Summer 2000                                         Volume 4, Issue 2

Woman Be Wise

Don't weaken your HIV medicines!

ummer Shower
                     
by Emily Dickinson

  A drop fell on the apple tree,
  Another on the roof;
  A half a dozen kissed the eaves,
  And made the gables laugh.

  A few went out to help the brook,
  That went to help the sea.
  Myself conjectured, Were they pearls,
  What necklaces could be!

   The dust replaced in hoisted roads,
   The birds jocoser sung;
   The sunshine threw his hat away,
   The orchards spangles hung.

   The breezes brought dejected lutes,
   And bathed them in the glee;
   The East put out a single flag,
   And signed the fete away.

By Ruth Greenblatt, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine, UCSF

ome of you may remember hearing that St. John's Wort, or hypericin (an herbal medicine often used for depression) can lower the amount of Crixivan (or indinavir) in your blood.  Recent studies have found that St. John's Wort can reduce the amount of most of the protease inhibitors in your blood.  Protease inhibitors (PIs) include amprenavir, nelfinavir, saquinavir, ritonavir, indinavir, lopinavir or Abbott 378.  If you are taking one of the PIs, it is a very important part of your HIV medicines.  St. Johns Wort increases the action of proteins that metabolize, or break down PIs

(Continued on page 2)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Woman Be Wise   page 1
  WIHS BIOS   page 2
  Staff Comings & Goings   page 3
  A Fond Farewell .page 3
  Oral Acquisition of HIV  page 4
  WIHS NCAB Meeting  page 6
  Lucky Visit 13  page 8
  Free International AIDS Conference   page 9
 

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