Two New Studies Find PrEp Reduces The Risk Of HIV Infection By 86 Percent

The days of taking Truvada once-a-day may soon be over.

Past research has claimed that daily use of PrEP can dramatically lower one’s chances of being infected with HIV. Now, two new studies support those claims, but one of the studies takes it a step further.

500 gay men in the U.K. participated in a study retest the effectiveness of taking the standard, once-a-day dose of PrEP. Researchers found this strategy lowered one’s risk for HIV infection by 86 percent.

400 gay men participated in second study jointly conduced in France and Canada and looked at what happened when PrEP was taken on a less regimented schedule. Rather than taking a pill everyday, they took two pills between 2 and 24 hours prior to having sex with another man, followed by another two pills 24 and 48 hours after sex. The second study found the exact same degree of protection — 86 percent — as the standard, once-a-day regime.

“These results are extremely exciting and show PrEP is highly effective at preventing HIV infection in the real world,” said Sheena McCormack, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, and Chief Investigator of the U.K. study. “Concerns that PrEP would not work so well in the real world were unfounded. These results show there is a need for PrEP, and offer hope of reversing the epidemic among men who have sex with men.”

But don’t get too excited yet, fellas.

In a statement released by the CDC, Dr. Jonathan Mermin said that it’s still too soon for people to completely abandon the once-a-day regimen, saying more research needs to be conducted.

Mermin noted that the new strategy was only tested on men who were having sex an average of 10 times per month with eight partners every two months, which means that some of them were taking as many as eight pills per week, exceeding the once-per-day dosage.

“Researchers do not yet know if this regimen will work among MSM who have sex less frequently and would therefore be taking PrEP less often,” Mermin said.

Still, the new results are encouraging.

“I am immensely pleased and overwhelmed, a little emotional even,” said study participant Stefan Laros. “[F]or the first time in 30 years I feel there is hope for people like me, who struggle with consistent condom use, but who want to protect themselves — and just as importantly — their sex partners against HIV infection.”

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Introducing Wankband: The Wearable Designed To Help You Stay Charged – WATCH

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7 Hilarious Doris Quotes From the Paley 'Looking' Panel

As usual, HBO Looking actress Lauren Weedman stole the show.

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Veterans Express Their True Selves Beyond The Uniform In Stunning Photo Series
A new photo series is casting clichés aside by portraying veterans as nothing but their truest selves.

“The Veteran Vision Project,” created by photographer and college student Devin Mitchell, aims to both empower veterans and enlighten the public about the serious issues they face upon returning home. As CBS News reported, sometimes a military uniform “can mask the complexity of the men and women who wear it,” and Mitchell is setting out to unveil just who they really are.

“The veteran population is so diverse, and that is one of the elements that is so amazing about the project,” Mitchell said in a video posted on Kickstarter. His online fundraiser aims to raise $20,000 to publish a photo book of his work. “If there’s one thing I could accomplish with this project, it would be to give the veterans a voice.”

In the photo illustrations, veterans pose — sometimes with family members — in front of a mirror. One photo captures them dressed in uniform and typically sporting a stoic expression. Mitchell takes another photo depicting the military member however they choose to be photographed as a civilian. He then combines the two contrasting images into one.

(Story continues below.)

Major Patrick Lehmann, Medical Officer
United States Army, Reserves

“It’s really giving back to us veterans in allowing us a chance to actually speak out and show who we are,” participant Taralyn Goldman, who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq, told ABC 7 News in Los Angeles.

Although several images show carefree men and women in moments of happiness, some reveal the dark realities many military members live with after their service. As CBS reported, some veterans chose to be photographed with items reflecting the pain associated with PTSD — recreational drugs, alcohol and prescription medications.

Mitchell partnered with media brand We Are The Mighty (WATM), which focuses its efforts on empowering the military community, to promote his work to those in the armed services who’d appreciate it. The group is garnering support for Mitchell’s Kickstarter campaign through its digital and social media platforms.

“I signed on … with Devin as just kind of a way to expose the American public to veterans issues,” Brad Ivanchan, an injured Marine who participated in the project, said in the Kickstarter video. “Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan started, 2.5 million veterans have served in the armed forces and been deployed. This project really helps tell their story after they’ve returned home.”

Scroll below to view more of Mitchell’s photo illustrations.

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American Geriatrics Society Releases Statement Related to LGBT Health

The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) has released a new position statement on the Care of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Older Adults.
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Texas Moving To Ban County Clerks From Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages: VIDEO

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Twitter users from all over the world joined the people of Rome this week standing up with humor against an antigay invasion threat, allegedly from ISIS.

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Ted Cruz Makes A Crude Bill Clinton Joke And Some Important Policy News
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) gave a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday filled with so many red-meat applause lines that it will likely overshadow some important policy pronouncements he made at the end.

On two major planks of the culture wars, the senator came down on the side of states’ rights, suggesting a softening of traditional GOP federalist opposition in each case.

Speaking on the opening day of the annual conservative gathering, Cruz said he felt that decisions about marriage policy are best made at the state level.

“It is wrong for the federal government or unelected judges to tear down the marriage laws of the states,” he told the audience.

That stance is a clear rebuke of a series of lower court decisions that have ruled state marriage bans as unconstitutional. It also seems bound to clash against the Supreme Court, which will weigh in on the matter this June and is expected to declare marriage a constitutional right. But in other respects, Cruz’s remark reflects a newish frontier for a Republican presidential hopeful and a fair bit of movement for Cruz himself.

As recently as last month, Cruz was saying he would introduce a federal constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Such a position, which was held by Mitt Romney in 2012, would establish a one-size-fits-all policy throughout the country. But on Thursday, Cruz was declaring — at least before the CPAC crowd — that marriage is “a question for the states.”

Nor was that the only thing Cruz said should be left to state lawmakers. The senator also expressed his grudging willingness to follow the same principle when it comes to legalizing pot.

“Look,” he said, after making a few pot-makes-you-dumb jokes to moderator Sean Hannity, “I actually think this is a great embodiment of what Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called the laboratories of democracy. If the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, that’s their prerogative. I don’t agree with it, but that’s their right.”

The crowd of conservative activists applauded, which they are prone to do when Cruz speaks.

Elsewhere, he didn’t have to take any risks to get them going. At one point, Cruz made a crude joke about Bill Clinton, uttering “youth outreach” when asked by Hannity to play a word-association game about the former president. As for the other Clinton, Cruz had some pre-packaged lines. “We could have had Hillary here, but we couldn’t find a foreign nation to foot the bill,” he said, alluding to a Washington Post story from the day before about donations made to the Clinton Foundation during Hillary Clinton’s time as secretary of state.

For the most part, Cruz used his time to encourage the crowd to gravitate toward a 2016 presidential candidate willing to stand apart from dealmaking establishment Republicans. Cruz, who knows a thing or two about needling his own party, went through a litany of issues that he said could serve as litmus tests for presidential aspirants.

“If a candidate tells you they oppose Obamacare, fantastic. But when have you stood up and fought against it?” he said. “If a candidate says they oppose President Obama’s illegal and unconstitutional executive amnesty, terrific. When have you stood up and fought against it?”

As he spoke, 20 miles away, congressional Republicans were deliberating a path forward for funding the Department of Homeland Security, where the money runs out on Friday. The night before, Senate Republicans had allowed for a bill to fund DHS to be separated from legislation to undo the president’s executive actions on immigration. Only two Republicans had voted against a measure to essentially start the legislative process by which those dual bills would be considered. Cruz was not one of them. Despite his acquiescence, he was not deterred.

“Look, unfortunately Republican leadership is cutting a deal with Harry Reid and the Democrats to give in on executive amnesty. And the question why is because they are not listening to you,” he said. “There is a mendacity about Washington.”

Watch the video of Cruz’s remarks above.

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