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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1998)
12 aprii 17.1998 news APRIL SHOWERS... BRING SALE FLOWERS! PRESENTING 1 <u </> c < 0 4- 0 ■0 ü A SPRING SEMINAR WITH MATT WOOD, AIFD TUESDAY, APRIL 2 1 ,7-9 PM $15 PER PERSON RESERVATIONS REQUIRED O ut with Clout c Internationally known floral designer, consul tant and educator, Matt shares his expertise for vibrant floral designs and “how to ” ideas using clear resins and stunning silk florals. E l_ u 0 4-» W 0 E r\ U u +J Em ily S im o n and T racey C o rd e s, p ro u d m em b e rs o f o u r com m un ity sp ecializin g in crim in al d efe n se. c 0 >> 40% OFF all silk flowers April 1-30 0 6 8 4 -2 7 9 0 P a rk 2 1 7 Business C e n t e r T ig a rd u- M isd em ean or felony, tra ffic , & D U II actio n s in sta te , fe d e ra l, & ju v en ile co u rts civil fo rfe itu re s, & ad m in istrative action s U c 0 0 x; •M L. 0 V. 0 > 0 imo& MOTIVES C 1__ * (503) 241-1 553 A G a lle ry of Gifts for Your H o m e ou w ork D a r ò to T rying T imes The Portland area is one of the sites for an AmFAR clinical study of combination drug therapy for hepatitis C and HIV by Bob Roehr T about 50 percent of cases. The combination has he American Foundation for AIDS been submitted to the FDA for market approval. Research has begun recruitment So far, none of the trials of interferon and for the first clinical trial of combi ribavirin have dealt with HIV-positive people. nation therapy for hepatitis C among those who are also HIV But anecdotal evidence suggests disease progres sion and reaction to treatment will be similar positive. The 18-month study will involve 200 patients at 20 sites around the nation, including whether one is infected only with hepatitis C virus or coinfected with HIV Portland. Protease combination therapy has dramati AmFAR brought physicians participating in cally beaten back HIV for the clinical trial to a day long briefing in New York many, but that success has City on April 1. allowed time for more slow ly developing medical con The 18-month study involves 48 weeks of dou ditions, such as hepatitis C, ble-blind, placebo-con to emerge. trolled treatment in which This second viral infec half the subjects will tion attacks the liver, scar receive interferon and rib ring it and reducing liver avirin, and the other half function over the course of will receive interferon and decades. Liver damage can a placebo, explained Kevin make it harder to metabo lize certain drugs, including Frost, director of clinical research for AmFAR. protease inhibitors. It can ultimately lead to complete The trial will measure liver failure and death. hepatitis C viral load at several points during the Some people living with regimen, as well as six H IV /A ID S who carry months after it is complet hepatitis C may not even know they have it. Until ed, to see if there is sus recently there was little tained viral suppression. effective therapy, so many doctors didn’t even Volunteers must have any HIV drug regimen bother to screen for the hepatitis C virus. stabilized at least four weeks prior to beginning Furthermore, the standard screening test misses this trial. Part of the initial screening process is as many as half of the hepatitis a liver biopsy— a potentially C cases among those with painful procedure— to deter Protease combination mine what, if any, liver scar HIV. Many people with hepatitis therapy has dramatically ring is present. C were infected through taint Participants will be taught beaten back HIV for ed blood products utilized prior to inject interferon under to a screening program initiat many, but that success their skin, much as a diabetic ed in 1990. does with insulin. Injections has allowed time for Today, new infections are will be administered at least three times a week, or perhaps likely to come through sharing more slowly developing daily, for the duration of the needles, cocaine straws, and blood during rough sex. medical conditions, such trial. Condoms offer protection, and Side effects of interferon as hepatitis C, to emerge. the risk via oral sex is believed range from very mild to to be very small. severe flulike symptoms and Interferon alpha is currently the only federal are often dose-related. Ribavirin is a pill with Food and Drug Administration-approved thera generally mild side effects. Both can cause ane py for hepatitis C . It brings sustained viral mia and loss of blood platelets. repression in only 20 percent o f those who com plete the regimen. ■ For further information about the trial, contact A combination adding the synthetic nucleo Norma Martinez of the Portland-based Research & side ribavirin seems to suppress the virus in Education Group at 229-8428. Call Today Choose Your Home $ 5 0 0 Down O.A.C. (Some dow npaym ent, slightly higher) ,tefs A M a ny m ore spaces available v Payments based on 30 years, 11.50% APR O .A .C. 659-7241 ß i f « Àas/’òtvards ' * m r _ , - * * * * ' 13233 S.E. McLoughlin, Milwaukee, OR or tou free 1 -8 0 0 -8 7 4 -7 0 3 0