Increasing prevalence of HIV, and persistent high-risk behaviours among drug users in Bangladesh: need for a comprehensive harm reduction programme

Introduction and Aims. The aim of this study was to examine trends in HIV and related risk behaviours in drug users in Bangladesh, the effects of prevention and harm reduction initiatives that have already been undertaken and to highlight immediate needs. Design and Methods. Journal publications, conference abstracts and proceedings were collected and reviewed. As there were relatively few published papers, the grey literature was also reviewed. Experts involved in the development and evaluation of current programmes or policy were contacted for official reports, policy documents or unpublished materials. The trends in injecting and sexual risk behaviours were tabulated. Results. Periodic behavioural and serosurveillance on recognised sentinel groups shows clearly that HIV prevalence among injecting drug users has been increasing steadily. In the capital city, the HIV prevalence among injecting drug users is close to the level of a concentrated epidemic (4.9%). While harm reduction strategies have brought a scope of reduction of injecting-related risk behaviours, the persistent high rates of needle sharing and high prevalence of sexual risk behaviours remains alarming. Non-injecting drug users have maintained a low prevalence of HIV but their high-risk sexual behaviours and transformation into injecting drug users with time are of concern. Discussion and Conclusions. There are substantial gaps between current needs and the ongoing prevention and harm reduction activities. There is a pressing need for a comprehensive harm reduction programme and review of any policies and laws which may impede this. [Islam MM, Conigrave KM. Increasing prevalence of HIV, and persistent high-risk behaviours among drug users in Bangladesh: need for a comprehensive harm reduction programme. Drug Alcohol Rev 2007;26:445-454]     

The influence of structured education and clinical experience on the attitudes of medical students towards substance misusers

Negative attitudes to patients with substance misuse disorders form a well-recognised barrier to the implementation of best practice. The influence of structured education and clinical experience on the attitudes of medical students towards substance misusers was investigated at an Australian university. First-year students were surveyed before and after 3 weeks of drug and alcohol education and in the same year, fourth-year students were surveyed before and after a 9-week block. Males, older students and those with prior clinical experience tended to have more negative attitudes. Attitudes improved significantly after exposure to interactive learning modules which included contact with patients with substance dependence, including individuals in remission. The level of dislike of problem drinkers significantly decreased after teaching. After fourth-year education, students reported a greater sense of responsibility towards providing intervention and less anticipation of discomfort working with these patients. In particular, confidence and attitudes towards heroin users improved near the end of training after contact with illicit drug users in the small group or individual interview setting. By the end of drug and alcohol education, less than half (42%) of students reported they could not imagine working with substance misusers as a career. Findings support the provision of structured drug and alcohol education and supported clinical experience for every medical student if appropriate evidence-based treatment is to be provided. [Silins E, Conigrave KM, Rakvin C, Dobbins T, Curry K. The influence of structured education and clinical experience on the attitudes of medical students towards substance misusers. Drug Alcohol Rev 2007;26:191 - 200]     

长期口服小剂量阿司匹林不能预防健康女性患2型糖尿病

慢性无临床症状的炎症与2型糖尿病的发生有关,流行病学资料认为这种关联在妇女表现得更为强烈。虽然小型临床研究显示短期口服大剂量阿司匹林具有明显的降糖效果,但是并没有随机试验直接评估临床可接受的剂量的阿司匹林预防糖尿病的效果。在美国一项随机、双盲、安慰剂-对照的女性健康研究（Women＇s Health Study）中,38716名45岁以上的且无临床糖尿病的健康女性随机口服小剂量的阿司匹林（n=19326）或安慰剂（n=19390）,     

慢性乙型肝炎的口服抗病毒药物评价

美国食品和药品管理局（FDA）已批准拉米夫定（LAM）、阿德福韦（ADV）、恩替卡韦（ETV）和替比夫定（LdT）这四种口服抗病毒药物用于治疗慢性乙型肝炎（CHB）,其Ⅲ期临床试验的疗效、安全性及耐药情况总结于表1和表2。尽管每种药物均表现出良好的安全性,但对长期治疗而言也存在限制性。而且,这些药物均独立进行研发,仅作为单药治疗进行临床验证,     

远端与近端结肠癌在临床、病理和分子生物学特征上的区别

背景远端和近端结肠癌在起源,基因暴露,环境诱变及肠道菌群等方面均存在差异。然而这些差异很少被用来解释如何影响肿瘤的发生机制,特异的治疗响应及预后情况。研究系统性探索了远端与近端结肠癌的差异及这些差异的临床意义。资料与方法研究共纳入3 045例结肠癌患者的详细临床病理数据用于分析,这些患者资料均来源于PETACC3(关于结肠癌辅助化疗)临床试验。这些数据中,