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SOUTHERN VOICE
OCTOBER 14/1993
WeA
A .> •"
put time on your
Accelerated Benefits of Washington*
will purchase your existing
life insurance for cash.
• We process your
| request quickly and at
l no cost to you. • Our ap
? plication process is simple.
• Payment is made immed-
! iately and in full. • All in
quiries are held in the strictest confidence. • You use your pay
ment any way you want. • You have ready access to an es
crow account holding your money. There are no restric
tions. • We will consider any size individual or group
policy. • Your accelerated benefits counsellor will
: give you prompt, personalized service. We
welcome the opportunity to work \
with federal employees. \ ::
i' .. ‘member NAPWA and NAVSO
If you or someone close to you is seriously ill,
call Carol Cunard at 1-800-227-8447 for more information.
HEALTHQUEST '93
presents
Care Partnerships
Support for individuals with HIV and the
people who care for them
ADMISSION
FREE - Open to the public
HIGHLIGHTS
* Addressing the social issues people with HIV disease and their
caregivers are likely to encounter
* Addressing the reasons that often prevent individuals from asking for
help
* Building appropriate support networks that put you back in control
WHEN
Monday, October 18 6:30 - 8:45 p.m.
WHERE
Academy of Medicine
875 West Peachtree Street, NW
(corner of 7th and West Peachtree)
Atlanta
Strategies for women fighting migraines
by DR. HERMAN WEINREB
If you are a woman who suffers from
migraine headaches around the time of men
struation, you are not alone. Approximately
60 percent of women who get migraines re
port some relation of their headaches to their
menstrual cycle.
Although there is no absolute cure for
these headaches, there are medications that
can relieve the pain, and lifestyle changes
that may help reduce migraine frequency.
Migraine headaches result when blood
vessels in the brain expand abnormally and
stimulate surrounding pain fibers.
Why do the blood vessels dilate? No
body knows for sure. However, a number of
factors seem to contribute to migraines in
women, including changes in body hormones
that accompany menstruation.
As a period nears, a woman’s hormones,
including estrogen, are most in flux. Conse
quently, the closer a woman is to having her
period, the more likely a migraine will occur.
If you suffer from migraines at the time
of your period, you should anticipate its oc
currence, as a number of medications can
relieve migraine pain, especially if the drugs
are taken just as the headaches are starting.
In the last few years, new drugs have
been developed for migraine headache, and
migraine relief may also be found in stress
reduction and diet changes.
Stress contributes to all kinds of head
aches, including migraines. Contemplate the
stresses in your life and formulate plans for
reducing their negative influence. Likewise, a
poor diet, including too much alcohol or fluc
tuations in caffeine levels, can help cause mi
graines. In some people, even a small glass of
red wine can touch off a migraine headache.
And some fragrances, such as perfumes, may
also prompt a migraine.
Since migraine headaches are related to
blood flow, exercise helps regulate blood cir
culation and can help reduce migraine occur
rence. Also, cessation of smoking should be
an important consideration since nicotine hurts
the regulation of blood circulation.
Some migraine sufferers may also benefit
from biofecdback, a system that uses electri
cal monitoring to stimulate blood circulation
and increase blood flow to the extremities.
Also, read the package information on
your other medications. Some drugs, includ
ing birth control pills, may aggravate head
aches, including migraines. Seek to replace
these medications with other, less trouble
some treatments.
Dr. Weinreb is an assistant professor of
neurology at New York University Medical
Center.
Dropping anonymous HIV testing
had no adverse effects, CDC says
Durham, AC—North Carolina’s decision
to switch from anonymous to confidential
HIV testing did not result in fewer tests or
affect the rate of infection, according to a
preliminary study by the federal Centers for
Disease Control.
The report examined the impact of the
state’s decision to curtail anonymous testing
in 83 counties in September 1991. The state
reinstituted anonymous testing in all 100
counties after a Superior Court judge ruled
earlier this year that the restriction was un
constitutional.
Those tested anonymously for HIV do
not have to reveal their identities. Under con
fidential testing, people are required to pro
vide their name, address and phone number,
although the state is legally restricted from
releasing that information.
Opponents of confidential testing pre
dicted it would discourage people from seek
ing the test. The opponents also said they
didn’t trust health officials to keep identities
confidential.
“We really tried to find an impact,” said
William Kasslcr, principal author of the study.
“We went out of our way to find an adverse
impact. It appears in the general population
that there is no adverse impact overall.”
But Steve Harris, a member of ACT UP/
Triangle who was a plaintiff in the lawsuit
that restored anonymous testing, said the pre
liminary report does not support a switch to
confidential testing.
“They reviewed this in a linear model,
which has been questioned all along,” he said.
“That’s not the most appropriate way to re
view the data...It’s comparing apples and or
anges.”
Harris also said the state’s decision to
exclude activists and other interested parties
from the meeting at which the report was
presented only strengthened the feelings of
distrust and suspicion.
Kassler presented the report to state health
officials and faculty members at the Univer
sity of North Carolina School of Public Health,
emphasizing the tentative nature of the find
ings.
State officials say information collected
from confidential testing allows them to con
tact persons who test positive but don’t return
for the results, as well as those who had sexual
contact with the infected person.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kaposi’s Sarcoma Clinical Trials Open
Two trials are enrolling in the Atlanta Area for people with HIV
Disease and advanced Kaposi’s sarcoma (progressing dis
ease with more than 25 skin lesions or visceral involvement).
1. Randomized comparison of DOXIL® (an investigational
drug formulation of doxorubicin encapsulated in liposomes)
with ABV (adriamycin, bleomycin and vincristine—a combi
nation of drugs considered one of the standard treatments
for advanced KS).
2. Open trial of DOXIL® for treating people whose KS has
progressed while on ABV or BV.
CALL 1-800-KAPOSIS
for information about trial designs and entry criteria