture, macrobiotic diets, and megadoses of vitamins.  Some 
alternative therapy practitioners work in cooperation with 
doctors and consider their treatment supplementary.  "Many 
alternative therapies are being integrated into the overall 
treatment strategy as an additional preventive measure to support
and enhance one's life," said Ron Mealy, executive director of 
the Carl Vogel Center, an HIV/AIDS nutrition and information 
center in Washington, D.C.  The treatments are often used in 
addition to conventional therapies, but what is especially 
alarming is that a 1993 New England Journal of Medicine study 
found that 72 percent of the patients using unconventional 
treatments had not informed their physicians.  A related problem 
is that many people are being promised miracle cures from 
unproven therapies.  Dr. John H. Renner of the National Council 
Against Health Fraud estimates that at least 10 percent of 
HIV-infected people have been conned.  Some of the fake cures 
involve snake venom, ozone injections, or the ingestion of ice 
balls.  In 1990, the FDA established regional AIDS fraud task 
forces to deal with complaints about harmful therapies and 
educate consumers about area con artists.
      
"Use of Living Wills in HIV Infection and AIDS"
Lancet (11/26/94) Vol. 344, No. 8935, P. 1509;  Meadows, Paul
     In October 1992, The Terrence Higgins Trust, in cooperation with 
the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics at King's College, London, 
published a form of living will and healthcare proxy specifically
designed for use by people with HIV and AIDS, writes Paul Meadows
in a letter to the editor of the Lancet medical journal.  Thus 
far, 20,000 copies of the living will form have been distributed.
A questionnaire to test the document's acceptability showed that 
it is mainly being used by men between the ages of 30 and 40 with
a diagnosis of HIV or AIDS.  Very few of the living will users 
discussed their advanced directive with anyone and Meadows notes 
that the form should emphasize the importance of discussing a 
living will with someone--especially a doctor--to guarantee that 
the patient's wishes are carried out.  A revised living will form
that has been simplified to reflect the concerns of the users 
identified during research and to clarify the accompanying notes 
is now available.  The revision also reflects changes in recent 
case law, which shows that under certain condition, the advance 
refusal of medical treatment will be legally binding.
      
