Dr. Gwen Cohen Brown: Chapter 8 HIV/AIDS

After reading chapter 8 (this is a very important step so that questions are well directed), please generate at least one question for our guest lecturer being filmed for Tuesday’s class.  This is due no later than FRIDAY 3/20/2015.  Post questions for our guest lecturer below:

 

69 thoughts on “Dr. Gwen Cohen Brown: Chapter 8 HIV/AIDS

  1. kareshma

    A person infected with HIV/AIDS is no longer a healthy person in physical, mental or emotional health. Though some may take and deal with the situation much better than others, there are some who just break so much after finding out that their whole life just falls apart. What do you suggest are the most effective ways to deal with such situation, for a person who cannot handle it in the right away? What do you consider as being the most effective way of coping?

    Reply
  2. Rpalma89

    my question is.. if a couple are in a relationship and both are diagnosed with HIV or AIDS.. Are the couple able to have unprotected sexual relationships or do they still need to use protection? if they do not use protection does this make the virus worse? does it induce from HIV to AIDS quicker? and if they end up having a child does this mean their child automatically also gains the virus due to both parents having it?

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  3. Keven Deng

    From reading our textbook of chapter 8 a mandation of one semester on HIV education is required for every year equaling a total of three years of education on HIV for middle school to high school students but was considered ineffective due to poor execution or delivery. If the semesters of education was an ineffective measure attempt to educate the young adults what other option or course of actions do you think can our New York Public school take to keep young adults educated about HIV effectively?

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  4. Nawang N. Sherpa

    Do you think the cocktail therapy that was helpful for Magic Johnson in improving overall quality of his life has given negative message to many men as suggested in the text book??? What may be the consequences of believing in cocktail therapy and practicing risky sexual behaviours for average men?

    Reply
  5. Chamirah Farley, RN

    What are you thoughts on working towards a HIV vaccination ? Do you see that as a opportunity for individuals to continue to participate in risky behaviors as opposed to make much safer decisions ???/

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  6. Veronica

    Is it possible to be insusceptible to contracting HIV/AIDS if someones immune system already created a resistance to the virus through a similar less abrasive virus?

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  7. Sadiquah

    Is it true that HIV was transmitted to the human species from a chimpanzee bite? And if so why aren’t chimpanzees severely affected by the infection as humans would be without aggressive treatment?

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  8. Margaret Spence

    Dr. Cohen Brown:
    Is true that dentist can identify if a patient has AIDs, by looking in their mouth. How can you tell, by looking at their gum line, or do their teeth. I am very interested in the ways you can tell.

    Reply
  9. Jenn

    Dr. Brown, I’m assuming that as a dentist you are at risk more than any other specialty MD due to the fact you work closely with patient’s and come in contact with saliva and blood during either injecting anesthesia or even extracting a tooth. While I’m sure you or any other person in the medical field use safe precautions like gloves, mask etc but I’m curious to know how do you clean the suction that takes out all the saliva from your mouth and the internal air chambers of high-speed dental drills and dentistry tools of that nature that can’t be inserted into a sterilization machine ?
    We do know that the virus can remain active in saliva contaminated with blood, so if you were to use that drill and or suction there can particles or cells with the active disease transmitted to the next patient that might have an open sore or perhaps gotten cut during a cleaning.

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  10. Taurey

    1. How many strains of the HIV/AIDS virus exist ?
    2. If there are multiple strains of the HIV/AIDs such that one could contract the disease twice ?
    3. If two people with the HIV/AIDS virus have a child is it possible that the child could be immune to the disease ?
    4. Are there any known diseases that could counter the symptoms of the HIV/AIDS ?

    Reply
  11. iespinoza

    Since studies have shown that the development of HIV depends not only in physiological but also psychological factors why Psychological treatment hasn’t been enforced in the constant care of AIDS Patients? The book only mentioned posttest counseling to be available but what about after and through the course of the illness?

    Reply
    1. iespinoza

      Also, statistics show that MSM(not matter what ethnicity) represents the prevalent risk group for HIV. Do you think that the fact that treatment to increase life expectancy is available now somehow has produced a neglecting attitude (in men of this group) towards the illness?

      Reply
  12. benny

    How does HIV turn into AIDS? I know people can live longer with HIV, but then when they get AIDS they do not live long, so does that mean that it is other diseases that kills someone with AIDS because their immune system can no longer fight off diseases?

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  13. Noemi

    How risky can it be for a young one to be HIV positive ?
    Will the treatment be the same as an adult, or what can the differences be?

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  14. Jibriel

    Risky sexual behaviors are the leading cause of obtaining the HIV infected virus. How can this behavior be changed, decreasing the spread of the deadly virus? Also, how can a patients attitude effect an HIV positive person physical health, can it lead to a better quality of life by the way a person copes with having the virus?

    Reply
  15. Sayma

    There are millions and billions of dollars that are being raised to find a cure for HIV/AIDS every month, every year. These money are being raised through fund raising, donations from general population as well as the rich population. Where is all the money going to? It’s been over 30 years since they started their research. Why isn’t there a cure for it yet? Do you believe that there is a cure for HIV/AIDS but only the ones with privilege have the access to medication? For example, Magic Johnson, the famous basketball player. He found out he contracted HIV around the 90s yet he looks better than some of the people that been going to the gym for years. What are your thoughts on that?

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  16. rssp044

    The direct contact of body fluids with HIV infected person is known to pass the virus to a healthy person. In case of a shared needles scenario, if the blood or fluid on the needle dries, after lets say 2-3 hours, can it pass the HIV virus if the same needle is used on a healthy person? What is the life span of a HIV virus after it is released from an infected person, and before it enters a healthy person?

    Reply
  17. Einstein$13

    why is it that our ears is not a port of entry for HIV?

    And in your expert opinion do you believe HIV is man made?

    Reply
  18. Rafael

    As a dentist; Is there any extra care people with HIV/AIDS have to go through? That is from preventing any type of gum diseases? Is there an extra care you do with patients that have HIV/AIDS?

    Reply
  19. matty65

    I remember when the AIDS virus first became a major public health issue. There where many deaths. Drug cocktails stopped the mass deaths but not the spread of the disease. Can an HIV infected person expect to live a normal life span or does the virus, over time, develops a resistance and progress to full blown AIDS?

    Reply
  20. Shanquia L

    How long can a person live with the virus without knowing that they have this disease? When people say things such as “you don’t look like you have HIV/AIDS” what “look” do you feel they are referring to?

    Reply
  21. Isilita Arman

    What is the life expectancy with treatment once a person has the disease?
    How long would it take for a person to show symptoms after contracting the virus?
    Is it possible to not have any symptoms for a year or more from the time the virus is contracted?

    Reply
  22. Gwen Cohen Brown

    What wonderful questions! I will try to address as many as possible during my discussion. Looking forward to “meeting” you all on Tuesday!
    Dr. Brown

    Reply
  23. ricardo nedd

    Professor, what do you think was the key factors in Magic Johnson’s treatment, why does he seem to the general public, to be faring better than the average victim? Was access to better health care a part of his success?

    Reply
  24. Chamirah Farley, RN

    It was quite enjoyable to hear Dr. Cohen-Brown speak and discuss how she “fell” into the realm of HIV/AIDS research. It was interesting to hear how she lost many individuals to the disease.

    Reply
  25. Ashley Golden

    I also enjoyed today’s lecture. The statistics was very frightening and I feel because of the current generation, if a cure isn’t found soon it will indeed get worse. I hope in the future there will be a cure available for everyone. Also I mentioned earlier in class, there are individuals who are called “bug chasers” who look forward in to being infected with this disease. There is a documentary called “The Gift” and it follows a group of gay Caucasian men who claims they want the virus so it can be a sense of relief. Crazy world huh.

    Reply
  26. shenelle

    I know you said that people who are HIV positive should still use protection because they might have different strains of the virus. My question is if two people are HIV positive with the same strain of the virus, do they still have to use protection? And can having unprotected sex with the same strain mutate the virus?

    Reply
  27. Henry M.

    This is my first time seeing someone discussing a lot of knowledge about HIV and I gained more knowledge about HIV. I was a little surprise when I heard the percentage of HIV is still the same for the pass years. I hope that one day a cure will be found for HIV/AIDS/STDs.

    Reply
  28. Milka Ng

    Since you have mentioned there was a case sibling pass the virus through sharing toothbrush, I am wondering what is the possible cause? Is saliva an agent to transmit the virus?

    Reply
  29. Jenn

    After watching the lecture, I am in disbelief to know that we have the highest population of people or men infected with HIV, it’s sad. Another thing that of course caught my attention is that again we see African Americans being highly affected or mostly affected by yet another trauma. Overall, the most interesting part that I definitely agree with is her answer on how can we help the adolescents take better precautions, and it is quite clear and true. We must must stop being so conservative, instead we must be open, blunt, truthful and forthcoming about the risks of risky behaviors to avoid that our children, the future to continue to rise or be part of the percentage affected, if not the numbers will keep skyrocketing.

    Reply
  30. Raz

    Dr Brown was very informative about the statistics, facts and precautions for HIV/Aids. It was very sad to hear that statistics are rising in young adolescents – if thats the case, we need to make sure they are receiving the proper education to prevent more cases from happening and saving future generations.
    It was fascinating to find out there are so many different strains of the virus and that if you do have HIV, you should still protect yourself from further STD or other strains of HIV.

    Reply
  31. Isaac D. O

    Dr. Brown’s lectureship on HIV/AIDS was very informative and educative. she was very precise with the statistical data of HIV/AIDS. its very alarming to have known that USA leads the statistics with highest cases in HIV/AIDS. the most saddest thing is that there is menace of HIV/AIDS in young adult the future leaders.
    Dr. Brown said in her lectures that ‘KNOW WHAT YOU DOING AND WHOM YOU ARE DOING WITH’ because everyone is at risk. we hope to find at cure for it but for now we need competent and knowledgeable people like Dr. Brown to help decrease the rate of infection of the disease.

    Reply
  32. Veronica

    Dr. Brown did a very wonderful job of explaining the HIV virus. You can see how much emotion she has with this topic being she had first hand experiences with people she knew dying from the disease and decided to be an HIV researcher in their honor. My question wasn’t addressed, so maybe in due time, she can respond to my question.

    Reply
  33. Victoria Qiao

    Dr. Brown lecture was excellent, it was informative and straight foward. I agree that as a doctor if she is shy about saying the words anal, oral, etc then it would make her patients uncomfortable. Instead, showing no fear and being comfortable in what she says makes a difference. Furthermore, I learned a lot about the statistics and stereotypes. I thought this lecture was great!

    Reply
  34. iespinoza

    I like the approach Dr Cohen took since the beginning of the talk to make everybody feel comfortable with the information. I was impressed to find out that things like sharing a toothbrush could be classified as “risky behavior”. By the end of the talk I was convinced of the importance of getting an HIV test (not that I ever engage in activities that might put me at risk of contracting the illness) just to be in the safe side and I also feel that getting tested represents an opportunity for me to show a responsible position. I totally agree with the notion that if only our society was more educated about this chronic illness not only the alarming statistics of new cases will cease to increase but also the stigmas and discrimination affecting people with HIV could be decreased. Thus, we as a society could make a positive contribution to the health of people with HIV.

    Reply
  35. Kar Lee

    Watching Dr. Brown lecture was very interesting and informative. She taught me so much about the statistics for HIV and AIDS. It was very precise and accurate what I had seen her lecture. It was very shocking that the US have the highest risk for young adolescent with HIV and AIDS when Dr. Brown mentioned in the video. In the future, pharmacist people should make a medicine that is curable for HIV so that way many people don’t get HIV.

    Reply
  36. alicia

    Dr. Brown did an excellent job , she approach everything it was very informative and educative about HIV/AIDS. i was very surprise that in US have the highest risk in young adolescents, and how important is to educated them all about the preventions and getting an HIV test , because how she said everyone is at risk. It was very important that she explain about stereotypes , because i learned a lot about statistics and i hope one day the pharmacist find a medicine that cure HIV so people can safe their lives .

    Reply
  37. Rpalma89

    I absolutely loved this woman personality and honesty. Her lecture was very informative and upfront. It was not like most professor who would have kept it “professor to student” language. She was real and what i truly liked was her passion for what she does. Her motivation to want to do more and to make us young adults aware of what is going on within our society and HIV. HIV/AIDS is not a person to person problem this is a humanity problem that is affection us worldwide. I enjoys her comments and suggestions for protecting ourselves. I like that she kept it real when it came to men sleeping with other men while being in a heterosexual relationship. This I believe most people tend to turn the cheek and act like it is not true but in reality it is. I think she should teach some courses in human services! she would be great 🙂

    * i was not sure where to comment because i did not see a link**

    Reply
  38. Altenor

    Dr. Brown, it’s truly appreciated for giving up your time, which would have normally been yours to educate us on this serious disease, which is the HIV/AIDS. You’ve come up with different statistics within the United States of America, most likely on very young kids under 18 of age, sexually attractive, are victims by HIV. By watching the video, I think it’s very encouraging to get tested as soon as possible, why! Because the sooner whoever diagnoses for HIV the better chance he or she lives longer. Besides, most importantly for everyone is to use a condom when having sex. By doing so, that will certainly/dramatically reduce likelihood of transmission.

    Reply
  39. Keila Gordon

    Dr. Brown was tremendously helpful with the information she provided about HIV. I love how she addressed the stereotypes associated with HIV and exposing the truth of everyone being at risk. I’m very baffled by the number of cases reported in New York. I was so surprised and I was very ignorant to the topic. I enjoyed the examples she used and the blunt points about how people approach and react to HIV. I appreciated the great advice she had to share. She kept me very interested and answered all of the personal questions i had about HIV.

    Reply
  40. kareshma

    I found Dr. Gwen Cohen Brown’s lecture to be very interesting. The fact that she used personal experiences to express her ideas and thoughts to us is great because just lecturing on HIV/AIDS doesn’t get many people’s attention until you actually see for yourself that

    Reply
  41. kareshma

    continuation ^

    someone out there has experienced and seen people suffer from this disease and can relate what had happened and how it happened and the outcomes of taking certain decisions.

    Reply
  42. Nawang N. Sherpa

    Dr. Brown’s lecture was very informative which gave a lot of explanations and statistics about HIV/AIDS. Several facts which were discussed in the lecture about HIV on which I was never aware of before. One very interesting fact that was discussed on how HIV is prevalent among majority of youth is the fact that they just consider HIV to be a chronic disease. However, they don’t realize that they could die within couple of weeks after being diagnosed. Another fact that people should consider is that people who are hetero-sexual and have multiple relationship should use precaution knowing the fact that their ignorance would definitely jeopardize any person who is linked with him or her. It was also interesting to know that HIV infection during unprotected sex from male to female is 2 to 4 times greater than from female to male.

    Reply
  43. Gwen Cohen Brown

    To the class:
    Thank you for your kind and generous responses to the lecture. I will try to answer as many of your questions as I can in the next week or so (Sorry for the delay!). HIV/AIDS is indeed a very personal subject for me and I am glad that my thoughts and feelings were so clear on the subject.
    Respectfully,
    Dr. Gwen Cohen Brown

    Reply
  44. donna myriel

    Dr. Brown’s lecture was very informative. i’m more educated about how HIV/AIDS can be transmitted to someone even without having sexual intercourse such as sharing a toothbrush with a sibling.

    Reply
  45. Alla P

    Though the risk is low, what steps are being taken to monitor the mutations of the HIV virus in infected individuals in order to monitor the possibility that the virus could “learn” to cause a more acute illness or, God forbid, gain airborne transmission? If such an event occurs, what is the likely outcome for those already infected?

    Reply

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