Preventing HIV Transmission

Preventing HIV Transmission

Author: National Research Council and Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1995-09-14

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0309176212

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This volume addresses the interface of two major national problems: the epidemic of HIV-AIDS and the widespread use of illegal injection drugs. Should communities have the option of giving drug users sterile needles or bleach for cleaning needs in order to reduce the spread of HIV? Does needle distribution worsen the drug problem, as opponents of such programs argue? Do they reduce the spread of other serious diseases, such as hepatitis? Do they result in more used needles being carelessly discarded in the community? The panel takes a critical look at the available data on needle exchange and bleach distribution programs, reaches conclusions about their efficacy, and offers concrete recommendations for public policy to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. The book includes current knowledge about the epidemiologies of HIV/AIDS and injection drug use; characteristics of needle exchange and bleach distribution programs and views on those programs from diverse community groups; and a discussion of laws designed to control possession of needles, their impact on needle sharing among injection drug users, and their implications for needle exchange programs.


Convergence of Population Health Management, Pharmacogenomics, and Patient-Centered Care

Convergence of Population Health Management, Pharmacogenomics, and Patient-Centered Care

Author: Moumtzoglou, Anastasius S.

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2024-09-27

Total Pages: 578

ISBN-13:

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The current healthcare framework, often characterized by standardized treatments and one-size-fits-all approaches, falls short in addressing the unique genetic compositions, lifestyles, and environmental factors that influence individual patient outcomes. This gap necessitates a radical reevaluation of healthcare practices, from reshaping infrastructure to redefining the roles of patients and doctors. The challenges are formidable, requiring critical reflection and bold initiatives to overcome obstacles and pave the way for a future where patient-centered care seamlessly integrates with population health management, leveraging data, technology, ethics, and collaboration for a global healthcare revolution. Convergence of Population Health Management, Pharmacogenomics, and Patient-Centered Care is a book that unveils a comprehensive exploration of solutions and pathways towards this transformative vision. This comprehensive guide is tailored for academic scholars, healthcare professionals, and students navigating the landscape of personalized medicine, population health management, and the digitalization of healthcare. Authored by leading experts, the book aims to serve as a compendium of terms, definitions, and in-depth explanations of key concepts. Its objectives include supporting students in understanding healthcare domains, aiding healthcare professionals in meeting patient needs, assisting patients in deriving more benefits from their healthcare, and guiding e-health systems' designers and managers in grounding practices on the science of individuality.


Communities in Action

Communities in Action

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-04-27

Total Pages: 583

ISBN-13: 0309452961

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In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.


Genomic and Personalized Medicine

Genomic and Personalized Medicine

Author:

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2008-11-11

Total Pages: 669

ISBN-13: 0080919030

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This two-volume set — winner of a 2013 Highly Commended BMA Medical Book Award for Medicine — provides an in-depth look at one of the most promising avenues for advances in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of human disease. The inclusion of the latest information on diagnostic testing, population screening, predicting disease susceptibility, pharmacogenomics and more presents this book as an essential tool for both students and specialists across many biological and medical disciplines, including human genetics and genomics, oncology, neuroscience, cardiology, infectious disease, molecular medicine, and biomedical science, as well as health policy disciplines focusing on ethical, legal, regulatory and economic aspects of genomics and medicine.Volume One Includes:Principles, Methodology and Translational Approaches, takes readers on the journey from principles of human genomics to technology, informatic and computational platforms for genomic medicine, as well as strategies for translating genomic discoveries into advances in personalized clinical care.Volume Two Includes:Genome Discoveries and Clinical Applications presents the latest developments in disease-based genomic and personalized medicine. With chapters dedicated to cardiovascular disease, oncology, inflammatory disease, metabolic disease, neuropsychiatric disease, and infectious disease, this work provides the most comprehensive guide to the principles and practice of genomic and personalized medicine. - Highly Commended 2013 BMA Medical Book Award for Medicine - Contributions from leaders in the field provide unparalleled insight into current technologies and applications in clinical medicine. - Full colour throughout enhances the utility of this work as the only available comprehensive reference for genomic and personalized medicine. - Discusses scientific foundations and practical applications of new discoveries, as well as ethical, legal/regulatory, and social issues related to the practice of genomic medicine.


Persistent Viral Infections

Persistent Viral Infections

Author: R. Ahmed

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 754

ISBN-13:

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Persistent Viral Infections Edited by Rafi Ahmed Emory Vaccine Center, Atlanta, USA and Irvin S. Y. Chen UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA During the past decade much of our attention has focused on diseases associated with viral persistence. Major breakthroughs in immunology, and the advent of molecular approaches to study pathogenesis have increased our understanding of the complex virus-host interactions that occur during viral persistence. Persistent Viral Infections focuses on: * The pathogenesis and immunology of chronic infections * Animal models that provide, or have the potential to provide, major insights This volume will be essential reading for virologists, immunologists, oncologists and neurologists.


Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 6)

Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 6)

Author: King K. Holmes

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2017-11-06

Total Pages: 1027

ISBN-13: 1464805253

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Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death globally, particularly among children and young adults. The spread of new pathogens and the threat of antimicrobial resistance pose particular challenges in combating these diseases. Major Infectious Diseases identifies feasible, cost-effective packages of interventions and strategies across delivery platforms to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, adult febrile illness, viral hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases. The volume emphasizes the need to effectively address emerging antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems, and increase access to care. The attainable goals are to reduce incidence, develop innovative approaches, and optimize existing tools in resource-constrained settings.


Virus Dynamics : Mathematical Principles of Immunology and Virology

Virus Dynamics : Mathematical Principles of Immunology and Virology

Author: Martin Nowak

Publisher: Oxford University Press, UK

Published: 2000-11-23

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 0191588512

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This groundbreaking book describes the emerging field of theoretical immunology, in particular the use of mathematical models to describe the spread of infectious diseases within patients. It reveals fascinating insights into the dynamics of viral and other infections, and the interactions between infectious agents and immune responses. Structured around the examples of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B, Nowak and May show how mathematical models can help researchers to understand the detailed dynamics of infection and the effects of antiviral therapy. Models are developed to describe the dynamics of drug resistance, immune responses, viral evolution and mutation, and to optimise the design of therapy and vaccines. - ;We know, down to the tiniest details, the molecular structure of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Yet despite this tremendous accomplishment, and despite other remarkable advances in our understanding of individual viruses and cells of the immune system, we still have no agreed understanding of the ultimate course and variability of the pathogenesis of AIDS. Gaps in our understanding like these impede our efforts towards developing effective therapies and preventive vaccines. Martin Nowak and Robert M May describe the emerging field of theoretical immunology in this accessible and well- written text. Using mathematical modelling techniques, the authors set out their ideas about how populations of viruses and populations of immune system cells may interact in various circumstances, and how infectious diseases spread within patients. They explain how this approach to understanding infectious diseases can reveal insights into the dynamics of viral and other infections, and the interactions between infectious agents and immune responses. The book is structured around the examples of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B virus, although the approaches described will be more widely applicable. The authors use mathematical tools to uncover the detailed dynamics of the infection and the effects of antiviral therapy. Models are developed to describe the emergence of drug resistance, and the dynamics of immune responses, viral evolution, and mutation. The practical implications of this work for optimisation of the design of therapy and vaccines are discussed. The book concludes with a glance towards the future of this fascinating, and potentially highly useful, field of study. - ;... an excellent introduction to a field that has the potential to advance substantially our understanding of the complex interplay between virus and host - Nature


Guiding Cancer Control

Guiding Cancer Control

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2019-08-30

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 0309492319

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Throughout history, perhaps no other disease has generated the level of social, scientific, and political discourse or has had the degree of cultural significance as cancer. A collective in the truest sense of the word, "cancer" is a clustering of different diseases that afflict individuals in different ways. Its burdens are equally broad and diverse, from the physical, financial, and psychological tolls it imposes on individuals to the costs it inflicts upon the nation's clinical care and public health systems, and despite decades of concerted efforts often referred to as the "war on cancer", those costs have only continued to grow over time. The causes and effects of cancer are complexâ€"in part preventable and treatable, but also in part unknown, and perhaps even unknowable. Guiding Cancer Control defines the key principles, attributes, methods, and tools needed to achieve the goal of implementing an effective national cancer control plan. This report describes the current structure of cancer control from a local to global scale, identifies necessary goals for the system, and formulates the path towards integrated disease control systems and a cancer-free future. This framework is a crucial step in establishing an effective, efficient, and accountable system for controlling cancer and other diseases.


AIDS and Behavior

AIDS and Behavior

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1994-02-01

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0309050936

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HIV is spreading rapidly, and effective treatments continue to elude science. Preventive interventions are now our best defense against the epidemicâ€"but they require a clear understanding of the behavioral and mental health aspects of HIV infection and AIDS. AIDS and Behavior provides an update of what investigators in the biobehavioral, psychological, and social sciences have discovered recently about those aspects of the disease and offers specific recommendations for research directions and priorities. This volume candidly discusses the sexual and drug-use behaviors that promote transmission of HIV and reports on the latest efforts to monitor the epidemic in its social contexts. The committee reviews new findings on how and why risky behaviors occur and efforts to develop strategies for changing such behaviors. The volume presents findings on the disease's progression and on the psychosocial impacts of HIV and AIDS, with a view toward intervention and improved caregiving. AIDS and Behavior also evaluates the status of behavioral and prevention aspects of AIDS research at the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The volume presents background on the three institutes; their recent reorganization; their research budgets, programs, and priorities; and other important details. The committee offers specific recommendations for the institutes concerning the balance between biomedical and behavioral investigations, adequacy of administrative structures, and other research management issues. Anyone interested in the continuing quest for new knowledge on preventing HIV and AIDS will want to own this book: policymakers, researchers, research administrators, public health professionals, psychologists, AIDS advocates and service providers, faculty, and students.