Circumcision may reduce HIV risk by up to 60 percent

[Herman Munster]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070223/ap_on_he_me/aids_circumcision

LONDON - Scientists say conclusive data shows there is no question circumcision reduces men's chances of catching HIV by up to 60 percent — a finding experts are hailing as a major breakthrough in the fight against AIDS. Now, the question is how to put that fact to work to combat AIDS across Africa.

The findings first were announced in December, when initial results from two major trials — in Kenya and Uganda — showed promising links between circumcision and HIV transmission. However, those trials were deemed so definitive that the tests were halted early. The full data from the trials, carried out by the United States' National Institutes of Health, were published Friday in The Lancet.

"This is an extraordinary development," said Dr. Kevin de Cock, director of the World Health Organization's AIDS department. "Circumcision is the most potent intervention in HIV prevention that has been described." Circumcision has long been suspected of reducing men's susceptibility to HIV infection because the cells in the foreskin of the penis are especially vulnerable to the virus.

A modeling study done last year projected that in the next decade, male circumcision could prevent 2 million AIDS infections and 300,000 deaths. Last year, 2.8 million people in sub-Saharan Africa became infected with HIV, and 2.1 million people died. Experts say the breakthrough is a significant one on par with the identification of the virus and the use of lifesaving combination drug therapy.

[Deja Q]

1. It helps, but surely a condom is far more effective?

As for circumcision, only a man named "de Cock" could say it...
:hide:

[MannyGoldstein]

28. No.

Because lots of people won't use 'em. And while they are dimwits for not using 'em, I don't think that it warrants the death penalty. (No, you didn't say they did deserve it - I'm just venting into the aether)

[Deja Q]

38. Agreed, but life still isn't fair and it may never be...

:(

With that in mind, isn't convincing people TO use condoms and every other means if they choose not to abstain?

Diseases are horrible, period.

[pnwmom]

46. These studies were designed to account for condom use.

The WHO is as strong a proponent of condoms as ever. Men who are circumcised (as most adult men still are in the US) need to keep using condoms.

Circumcisions confer a benefit significantly beyond that of condoms alone -- and visa versa.

[MonkeyFunk]

2. and emasculation

lowers risk almost 100%.

[Deja Q]

4. That sounds an awful lot like 'marriage'...

:hide:

[Bronyraurus]

11. Ha!

I wouldn't know, but ha!

[taught_me_patience]

3. Break out the popcorn!

its going to get dicey in here. Over/under on the number of DU women who express their "outrage": 20.

:popcorn:

This is all the evidence that I need to have my future kids circumcised.

[tammywammy]

6. I'm joining in...

:popcorn:

[Deja Q]

7. Well, if you do put them on the chopping block, get the Purell first...

:hide:

[KitchenWitch]

19. Is there enough popcorn for me, or should I pop another bucket?

:popcorn:

[Deja Q]

21. I'll set the timer on the microwave!

:popcorn:

[taught_me_patience]

31. damn... more people watchin' then flamin' so far!

:popcorn:

[KitchenWitch]

36. As an XX - I have no right to flame here!

But I am kind of a voyeur...

:evilgrin:

[Oeditpus Rex]

34. Ew! Don't say 'pop'

when we're talking about "certain bits." :scared:



:popcorn:

[Deja Q]

43. Just another reason not to use anything that pumps it up...

:hide:

[Oeditpus Rex]

45. I wouldn't do that

Too much risk of accident. :scared:

[Bucky]

23. No popcorn here, but I do have some calimari in the fridge we can enjoy

...you know, assuming it's safe to eat it...

[LostInAnomie]

25. Oooo... it's been ages since a good circumcision flame fest.

I say this one's got legs because it mentions HIV.

:popcorn: :beer:

My bet is that "lack of sensation" gets mentioned 40 times.

[Deja Q]

33. Legs? In some cases, it'd be a tripod! Though most would be sensational...

:hide:

[LostInAnomie]

41. A tripod with a big slice of lunch meat grafted to it!

:yoiks:

[MissB]

5. Well, with a name like de Cock....

:rofl:

[Deja Q]

9. See #1 for more...

I'd come first, naturally... :rofl:

[MissB]

12. Damn.

:rofl:

Of course you'd come first, Hypno.

:rofl:

[Deja Q]

14. Lack of experience, of course... I tend to have a hair trigger...

:spray:

[MissB]

18. Well, as a woman,

I'm naturally a bit slower.

[Bucky]

32. So just stick with the shavers and full-waxers then.

[skipos]

8. Abstinence is the most effective

but it isn't realistic to expect everyone to abstain. It also isn't realistic to expect everyone to use condoms.

[Deja Q]

13. True, but who wants to be responsible?

It's up to them to decide. And the moment someone doesn't use a condom or sleazes around, it's all for naught. :(

[Bucky]

26. also, having sex exclusively with virgins decreases your risk factor

Of course there is the risks associated with shotgun weilding fathers...

[Deja Q]

30. And whose gun goes off first, of course... I'll bet on the father's...

:yoiks:

[Bucky]

35. Here's the factor YOU'RE risking right now, buddy

[Deja Q]

40. Oh I see...

:yoiks:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. I don't have a foreskin in the upcoming fight.

Hell, I didn't even know what a foreskin was until my Marine Crotch physical. "Skin 'em back!" Huh?

[Deja Q]

15. Do not foresake me, oh my darling foreskin...

:hide:

[Bonobo]

16. Awesome, I'll say it first!

"Women have no right to weigh in on this issue!" since they don't have penises!

Woohoo! That was fun!!

:popcorn:

[Deja Q]

20. Well, they DO have an input on the issue...

Uh, I ought to rephrase that...

:hide:

[Bucky]

37. Yeh, you better poke that little head behind that wall

I mean, um, uhhh.... Oh crap, now you got me doing it too :hide:

[Deja Q]

39. Ahem, "little"?

:spray:

[HysteryDiagnosis]

17. On the other hands.........

1: J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006 Dec;118(6):1369-74. Epub 2006 Oct 13.Click here to read Links
Epigallocatechin gallate, the main polyphenol in green tea, binds to the T-cell receptor, CD4: Potential for HIV-1 therapy.

* Williamson MP,
* McCormick TG,
* Nance CL,
* Shearer WT.

Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND: The green tea flavonoid, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), has been proposed to have an anti-HIV-1 effect by preventing the binding of HIV-1 glycoprotein (gp) 120 to the CD4 molecule on T cells. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate that EGCG binds to the CD4 molecule at the gp120 attachment site and inhibits gp120 binding at physiologically relevant levels, thus establishing EGCG as a potential therapeutic treatment for HIV-1 infection. METHODS: Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to examine the binding of EGCG and control, (-)-catechin, to CD4-IgG2 (PRO 542). Gp120 binding to human CD4+ T cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: Addition of CD4 to EGCG produced a linear decrease in nuclear magnetic resonance signal intensity from EGCG but not from the control, (-)-catechin. In saturation transfer difference experiments, addition of 5.8 micromol/L CD4 to 310 micromol/L EGCG produced strong saturation at the aromatic rings of EGCG, but identical concentrations of (-)-catechin produced much smaller effects, implying EGCG/CD4 binding strong enough to reduce gp120/CD4 binding substantially. Molecular modeling studies suggested a binding site for EGCG in the D1 domain of CD4, the pocket that binds gp120. Physiologically relevant concentrations of EGCG (0.2 micromol/L) inhibited binding of gp120 to isolated human CD4+ T cells. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated clear evidence of high-affinity binding of EGCG to the CD4 molecule with a Kd of approximately 10 nmol/L and inhibition of gp120 binding to human CD4+ T cells. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Epigallocatechin gallate has potential use as adjunctive therapy in HIV-1 infection.

PMID: 17157668



Related Links

* Epigallocatechin gallate, the main component of tea polyphenol, binds to CD4 and interferes with gp120 binding. PMID: 14610487

* How can (-)-epigallocatechin gallate from green tea prevent HIV-1 infection? Mechanistic insights from computational modeling and the implication for rational design of anti-HIV-1 entry inhibitors. PMID: 16471901

* Direct evidence of interaction of a green tea polyphenol, epigallocatechin gallate, with lipid bilayers by solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. PMID: 15322359

[MannyGoldstein]

22. This is So Great!

Now Mrs. Goldstein has finally stopped kvetching about getting our boy circumsized.

P.S. - little guy really didn't feel much - let out a yelp, dried, he was fine in 30 seconds or so. No worse than getting an injection.

[Swamp Rat]

24. Ok, if it helps.

I think using condoms might be a little less invasive, and inexpensive.... to say the least.

[GOPisEvil]

27. Lovely.

[k_jerome]

29. then it should be mandatory. nt.

[David Zephyr]

42. How do you circumcise a whale?

With four skin divers, of course.

[Deja Q]

44. !

:spray:

You forgot this, though:
:hide:


Still, :spray: :spray:

[Bluebear]

47. DR. de COCK? bwhahahaha

Well he should know :)

[DemBones DemBones]

48. Circumcision has also been associated with lower cervical cancer rates in women

who have sex with circumcised men. Thirty years ago, it was known from various studies that women who had been married more than once were at greater risk for cervical cancer, that nuns almost never have cervical cancer, and that women married to circumcised men have a lower incidence of cervical cancer than those married to uncircumcised men. A connection to sexual activity seemed obvious from those results. (These studies involved women who came of age before the "Sexual Revolution" and were thus more likely to be virgins when they married and to be monogamous.)

We now know, and have for years, that some Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) cause cervical cancer, which explains the results of the earlier studies. Obviously, the number of times you've said "I do" doesn't determine if you contract HPV. The number of sexual partners is a major factor -- or the number of sexual partners your partner has had, if you are monogamous.

Same with HIV -- number of partners increases your risk, whether it's your partners or your partner's partners, or both.

N.B. I'm not arguing for or against circumcision.

[Gold Metal Flake]

49. Frequent and regular circumcisions are the key to a healthy life.

At least once a month!

[hulklogan]

50. And poking out both of your eyes reduces the risk of glaucoma by 100%

Interesting, innit?