This Month in HIV

On Nov. 10, Egrifta (tesamorelin) became the first drug approved in the U.S. to treat unusual fat gain, or lipohypertrophy, in people with HIV. In our latest episode of This Month in HIV, we talk with noted HIV researcher Daniel Berger, M.D., about how Egrifta works, who should take it, and what else we know to date about the treatment of lipohypertrophy.

Bone disease is more common in HIV-positive people than in non-HIVers -- but many people don't even know they have it. In this in-depth interview, two top HIV researchers cover the basics of bone problems in HIVers: what causes them, how to find out whether you have them, and what you can do to keep your bones healthy.

Last fall, newspapers around the world featured headlines about the case of a 42-year-old, HIV-positive man who was living in Berlin. Or, at least, he used to be HIV positive. He also had leukemia -- before a risky stem cell transplant not only treated the leukemia, but also made the man the first (and thus far only) person ever to be cured of his HIV infection. Our guide through this remarkable story is Jeffrey Laurence, M.D., the chief scientist at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, and one of the most prominent HIV physician/researchers in the United States. Dr. Laurence talks us through the details and lays out the steps we need to take before we can succeed in our relentless search to cure HIV not just in one man, but in all HIV-positive people.

Does HIV really exist? And if it does exist, can it cause harm? They're ridiculous questions, of course: If you're reading this, there's a 99.9 percent chance you agree that HIV does exist and it can cause harm. Yet there are a small group of people who remain willfully oblivious to the facts about HIV. They call themselves "AIDS dissidents." We in the HIV community call them "denialists." The question is: Why do these people continue to deny the truth about HIV and AIDS in the face of overwhelming evidence? In the first of a special two-part episode of our This Month in HIV podcast series, we ask these questions of clinical psychologist Seth Kalichman, Ph.D., who went underground to determine first-hand what makes AIDS denialists tick.

Body shape changes are among the most frustrating complications of HIV and HIV medications. Whether it's the gradual sinking of their cheeks or the sudden swelling in their midsection, some people with HIV have been largely forced to just grin and bear these problems, since there are few treatments available (and those that are available can be expensive). In the first episode of our freshly revived This Month in HIV podcast series, HIV activist and long-time survivor Nelson Vergel leads a discussion with Donald Kotler, M.D., who is an expert on metabolic complications and HIV. They'll fill us in on some of the latest updates on this important issue.

In this podcast, we'll take a look back at the top HIV medical stories of 2007.

Every day a barrage of HIV research is published and presented around the world. Even if you were to read all the journal articles and research meeting coverage related to HIV, how should you evaluate the importance of individual studies? That's when it helps to know someone who is himself knee-deep in the research.

Dr. David Wohl is a researcher and clinician at the University of North Carolina, and he's also an expert in our "Ask the Experts" forums. For years now, Dr. Wohl has been writing our year-end review of the top HIV medical stories for health care professionals on our sister site, The Body PRO.

Dr. Wohl has the unique ability to put the advances of HIV medicine in perspective, and he does so with humor and wisdom. But most importantly, he tries to make the material accessible to everyone. If you're interested in discovering the very latest in cutting-edge HIV research, this is the podcast for you.

Being diagnosed with HIV can be a traumatic experience. Whether you're 15 or 55, the emotions that accompany an HIV diagnosis can be overwhelming -- as can be the millions of questions, small and large, that start shooting through your mind. Questions such as: How could this have happened to me? How will my life change? Who should I tell? Will anyone still love me? Will I have to take treatment for the rest of my life? In This Month in HIV, we've brought together four individuals to offer concrete tips for coping with HIV, whether you've just been diagnosed or you've been living with it for years. Our guests are:

Dr. Robert Remien, a prominent HIV researcher and clinical psychologist based in New York City. His research focuses on mental health and support for people with HIV, including mixed-status couples and gay men.

Larry Bryant, a semi-pro football player turned HIV-positive political activist. A 20-year survivor of HIV, Larry is now the national field organizer for the HIV advocacy group Housing Works in Washington, D.C.

Sherri Lewis, who lives in Los Angeles and speaks out about HIV in her podcast series "Straight Girl in a Queer World," hosted by Here! TV, a gay television network. She's also a performer and writer who was diagnosed with HIV in 1987.

Michael McColly, a Chicago-based author, writing instructor and yoga teacher. He recently published his memoir, The After-Death Room: Journey into Spiritual Activism. Michael tested positive for HIV in 1996.

For as long as humanity has known about the existence of HIV, there's been discrimination against HIV-positive people. Since the mid-1980s, people with HIV have been fired, evicted, injured, imprisoned, ostracized and even killed simply for having the virus in their blood. People with HIV have gone to prison for having protected sex without disclosing, or even just for spitting on an HIV-negative person. And they've been fired from their jobs for even less.

So as an HIV-positive person, what can you do to protect yourself -- in life, in love, at work and elsewhere? This month, we're pleased to have Catherine Hanssens, Esq., here to explain the law to us. Catherine is an attorney who has worked tirelessly on HIV-related legal and policy issues since 1984. She is the executive director of the Center for HIV Law and Policy, the first nationwide legal resource and strategy center for people with HIV and their advocates. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of HIV and the law. We're honored to have her as our guest for This Month in HIV.

Up to one third of people with HIV are estimated to also have hepatitis C, and living with both viruses is no picnic. The good news is that, unlike HIV, hepatitis C can be cured. The not-so-good news is that being cured is sometimes far from easy.

This podcast will focus on three people. We'll be talking to Tracy Swan, the Coinfection Project Director for the HIV activist organization Treatment Action Group. Tracy just finished cowriting a booklet about HIV and hepatitis C coinfection, and she will update us on the latest hepatitis C news and research.

But first, we'll speak with Greg Lamb and Dan Durbin, an HIV positive couple who have been together for 10 years. Dan was diagnosed with HIV in 1998, while Greg has been living with HIV for 23 years. In 1993 Greg also discovered he had hepatitis C. Dan and Greg will discuss how they've dealt with hepatitis C as a couple, from diagnosis to treatment to everyday support.

Plenty of attention has been focused on the link between methamphetamine and growing HIV rates in some U.S. communities. However, meth use isn't just a problem because it's an HIV risk factor. Meth has also become a major issue among people who already have HIV. Research suggests a growing number of HIV-positive people in the United States are using or addicted to meth, particularly in the gay community.

In terms of meth's effect on HIV and HIV medications, there are far more questions than answers at this point. However, meth use -- just like any other drug addiction -- can cause people to neglect their HIV medications and their general health, which could help drug resistance develop and accelerate HIV progression.

So how do we, in the HIV community, begin to address the meth epidemic? What do we need to know? We brought together three people to help shed some light on this topic: a harm-reduction expert, a meth use counselor and a recovering meth addict.