<\/a>DETROIT<\/strong>. HIV rate is 4x the state average<\/a>: \u201cWhile the overall number of people diagnosed with new cases of HIV in Michigan has remained relatively stable since the early 2000s, it has been rising in a key demographic: young African-American gay<\/a> and bisexual<\/a> men<\/a> who have seen a sweeping statewide increase in diagnoses, according to Jennifer Miller, an HIV epidemiology manager for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. \u201d<\/p>\n PROTEIN POWDER<\/strong>. 7 ingredients to look for and 6 to avoid<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n AUSTRALIA<\/strong>. New HIV infections at 7-year-low<\/a>: \u201cProfessor Guy said the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, over the past few years had played a role in the reduction of HIV. PrEP is a similar concept to oral contraception, where a pill is taken as a precaution, rather than as a treatment after infection has occurred. Recently it has been available through state-funded programs,\u00a0with the Government putting it on the PBS from April 1, 2018<\/a>. The greatest decline in rates was among gay<\/a> and bisexual<\/a> men<\/a>. Heterosexuals make up 200 of the 1,000 cases every year, and they are diagnosed quite late, according to Professor Guy.\u201d<\/p>\n BLOOD DONATION<\/strong>. Canadian blood services mulling shorter wait time for gay blood donors<\/a>.<\/p>\n EXPERIENCES<\/strong>. Gay, Muslim and living with HIV<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cTo this day, I have never come across someone like me and it\u2019s incredibly lonely,\u201d says Shamal Waraich. \u201cNow I have got to the point in my life where I\u2019m proud to say who I am: I\u2019m British-Pakistani, Muslim, gay<\/a> and living with HIV. I just want to say to someone, \u2018You understand, right? How difficult it is as a Muslim and being HIV positive?<\/p>\n LATINX<\/strong>. Fear of Trump policies may drive rising HIV rates in Latinx communities<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cThese rates have been climbing for multiple years. But I think fears around deportation and racism toward immigrants, feeling unsafe, and the stress of having to provide for your family all contribute toward poor mental health and the potential to abuse substances and expose yourself to HIV. We\u2019re starting to see this definite pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n MIGRAINES<\/strong>. New medication approved is first of new class<\/a>: \u2018The drug is called Emgality, and it\u2019s made by drug giant Eli Lilly. The drug has a list price of $575 a month, or $6,900 a year\u2026The drug \u2014 and its competitors \u2014 target CGRP, short for calcitonin gene-related peptide.\u00a0CGRP isn\u2019t exactly a new target. CGRP\u00a0has been known<\/a>\u00a0to play a significant role in migraines since the 1980s and 1990s, though it\u2019s taken some time to develop the technology that can leverage it. But in the past few months, the FDA has approved three preventative medications that act on the target.\u201d<\/p>\n POOP ETIQUETTE<\/strong>. Himeros TV\u2019s Davey Wavey and Sam Wiles discuss what to do when anal sex<\/a> gets messy.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n TRUVADA AND THE TRUTH<\/strong>. Is HIV prevention propelling the STI epidemic?<\/a> \u2018Findings about PrEP\u2019s apparent ties to increasing STIs have led to some calls<\/a> for an improved response to such transmissions. Researchers also see an opportunity to engage PrEP users in research into\u00a0new forms<\/a>\u00a0of STI prevention, including vaccines. But an apparent minority of prominent experts remains unconvinced. Dawn K Smith, a medical officer in HIV prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said: \u201cWe don\u2019t have evidence that PrEP caused declines in condom use in the US.\u201d Others would prefer PrEP researchers steer away from investigating and debating related behavioral change, which is sometimes called risk compensation.\u2019<\/p>\n PrEP ATTITUDES<\/strong>. New study clocks attitudes toward PrEP, notes that some see it as a social problem<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cBy framing PrEP use as enabling gay<\/a> and bisexual<\/a> men<\/a> to violate subcultural norms of sexual etiquette espoused in previous HIV prevention efforts, claims makers were able to present PrEP users as social problem villains,\u201d write the authors. \u201cCountering claims makers\u2019 framing PrEP as a social problem, some men<\/a> constructed PrEP as a helpful prevention tool in the fight against the HIV epidemic within gay<\/a> and bisexual<\/a> communities. Much of their discourse was couched within a harm reduction model in which PrEP medication is framed as significantly reducing the harm associated with engaging in risky sexual behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n LIFE INSURANCE<\/strong>. The gay men who have lived for years with someone waiting on their death<\/a>: \u201cA wave of people viaticated their life-insurance policies when confronted with such a gruesome and fatal virus. Some came into enormous sums of cash. Many are alive today because of protease inhibitors. Those who viaticated their policies and continue to live<\/a> with HIV do so knowing that investors have long waited to collect on their deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n THE GUT-BRAIN CONNECTION<\/strong>. \u201cDuke University research Diego Bohorquez and colleagues have identified the neural circuitry that connects the gut with the brain. This pathway is spanned by a single synapse, capable of relaying a signal from gut to brain in 100 milliseconds. This newly discovered pathway is probably exploited by pathogens, and will almost certainly lead to new therapies.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Body Conscious: Gay Men\u2019s Health, Sex, and Self<\/a>\u00a0is a new regular twice-monthly feature from Towleroad covering the unique issues gay<\/a> men<\/a> face with regard to physical and mental fitness.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n If you are a writer\/professional with a background in gay<\/a> men<\/a>\u2019s health interested in contributing to this regular column, shoot us an email at\u00a0jobs-at-towleroad.com<\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Body Shaming, Migraines, HIV and PrEP Stigma, Protein Powder, Poop Etiquette and Sex: Gay Men\u2019s Health News Round-Up<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n