Lynda Piper-Roche's blog

Keep on Blogging!!!

Lynda Piper-Roche — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:05:09 +0000

I have been TOLD to keep on blogging! So I have set up another blog for while I am in SA and working on my thesis on HIV & AIDS and Nutrition....here is the link...http://bit.ly/9S9he7...

Last Blog

Lynda Piper-Roche — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:10:52 +0000

That is it from me!!!

Paul, Emily, Maeve and Gill will be starting their blogs soon. Looking forward to reading them, and hanging out with Paul & Jill in Stellenbosch on their project!

Thanks again EIL for everything!!!!

Predicament

Lynda Piper-Roche — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:10:08 +0000

A few days ago I was talking nutritional therapy with a guy who told me that he never gets sick, bar a strange case of swollen glands etc. that wiped him out for a few days....if he is positive he may not get any other symptoms for approximately 10 years. Initial stage (acute retroviral syndrome) Acute retroviral syndrome is an illness with symptoms like mononucleosis. It often develops within a few days of infection, but it may occur several weeks after the person is infected. Symptoms may include: Abdominal cramps, nausea, or vomiting. Diarrhea. Enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, and groin. Fever. Headache. Muscle aches and joint pain. Skin rash. Sore throat. Weight loss. Do I (A) suggest to him that he go get tested for HIV or (B) not say anything? Source: www.webmd.com

Yahoooooooooo!!

Lynda Piper-Roche — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:13:32 +0000

I have just booked my flights to Cape Town!! So happy!! July the 8th I head off, I think the World Cup final is on the 11th....

As part of my research I plan to shadow nutritionists from the:

Treatment Action Campaign,

Desmond Tutu Foundation,

Medecins sans Frontieres,

Red Cross South Africa

and the local clinics and hospitals in and around Cape Town...

...and then spend a month in Lusikisiki with Friends in Ireland. John Clark and Marion Finucane recommended a really great book 'Three Letter Plague: A young man's journey though a great epidemic' by Jonny Steinberg, an eye opener into understanding why people might not get tested in order to know their status, it is a powerful read and is based on real people in Lusikisiki, it will be fantastic to get to experience rural South Africa.

The next blog I write WILL be my last :) but I will send a link to my new blog...if I decide to create one!

Marion Finucane

Lynda Piper-Roche — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:18:04 +0000

I met Marion Finucane and John Clark for lunch last week, they run an organisation called Friends in Ireland (www.friendsinireland.ie) and they are very passionate and do incredible work in the Eastern Cape with positive children and children affected by HIV. I am thinking about going and working with them for a year or two, which would be an incredible experience, living in rural South Africa.

Certificate in HIV & AIDS!

Lynda Piper-Roche — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:21:12 +0000

Just last week, Ciara and I began a HIV & AIDS Certificate. AIDS West (Galway) are facilitating it and a team from the Terrence Higgins Trust are delivering it. It is a three month course and will give me my very first qualification in the area. Like the HIV & AIDS training the GAP participants received from Dtalk last June before we went to Africa, I loved every second of it, I NEVER talk in class but you could not shut me up!!

It was incredible to observe from the beginning of the course how little some people knew about HIV & AIDS and how their attitudes and opinions changed even after learning a few basic facts about HIV in the first session. It also increased their understanding of the power that the stigma has on 'positive' people. So, in my usual naive way, I recommend that everyone learn a little about HIV, the difference that it would make because the stigma is the biggest issue surrounding HIV & AIDS could be instrumental in tackling the pandemic.

I met some 'positive' people last week, and I learned of the stigma and discrimination that they experience in the developed world, the developing world has a looooooooooooooooooong way to go!

Mmm...

Lynda Piper-Roche — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:47:51 +0000

I am a great believer in alternative medicines. Anyone that knows me, knows my stance on the pharmaceutical industry. I am a nutritional therapy student, who believes in homeopathy, herbal remedies... I could go on. However, the introduction of ARVs has been instrumental in the treatment of HIV & AIDS.

Unfortunately though, not enough people have access to the medications.

Within my current Master's in Humanitarian Action (in UCD), I am considering undertaking my thesis on the effects that certain foods have on the immune system, in an effort to not only help the people with access to medication, but also, and especially, for those who do not. I do believe that there is a lot that a healthy diet can do for a HIV+ person's CD4 count....and by healthy I mean cutting out things like sugar and animal protein - immune suppressing foods (I am following this myself by the way - how can I recommend such changes if I have not made them/experienced them for myself?).

Problem: The one issue I have come across in my nutrition studies is that 50% of sick people will do anything (eat whatever I recommend etc. in order to get well) and the other 50% just could not be bothered...how to overcome that is something I would love to know!

Problem two: Food security in developing countries.

Another problem: I do not want to be seen as another 'Dr. Beetroot' (Manto - ex South African health minister). She recommended garlic, lemons and beetroot as an alternative to ARVs and as a result scores of people came off their medication and subsequently died. But I do believe that nutritional changes can help people before they need medication and while they are on it.

There are a lot of people out there doing really positive things in the area of HIV & AIDS research, in fact they have devoted themselves and they may not be taken seriously (in my humble opinion) because of the unwielding power of the pharmaceutical industry. Look at Dr. Roger Short or Jim Humble to name but a few....I have a lot more research to do, but I intend to use my expertise and research to HELP HIV+ people to live as well as they can for as long as they can. Witnessing a person die from AIDS is devastating and if I can help to relieve or delay that...

I am going back to SA this summer to do an internship and to write my thesis (and hopefully take a HIV & AIDS course in UWC). In a few weeks I will also be undertaking a Certificate in HIV & AIDS with AIDS West and Ciara is going to join me - and if it is anything like the training that Aine Costigan gave us via Dtalk, which was excellent and totally inspiring, then I cannot wait.

Did you know...

Lynda Piper-Roche — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:27:41 +0000

...that there is a connection between HIV and other STIs/STDs*? That your risk of contracting HIV is higher if you have an STI/STD...

Some STIs e.g. syphilis and herpes can cause irritation, breaks or sores of the skin. These can provide a route for HIV to enter the body during sexual contact.

There is also a risk for transmission even when an STI e.g. chlamydia or gonorrhea causes no breaks or open sores. These infections can stimulate an immune response in the genital area that can make HIV transmission more likely.

In addition, if an HIV-infected person is also infected with another STI that person is 3 to 5 times more likely than other HIV-infected people to transmit HIV to others through sexual contact.

STIs/STDs are on the increase in Ireland. And it is estimated that there could be 2000 people living with HIV in Ireland who do not know they are infected. So it is advisable to get checked for any STIs/STDs....

STI - sexually transmitted infection

STD - sexually transmitted disease

Anyone heard about the Ray Brothers....?

Lynda Piper-Roche — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:28:25 +0000

Ricky (1977-1992), Robert (1978-2000) and Randy (1979) were three brothers from Arcadia, Florida. All three were haemophiliacs who were diagnosed with HIV in 1986. It is thought that the boys had been exposed to the virus through the transfusion of blood products administered to treat their haemophilia.

In 1986, the brothers were prohibited from attending class, after the local school board had been notified of their condition. The Rays had then sued, citing doctors who said the boys posed no threat to other children. Almost a year later, a federal judge ordered the boys be readmitted to school.

After the Ray family won the court case, a week of bomb and death threats ensued. Although the Rays were victorious in their legal battle, the Ray home was burned down a week after the 1987 decision, forcing the family to leave their hometown.

Ricky died in 1992, aged 15. Robert was 22 when he passed away in 2000. Their father, Clifford Ray, attempted suicide after succumbing to the ordeal but is doing fine now. Randy Ray, who will be 29 this year, lives in Orlando, and manages his HIV through medication. His younger sister Candy, 26, also lives in Orlando.

The "Ricky Ray Haemophilia Relief Fund Act" was established to offer compensation to people with haemophilia who were infected with HIV through contaminated blood products between 1982-1987.

The media coverage following the burning and activism of the Ray family is often considered a signal event in the history of HIV & AIDS in the USA.

Promiscuity, the polio vaccine and HIV

Lynda Piper-Roche — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:37:37 +0000

When I chat with people about the prevelance of HIV & AIDS in Africa, usually their first response is to suggest that Africans are more promiscuous than Westerners. Columnist Kevin Myers, in the Irish Independent newspaper, described Africa as “almost an entire continent of sexually hyperactive indigents..." however, research highlighted by Helen Epstein in her comprehensive account of HIV & AIDS "The Invisible Cure" demonstrates that over the course of their lifetimes; the 'average' African has no more sexual partners than the 'average' Westerner.

Myers also stated that:"Africa is giving nothing to anyone – apart from AIDS ”. There are many theories on the original source of the virus, and while this may never be discovered, the reasons for its spread are necessary in order to combat the stigma surrounding HIV & AIDS.

The polio vaccine theory as the primary cause of HIV was first brought to light in a 1992 Rolling Stone article and was then expanded by former BBC journalist Edward Hooper in a 1999 book, titled "The River: A Journey Back to the Source of HIV and AIDS."

Evidence has shown that the original vaccine was not the primary cause of HIV but it has not ruled out that it may have fuelled the rapid spread of HIV. Tens of thousands of Africans were injected with the polio vaccine in the 1950s, a time when the same needle would have been used over and over again, without being cleaned. This may help to explain why HIV has infected so many people in Africa at such a fast pace. The "extensive use of reusable needles and syringes in mass-vaccination campaigns may also have played a part" in spreading the virus (Connor, London Independent).

Some good news this time!!

Lynda Piper-Roche — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:03:54 +0000

A few months ago, there seemed to be noone willing or able to look after I and as for L, it was thought that he would be in hospital for years.... but now...

L...the two and a half year old who was admitted to the Chest hospital with drug resistant TB is being discharged and going back to ThembaCare! Initially we were told he would be there for a possible two years. He has responded very well to the treatment and will continue on his TB medication. Hopefully he will go back to ThembaCare for a just few weeks and then one of his aunts might take him...fingers crossed. Leo had been visiting L on my request, but now visits him once a week because he is mad about him :)

And I, the one and a half year old, has just been discharged from ThembaCare and is living in the Eastern Cape (Cape Town is in the Western Cape) with his grandmother. I have been in contact with his father who is now living just an hour away from him. The last day I saw I, his dad was moving away, now I am delighted that I has a grandmother to take care of him and his father living very close by. I am posting over some clothes and toys to him and have already sent stuff to L (his first pair of shoes!) and am so glad that I can contribute in some way (even though I would secretly love to take both boys home with me!).

WORLD AIDS DAY

Lynda Piper-Roche — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:56:16 +0000

The 1st December was WORLD AIDS DAY.

Theme for WORLD AIDS DAY 2009: universal access to prevention, treatment and care for HIV & AIDS. For more information, have a look at this video by AVERT on their website at: http://www.avert.org/world-aids-day.htm.

On Thursday 10th December 2009, Barry, Karen, Ciara and myself (the four GAP volunteers) are holding an awareness raiser in Krystle www.krystlenightclub.com from 8pm, so if you want to learn more about HIV & AIDS and can spare and hour or two we would be delighted to see you there!

www.vir.us

Lynda Piper-Roche — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:15:18 +0000

I was told about a really good HIV & AIDS website today... www.vir.us. it is a fun website dedicated to teaching about HIV & AIDS.

I took the 'protected' test on www.vir.us, at the moment there are only 7 'protected' people in the whole of Ireland.

Please take a look at the website and take the quiz (and watch the clips!), it only takes a couple of seconds...

More about the STIGMA surrounding HIV & AIDS

Lynda Piper-Roche — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:12:17 +0000

I was chatting to a good friend of mine the other day about HIV & AIDS and it occurred to me that if I was HIV+ I would be more worried about telling people of my status than upset about actually discovering that I was infected!! What a wierd thing to say!! But it is true!

I am not afraid of HIV, at all, it is just a virus. A virus that is very manageable. The phrase is, LIVING WITH HIV!! Just like someone lives with a disability or lives with diabetes or lives with some other chronic illness.

So why would I not want to tell people of my status? Well, they might wonder how I caught the virus and attach their own ideas to that and also because of MISinformation about the virus, people would probably not want to be close to me, to drink out of the same cup as me, hug me and so on...to suffer that kind of treatment needlessly is something I would find more difficult to deal with than living with a virus.

119 people die every hour from AIDS, 31 of those are children. WHAT YOU CAN DO!

Lynda Piper-Roche — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:47:06 +0000

HIV is now a chronic illness and not a death sentence, since the introduction of ARVs (HIV medication). These drugs have done for HIV what insulin did for diabetes in the 1950s. The international community must do two things: CREATE WIDER ACCESS TO HIV MEDICATIONS and DISPEL THE STIGMA AROUND HIV & AIDS in order to combat this pandemic.

ACCESS TO TREATMENT: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) recently launched an e-mail campaign calling on nine of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to release their patents on specific HIV medications into a collective pool that will increase access and affordability to treatment in developing countries.

The STIGMA - the fact that people will not get tested for fear of being excluded by their friends, families and partners, that many people will not adhere to their medication for fear that friends or colleagues may see them take their medication (must be taken around the same times every day) is detrimental to fighting this pandemic.

Many years ago people who suffered with cancer were stigmatised against! So there IS hope that HIV & AIDS will lose its stigma. As Martin Meredith wrote ‘Do not point fingers at people with AIDS – Anyone can get AIDS, even YOU’ (The State of Africa, 2006). Can you safely say that you have never been in a position that if you were in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' that you could now have the virus? Just imagine being stigmatised against now....just by being unlucky... In Africa, most HIV transmission occurs between HETEROSEXUALS and MOTHER-TO-CHILD transmission and not through prostitution or intravenous drug use... essentially people contract HIV through 'normal' behaviour...

I have previously talked about myths surrounding HIV & AIDS. One issue that I would like to mention was that in our HIV & AIDS training with Aine Costigan of Dtalk (fantastic training) there were two men who have been working in Africa for the past eight years. Both were worried that they could contract the virus just by shaking hands with a HIV+ person or being near them when they sneezed...But they no longer think that because they decided to take the step and inform themselves. This showed me the depth of our ignorance and lack of awareness, which only serves to deepen the stigma... we have no excuse not to make ourselves aware of global issues, we have an excellent education system, access to the internet and books and wikipedia too!!

Log onto www.avert.org and learn something!!

Why has South Africa been SO badly affected by HIV?

Lynda Piper-Roche — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:59:28 +0000

Global HIV experts believe that a combination of: 1. POLITICAL UNREST 2. POOR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT 3. POLITICAL DENIAL has fueled the HIV & AIDS epidemic in South Africa.

The HIV & AIDS epidemic emerged in South Africa in the early 1980s. The country was in the midst of apartheid and so HIV was placed on the back burner. While this political unrest was taking place, HIV rates began to rise and by the the mid-1990s, HIV rates had increased by 60 percent, and the government was still slow in its response.

In 2000, the South African Department of Health outlined a five-year HIV & AIDS plan, but got little support from the then President Thabo Mbeki. After consulting a group of HIV denialists headed by Dr. Peter Duesberg, Mbeki rejected conventional HIV science and instead blamed the growing AIDS epidemic on poverty. Without government support, the five-year plan did not get off the ground. Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang served as Minister of Health from 1999 to 2008 under Mbeki. She recommended treating the AIDS epidemic with garlic and beetroot, rather than with ARVs. This led to her being nicknamed Dr. Beetroot!

In the meantime, HIV among pregnant South African women soared from eight-tenths of one percent in 1990 to 30 percent 10 years later and now there are 600, 000 AIDS orphans in the country :(

There are a plethora of organisations in South Africa dedicated to educating people about HIV in an attempt to prevent the further spread of the virus and they range from organisations established to promote; safe sex, abstinence, monogamy and testing etc.

However, CHOICES condoms are available for FREE in South Africa, but they have a reputation of splitting, so for the people that do decide to use protection it fails for them...

There is a lot of work to be done...

In 2006, Jacob Zuma told the Johannesburg High Court that he took a shower - after having sex with a HIV positive woman without a condom - as he believed this minimised his risk of contracting the disease. In 2009 he became President of South Africa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Uh oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Watch this space...

HIV & AIDS in South Africa

Lynda Piper-Roche — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:17:41 +0000

Some facts about HIV & AIDS in South Africa:

It is estimated that 5.5 million people are living with HIV, over 10% of the population
1/4 people aged between 15 and 50 years are HIV positive
Every day more than 1,700 people die AIDS-related deaths
Currently it is estimated that there are 600,000 AIDS orphans
A 2004 survey reported that South Africans spend more time at funerals than weddings, haircuts, or grocery shopping

De-mything the Myths

Lynda Piper-Roche — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:41:42 +0000

Last week I was speaking to a gentleman who recently volunteered with an organisation that builds houses in Africa. He returned from his experience convinced that sharing a bottle of water with a HIV+ person spreads the virus. IT DOES NO SUCH THING!!!! A person CANNOT become infected with HIV by shaking a HIV+ person's hand, by hugging them, by using the toilet after them or drinking from the same glass, OR by being exposed to coughing or sneezing. Saliva carries a negligible viral load, so even open-mouthed kissing is considered a low risk. However, if the infected partner, or both, have blood in their mouth due to cuts, open sores, or gum disease, the risk is higher.

More FACTS:

HIV is not transmitted by mosquitoes! Although mosquitoes bite, they do not inject the blood of a previous victim into the next person. They do inject their saliva, which may carry dengue fever or malaria.
Heterosexuals are the most at risk group!!
A person with an STD (sexually transmitted disease) is more at risk of contracting the virus if they have sexual intercourse (protected less risk) with a HIV+ person than a person who does not have an STD.
A woman who knows about her HIV infection early in pregnancy and is treated appropriately has about a 2% chance of delivering a baby with HIV. Without treatment, the risk is about 25%.
HIV can be transmitted via semen, vaginal fluids, blood and breast milk.

The list of misconceptions goes on and on...

It scares me that someone (or thousands of people in this case) might return from such an experience harbouring more misconceptions about the virus than they left with!

WHAT IS POST-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS?

Lynda Piper-Roche — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:40:12 +0000

Prophylaxis means disease prevention. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for HIV involves taking antiretroviral medications (ARVs) as soon as possible after exposure to HIV, in order to prevent HIV infection. PEP has reduced the rate of HIV infection from workplace exposures by 79%. The treatment should ideally begin within 1-2 hours after exposure to HIV but certainly within 72 hours. Treatment with 2 or 3 ARVs should continue for 4 weeks, if tolerated (harsh side effects). PEP is only available with a prescription. It basically blocks an enzyme that is necessary for seroconversion* to take place.

Initially, PEP was only available to people who experienced HIV exposure at work and would usually be considered a one-time accident. PEP has been standard procedure since 1996 for healthcare workers and was only made available to the public in 2002! Other HIV exposures may be due to unsafe behaviours that can occur many times. Because of this they were not made widely available for fear that the availability of PEP might encourage this unsafe behaviour, if people were to think that PEP is an easy way to avoid HIV infection.

I for one do not believe that the Morning After Pill is misused and I believe PEP for HIV would not be either.

Either way, still not enough people are aware that PEP exists...the fact that it is most effective within 1-2 hours of exposure means people need to know about it, rape victims, victims of violence who cross blood with their attacker, people who are threatened with or come into contact with used syringes, none of these are any different from the HIV exposure at work that is considered a 'one-time accident'.

*Seroconversion is a part of the immune response. When people develop antibodies to HIV, they "seroconvert" from antibody-negative to antibody-positive. In other words seroconversion has occurred. It may take from as little as 1 week to several months or more after infection with HIV for antibodies to the virus to develop. After antibodies to HIV appear in the blood, a person will test positive on antibody tests.

Some more blogs to follow...

Lynda Piper-Roche — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:10:44 +0000

Amid the saga of numerous leaders continually failing their nation (Mandela, Mbeki and PROBABLY Zuma) and allowing such a huge epidemic to afflict half of the population, comes such care and love for and from the babies. That they are a completely innocent product of government denial, a severe lack of education and extreme poverty (massive economic inequality) breaks my heart. However, the glimmers of sunlight that shone through, whether it was a loving look from a child, or a carefree giggle, makes me glad that I spent this summer in such a broken but amazing place.

P.S. I am going to write a couple more blogs, covering PEP: post-exposure prophylaxis (because not enough people know about it and should) the reasons why so many people in South Africa are HIV+ and about the Global Awareness Volunteers' Awareness Raising Campaign (Barry, Ciara, Karen and myself).