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On May 10, the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) issued an apology to 2SLGBTQIA+ communities for the role its former donor eligibility policy played in contributing to “discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, and HIV stigma within society.” From 1998 until 2013, CBS had a lifetime blood donation ban for any man who had sex with another man, even once. This ban then became a deferral period of five years, then 12 months, and finally, three months. Under their most recent screening policies updated in late 2022, both CBS and Héma-Québec ask every potential donor if they have had anal sex with a new...

An article demonstrates the beneficial effects of consuming 500 milligrams (mg) per day of propolis for people living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The authors found that the group given propolis, unlike the group given placebo, displayed a significant reduction in plasma levels of malondialdehyde, a marker of oxidative stress. Total antioxidant capacity increased slightly in the same group, reflecting the direct combating of free radicals. "Although people living with HIV have excellent life expectancy, one of the problems still faced is the question of premature aging," said biologist Karen Ingrid Tasca. This process of premature aging is...

STUDY: People With HIV Age 14 Years Faster New study shows evidence HIV accelerates age-related diseases. HIV positive patients may be living longer, but they may also be aging faster than expected. A new study published today in PLOS One shows that HIV-positive people are at an increased risk of age-related diseases such as some cancers, frailty, osteoporosis, kidney disease, and neurocognitive disease. Researchers think that it is the HIV itself that accelerates the aging process by 14 years, rather than medications used to treat it. Scientists from the UCLA AIDS Institute and Center for AIDS Research and the Multi-Center...

Even When Well Treated, HIV Is Linked to Advanced Aging Researchers analyzed 10 biomarkers associated with biological aging among a group of HIV-positive and -negative Europeans. People living with well-treated HIV may experience faster biological aging than their HIV-negative counterparts. Publishing their findings in the journal AIDS, researchers from the ComorBidity in Relation to AIDS (COBRA) study analyzed 134 people with HIV and 79 HIV-negative people with similar sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. The participants were recruited in Amsterdam (these were at least 45 years old) and London (these were at least 50 years old). All the HIV-positive individuals were on...

For National HIV/AIDS & Aging Awareness Day (NHAAD), Hank Trout shares the effects of premature aging with HIV.... Every September 18 since 2008, we have observed National HIV/AIDS & Aging Awareness Day (NHAAD), highlighting the complex issues related to HIV prevention, care, and treatment for aging populations in the United States. The goals of NHAAD are to emphasize the need for prevention, research, and data targeting the aging population and to increase medical understanding of the aging process and its impact on HIV/AIDS, to increase the quality of life for older people living with HIV/AIDS and to reduce stigma surrounding...

A key challenge after the Covid-19 pandemic will be managing the long-term sequalae for the millions of individuals who recover from the disease. Based on the available evidence, our hypothesis is the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and its long-term complications will lead to premature aging (in terms of health) of many people in the world.