scholarly journals Diseases Chasing Money and Power: Breast Cancer and Aids Activism Challenging Authority

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Sue Bix
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
National Institutes Of Health ◽  
Medical Systems ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Aids Activism ◽  
Breast Cancer Study ◽  
Acquired Immunodeficiency ◽  
Immunodeficiency Syndrome ◽  
Federal Appropriations

Through the 1980s and early 1990s, the course of American health research was increasingly shaped by politically-aggressive activism for two particular diseases, breast cancer and AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). Even as national stakes rose, both in dollars spent and growing demands on the medical system, breast cancer and AIDS advocates made government policy-making for research ever more public and controversial. Through skillful cultivation of political strength, interest groups transformed individual health problems into collective demands, winning notable policy influence in federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Activists directly challenged fundamental principles of both government and medical systems, fighting to affect distribution of research funds and questioning well-established scientific methods and professional values. In the contest for decision-making power, those players achieved remarkable success in influencing and infiltrating (some critics said, undermining) both the politics and science of medical research. Between 1990 and 1995, federal appropriations for breast cancer study rose from $90 million to $465 million, while in that same period, NIH AIDS research rose from $743.53 million to $1,338 billion.

Prader-Willi syndrome - case report and literature review

Perinatologia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-189
Author(s):  
Simona Vlădăreanu ◽  
Ana Maria Măreșescu (Predescu) ◽  
Aurora Popa
Keyword(s):  
Prader Willi Syndrome ◽  
Medical Systems ◽  
Retrospective Diagnosis ◽  
Defining Moments ◽  
Psychological Pressure ◽  
Severe Hypotonia ◽  
Acquired Immunodeficiency ◽  
Immunodeficiency Syndrome ◽  
Retroviral Infections ◽  
Hiv Aids

Prader-Willi syndrome is a consequence of several genetic defects in the 15q11-q13 region, including methylation changes, and is associated in newborns with hypotonia, poor suck, a reduced growth velocity, and developmental delay. We present the case of a newborn with severe hypotonia delivered via caesarean surgery at full term in the "Elias" University Emergency Hospital. Although the newborn had normal respiratory and cardiovascular parameters, the clinical examination had revealed hypotonia, lethargy and hypogonadism. The risk factors are unknown for this particularly case, as there was no additional risk identified prenatally. The particularity of this case is that the newborn had since birth very severe hypotonia and poor suck. Retroviral infections have been an important cause of preoccupation of research and medical systems in the past decades. The discovery of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the etivological factor of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) marked a turning point in the conceptual framework and medical management. Retrospective diagnosis has permitted the discovery of infections after 20-30 years from the date of death. "The transmission" chains are still undefined and are still under study. Given that, the "United Nations HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)" targets for 2020 and 2030 are ambitious. To reach these goals, in spite of the overwhelming material costs to healthcare and socio-medical systems, and different kinds of "psychological pressure", attention and support to combat HIV/AIDS infection need to remain a first-line problem for governments and contemporary society. We propose a review of the defining moments in the natural history and their impact on the global medical systems of HIV/AIDS in the 1981-1990 period and to underline the most important information up to 2017 in our country.

Immunogold labeling of Pneumocystis carinii for Electron microscopy

1991 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 270-271
Author(s):  
Michael P. Goheen ◽  
Marilyn S. Bartlett ◽  
James W. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Pneumocystis Carinii ◽  
Severe Pneumonia ◽  
Culture Fluid ◽  
Immunogold Labeling ◽  
Antigenic Sites ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Response To Chemotherapy ◽  
Acquired Immunodeficiency ◽  
Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Studies of the biology of Pneumocystis carinii (PC) are of increasing importance because this extracellular pathogen is a frequent source of severe pneumonia in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and is a leading cause of mortality in these patients. Immunoelectron microscopic localization of antigenic sites on the surface of PC would improve the understanding of these sites and their role in pathenogenisis of the disease and response to chemotherapy. The purpose of this study was to develop a methodology for visualizing immunoreactive sites on PC with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using immunogold labeled probes.Trophozoites of PC were added to spinner flask cultures and allowed to grow for 7 days, then aliquots of tissue culture fluid were centrifuged at 12,000 RPM for 30 sec. Pellets of organisims were fixed in either 1% glutaraldehyde, 0.1% glutaraldehyde-4% paraformaldehyde, or 4% paraformaldehyde for 4h. All fixatives were buffered with 0.1M Na cacodylate and the pH adjusted to 7.1. After fixation the pellets were rinsed in 0.1M Na cacodylate (3X), dehydrated with ethanol, and immersed in a 1:1 mixture of 95% ethanol and LR White resin.

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