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The Shifting Landscape of AIDS
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The mortality rate from HIV and AIDS declined by 26% in 1996. This substantial drop-from 15.6 deaths per 100 000 persons in 1995 to 11.6 per 100 000 in 1996-moved AIDS from the number one to the number two cause of death among 25- to 44-year-olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The improvement is being attributed primarily to the recent availability of combination therapies for patients with HIV and AIDS.
This good news is tempered by reports that the number of U.S. women ages 13 and older diagnosed with AIDS has increased almost sixfold-from 0.9 cases per 100 000 in 1991 to 5.2 per 100 000 in 1995. The greatest increases were among women who acquired HIV through heterosexual contact rather than through use of injection drugs (JAMA. 1997; 278:911-16). Women now comprise almost 20% of adult patients with AIDS.
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Women Confuse Arthritis and Osteoporosis
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U.S. women may mistakenly wait for symptoms of arthritis before taking action against osteoporosis, according to a recent telephone survey. Six in ten women surveyed think that osteoporosis has warning signs or symptoms. More than 70% of respondents cited pain, 50% mentioned stiffness, and 33% referred to swollen joints as symptoms of osteoporosis.
More than 40% of respondents stated that osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are related diseases. Half said that they believe the treatments for arthritis and osteoporosis are similar. The random-digit dialed telephone survey of 505 women was funded by the National Osteoporosis Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Robert Lindsay, MD, PhD, president of the foundation and chief of internal medicine at Helen Hayes Hospital in New York, expressed concern that confusion surrounding these diseases leads many women to ignore their risk for osteoporosis and fail to take steps to protect themselves from the disease.
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