Summer 2009 Issue of Mental Health AIDS Released
Mental Health AIDS, a quarterly biopsychosocial research update on HIV and mental health, is sponsored by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and is disseminated free-of-charge through the SAMHSA Web site in both PDF and HTML formats.
The Summer 2009 issue features "SAVA Latina: Addressing the Interplay of Substance Abuse, Violence, & AIDS Affecting Hispanic Women (Part 2)."
Part 1 of this series reviewed the literature linking substance abuse, violence, and AIDS (SAVA), including recent work delineating pathways that tie together violence and HIV risk. The focus then shifted to violence and its effects on immigrant Hispanic women (Latinas) living in the United States, cultural factors that contribute to the risk of both violence and HIV in this population, and screening questions (in Spanish) that have demonstrated utility in identifying women who have been abused.
This concluding segment summarizes the impact of violence on the health (including mental health) of women in general and Latinas in particular, unmet mental health needs in this population, and the evolving state of intervention research, including culturally specific interventions for clinicians working in the crosscurrents of these health and social problems.
More information is available:
Individuals on HAART Likely to Have Arterial Stiffness
"HIV patients receiving highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) are more likely to have a level of arterial stiffness similar to that in healthy patients with high blood pressure, a new study finds....
The study provides new insight into the link between HIV infection, HAART use and the premature development of cardiovascular disease in HIV-infected patients, even when they have normal blood pressure.
However, the effects may not be severe enough to halt treatment, and the study didn't establish that HAART causes the stiffness, noted the researchers, from the University of Athens in Greece. "
