Medical Questions & Answers » AIDS

Infertility Treatment

medicalquestions — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:26:34 +0000

Question: How is infertility treated? I have heard about IVF, but what are GIFTs and all the other funny terms? What do they do for infertile men?
In the male, hormone supplements, storage and concentration of sperm (artificial insemination by husband—AIH), or fertilization by donor sperm (artificial insemination by donor—AID) can be tried. In the woman, fertility drugs can be used to promote ovulation (eg. clomiphene), other drugs may be used to treat endometriosis, or antibiotics may be needed to treat infections. If there is an anatomical abnormality, it may be correctable by surgery.
As a last resort, a very small number of couples may be considered suitable for IVF (in-vitro fertilization or ‘test-tube babies’), or GIFT (gamete intra-Fallopian transfer). GIFT involves giving ovulation-stimulating (egg-producing) hormones to an infertile woman, then harvesting an egg directly from her ovary using a laparoscope, and transferring this unfertilized egg along with sperm from her partner, directly into her Fallopian tube. This is done by using a very fine instrument that passes through her cervix and uterus to the internal opening of a Fallopian tube. If necessary the sperm or egg may be donated by another man or woman.
Most infertility treatment is carried out in private clinics and hospitals, and Medicare benefits for these procedures are restricted. Centers in every Australian capital and many major provincial centers now perform both IVF and GIFT. Australia is one of the leading countries in the world with this technology.
The treatment of infertility has progressed by leaps and bounds over the past few years, and the techniques used are at the leading edge of medical technology. New procedures are constantly being introduced and then discarded in favor of yet another improvement, so that it is difficult for even GPs to keep up. Gynecologists who specialize in this area are the best source of information.

Infertility check-up

medicalquestions — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:00:24 +0000

Question: How do doctors investigate couples who are infertile?
Doctors start their investigations by checking the couple’s sexual habits. A woman is only fertile for four to six days a month, and if sex is infrequent, it is quite easy to miss these days. The first step in specific testing is a sperm analysis in the man. The sperm from an ejaculation is collected in a sterile container and must be examined in a laboratory within two hours. The number of sperm, their shape and their activity are all checked to ensure that they are adequate to fertilize the woman’s egg. If these tests are normal, it is not usually necessary to perform any further tests on the man.
In a woman, the first step is a temperature chart. This involves marking on a graph the woman’s temperature immediately upon waking every morning, the days of the period or other bleeding, and the days when intercourse has occurred. From this and a blood test, a doctor can often see problems with ovulation. There is normally a rise in temperature for the second half of the cycle after the egg has been released from the ovary.
After these simple tests, investigations become more complex. It is necessary to exclude any blockage in the tubes leading from the ovary to the womb, and to assess the woman’s hormonal and biochemical function by a series of blood tests. A careful gynecological examination is performed, and this may be followed by special X-rays or ultrasound scans that outline the uterus (womb) and tubes. The final stage of investigation is an operation called a laparoscopy, in which a small tube is poked through a cut in the lower part of the abdomen. To prevent scarring, the navel is often used for this purpose. Through this tube the doctor can directly examine the female reproductive organs to detect any problems.
Please be assured that although these investigations may not sound very nice, you should suffer no more than discomfort and some indignity, as appropriate anesthetics are given for the more invasive procedures.

AIDS by tongue kissing ?

medicalquestions — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 06:01:32 +0000

Question: Can you catch AIDS by tongue kissing?
One-line questions such as this, scribbled on a scrap of paper, indicate to me that the public education about AIDS still has a long way to go!
NO. You cannot catch AIDS from kissing—no matter how passionate. AIDS cannot be caught by any form of casual encounter. It cannot be caught 1 shaking hands, by a cough or sneeze, by dirty toilets or by spa baths. It theoretically possible, although unlikely, to catch AIDS from oral sex.
Normal intercourse and anal sex, as well as any method of transfer of contaminated blood products from one person to another (eg. a shared needle) are the only methods of AIDS transmission. Injections given by doctors or dentists are given using needles that are used once only. Even ear piercing is done by the use of stud guns that cannot transmit AIDS.
AIDS is quite a difficult disease to catch, but if you are promiscuous in your sexual habits, or are involved with illegal drugs, your chances increase dramatically. Condoms offer some protection against AIDS, but not 100% protection because they can burst of come off at the wrong time.

Prevention of AIDS

medicalquestions — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 06:01:12 +0000

Question: How can AIDS be prevented? Is there a vaccine you can have?
Scientists from around the world have been working overtime in their laboratories for the past two decades since AIDS first appeared in order to develop a long-lasting AIDS vaccine. The scientists who succeed will not only save millions of lives, but almost certainly will win a Nobel Prize.
So far no vaccine has been developed that can be proved to work. Numerous experimental vaccines have been tried on monkeys (who can get a mild form of AIDS) and human volunteers, but without success. It is probable that one will be developed in the future, but the AIDS virus is a different type to most viruses, and no vaccine against any virus of this type has yet been developed.
AIDS can be prevented almost completely (but not totally) by using condoms when you have any sort of penetrative sex, and not sharing needles if you are an injecting drug user. The best form of protection is a long term relationship with a single sexual partner.

How AIDS is catch

medicalquestions — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:06:07 +0000

Question: How can you actually catch AIDS? I see all the advertisements, but I worry that it might be easier to catch than they say.
You can catch AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) by sexual intercourse with a man or woman who is already carrying the AIDS vitus (human immunodeficiency virus—HIV), by receiving blood from such a person, or by using a syringe needle previously used by a victim.
It can be transmitted by a person who is showing no signs of the disease, and may never develop the disease, but who carries the vitus.
It can NOT be caught by other forms of body contact including kissing. It is not highly contagious, and is actually quite hard to catch.

Can AIDS be cured ?

medicalquestions — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:01:33 +0000

Question: Can AIDS be cured now?
Unfortunately, no. Medical scientists have developed a wide range of medications that can be used to slow the progress of AIDS, particularly the transition from an inactive to an active form of the infection, and these can allow patients to lead a normal life for many years, but they do not cure the viral infection.
The drugs must be taken in quite large amounts and often while following very strict time regime. It may be necessary to take several capsules four or five times a day. These drugs also have side effects, and some patients find these difficult to tolerate, while others have minimal problems.
It is often a decade or more from diagnosis before the infection flares up into its final stages with these medications.
The best treatment is still prevention.

Risk of AIDS for couple

medicalquestions — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:01:12 +0000

Question: Is AIDS still a risk for couple who have normal male/female sex?
The risk in western countries of transmitting AIDS from one person to another is highest in injecting drug users and homosexuals, but it is still a problem with heterosexual sex. The saying that when you have sex with someone, you are biologically having sex with every other person that your partner has had sex with, is still true. Although less than one in ten AIDS cases occur from heterosexual sex in western countries, there is still the risk of other sexually transmitted diseases.
In Africa and Asia, the situation is vastly different, with virtually all cases of AIDS occurring with male/female sexual contacts. In some African countries, up to one in three people in the entire population have AIDS, while in southeast Asia one in 20 people in Cambodia are infected.
The incidence of AIDS has steadily dropped for several years in developed countries with better education, and safe sex techniques (eg. using condoms) but seems to have reached a plateau now, with new cases being diagnosed at about one third the rate they were at the peak of infections in the early nineties. About 600 people a year in Australia catch AIDS every year.

History of AIDS

medicalquestions — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:01:31 +0000

Question: Where did AIDS come from? I believe it is a divine retribution from God against those who have sinned. What do doctors really known about the history of AIDS?
The story begins in Central Africa, where it is now believed a mild form of AIDS has existed for centuries. This mild form (known technically at HLTV one) has been isolated from old stored blood samples dated in the 1950s. From Africa, it spread to Haiti in the Caribbean. Haiti was ruled by a vicious dictator (Papa Doc Duvalier), and many Haitians fled to Africa to avoid persecution.
Once ‘Papa Doc’ and his son ‘Baby Doc’ were removed from power, these exiles returned, bringing AIDS with them. In the process, it mutated (to HLTV three, now known as HIV) and became mote virulent, causing a faster and more severe onset of symptoms. Viruses mutate routinely (eg. different strains of influenza virus every year).
There may also have been some movement of the disease directly through Africa to Algeria and France.
American homosexuals frequented Haiti because it was very poor, and sexual favours could be bought cheaply. They returned home from their holiday with the AIDS virus, and it has spread around the world from there. The first cases were diagnosed in California in 1981.
Fortunately for most of us, it is a relatively hard disease to catch. AIDS can NOT be caught from any casual contact, or from spa baths, kissing, mosquitoes, teats, towels or clothing. Only by homosexual or heterosexual intercourse with a carrier of the disease, of by using contaminated needles or blood from a carrier can the disease be caught.
Many people who are not homosexual, promiscuous or drug addicts have been affected by this dread disease, including a number of of Australia’s haemophiliacs, who depend upon blood products to stop them bleeding excessively.