BMJ Press Releases, Saturday 7 September 1996
Volume 313 No 7057

EMBARGOED 00.01 HRS 6 SEPTEMBER 1996

Age is of fundamental significance in HIV disease progression but exposure category is not

[Category of exposure to HIV and age in the progression to AIDS: longitudinal study of 1199 people with known dates of seroconversion]

Exposure categories do not play a major role in the progression of HIV - the virus which leads to AIDS - while age is of fundamental significance in the process, according to a paper in this week's BMJ.

The authors report results from a study conducted in 16 clinical centres in Italy among about 1,200 HIV positive individuals infected through injecting drug use or having unprotected sex, followed from the time of HIV infection to the development of AIDS. After nearly six years about one in five developed AIDS. Progression to AIDS was more rapid for older patients. The effect was similar in men and women, in injecting drug users, in men who had sex with men and in individuals infected through heterosexual contact. People belonging to different exposure categories, but with the same age at infection, had similar progression rates to AIDS.

The AIDS incubation period is extremely long and variable. The authors say that the similar progression rates of different exposure groups argues against an important influence of external co-factors on HIV disease progression. Contact:-

Patrizio Pezzotti
Research statistician

Centro Operativo AIDS
Istituto Superiore di Sanita
Viale Regina Elena
299-00161
Rome
Italy

Tel: 00 39 6 4940621
Fax: 00 39 6 4456741
e-mail: PATRIZIO@ISS.IT

GP fundholders' less expensive prescribing is not due to fundholding itself

[Influences of practice characteristics on prescribing in fundholding and non-fundholding general practices: an observational study]

Government ministers claim that GP fundholders are less expensive in prescribing medicines to their patients than non fundholders and that fundholding has limited the rising costs of prescribing. A paper in this week's BMJ looks at how far the differences can be attributed to fundholding itself and how much to other factors.

The authors of a study of 384 practices in the former Mersey region conclude that in neither of the two years studied did GP fundholding make a major contribution to the variation in prescribing behaviour among practices. This, they say, was better explained by the level of deprivation in the practice population, plus training and partnership status in GP practices. However, they say that GP fundholding did seem largely responsible for differences in the rise of total prescribing costs between fundholders and non fundholders.

Contact:

Prof. Tom Walley
Professor of clinical pharmacology

Dept. of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
University of Liverpool
Liverpool L69 3BX

Tel: 0151 794 8123
Fax: 0151 794 8126
e-mail: twalley@liverpool.ac.uk

Colour blind men fail to recognise rectal bleeding

[Dyschromatopsia (number 97) and rectal bleeding]

Three cases of colour blind men with colorectal disease who delayed seeking treatment because they had misinterpreted rectal bleeding for loose motions are reported in this week's BMJ. The authors say that in all three cases the bleeding was first noted by partners and had not been spotted by the patient themselves because they were all colour blind.

Partial colour blindness, or dyschromatopsia, is a common disorder which affects up to eight per cent of men and 0.4 per cent of women. Sufferers normally mistake red for green. The condition can normally be confirmed with the use of Ishihara charts.

The authors advise that it is important for doctors to identify symptoms early in colour blind patients, particularly those with a family history of colorectal disease, as patients may be slow to recognise their symptoms and seek treatment.

Contact:

Mr Michael Foster
Consultant surgeon

Dept. of Surgery
East Glamorgan NHS Trust
Mid Glamorgan CF38 1AB

Tel: 01443 218218
Fax: 01443 218213

Issued on behalf of the authors by: Public Affairs Division, British Medical Association, BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JP Telephone: 0171 383 6254, (8.30am-6.00pm), After 6.00 pm and weekends: 01895 23 96 87 0181 674 6294 0171 727 2897 01491 65 14 05 01483 42 77 93

EMBARGO: 00.01 HRS FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 1996

Issued on behalf of the authors by: Public Affairs Division, British Medical Association, BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JP
Telephone: 0171 383 6254, (between 08.30 - 18.00), (After 6pm & at weekends): 01895 239687, 0171 727 2897, 0181 674 6294, 0171 727 2897, 01491 651405

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