Thursday, July 21, 2011

A News Item I found on-line

I know I'm a loner when it comes to being a Cross Dresser but is this a total fake?  Or am I just totally late on picking this up?

I recently found an article on-line about experts hailing a pair of drug trials involving heterosexual couples in Africa as a breakthrough in AIDS prevention.  I found the article interesting.

The studies show that taking a pill containing merely one or two drugs each day can or may decrease the transmission of HIV by as much as three-quarters.  Studies also showed that no "significant" side effects were observed in either trial and, finally, it is claimed that the pills only cost about $.25 cents each to make. 

In many ways I was absolutely shocked to learn about the cost of production!

The perception is that these drugs are really toxic but according to Dr. Thomas J. Coates, an infectious disease specialist at UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine, "They are not.  The current generation is really quite safe."

Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, said the agency would immediately begin working with other public health groups to establish guidelines for using the drugs prophylactically in this country.   Physicians should wait for those guidelines before prescribing the drugs, he said, but if they believe it is imperative to do it, they should adhere to the guidelines previously announced for using them with gay men.

I don't know about you but when I read these comments I got a cheek to cheek smile across my face like the cat who ate the canary!  The more I read the more exciting I found this study!

Dr. Robert M. Grant of UC San Francisco's Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology speculated that the drugs might work even better in the United States than they did in Africa.  He said, "people in this country are more accustomed to using pills for prevention and thus more likely to take the drugs regularly."

I know he can count me in on that sentiment!

Actually, I'm one of the lucky ones.  I'm very much the femme, still D&D free, retired from the US government and I don't need to produce lots of income to get by.  While not great, by some standards I've made it!  I admit that when I was young things were very different for guys like me.  James Brown reminded us that this IS a man's world.  I simply learned how to be sensible and very discreet! 

News of these pills is great to learn about but, like I said, I'm just one of the lucky ones anyway.