HPV vaccine = :(

Hello Friends,
The HPV vaccine that I'm receiving hurts. This is one of the few times I wish I was a boy.
It is a 3 shot series, and I'm deathly afraid of shots. Not to mention the 3 shot series costs 120 per dose, so 360 for the three (an interesting fact that my doctor just happened to leave out). But considering that it might save my life, I sucked it up and have gotten 2 out of the 3 shots. Just for you boys out there who I'm sure are quite jealous, the shot is injected into your muscle and you can FEEL IT going into your muscle. The rest of the day, you can't move your arm. It's sad, really, just plain sad.

Since it's probably more interesting for you to watch than read, here is a video I converted from youtube - specifically for your viewing pleasure. Have fun!



Stephanie

Common Virus Kills Cancer

Hello friends,
It wasn't the prostitutes today that inspired me to post - but viruses as a treatment for cancer!

I found a cool video on CNN about AAV-2 (Adeno-Associated Virus 2) and the findings are from 2005:

AAV-2 is a small virus that cannot replicate itself without the help of another virus. But with the help of a second virus it kills cells.

For their study, Meyers and colleagues first infected a batch of human cells with HPV, some strains of which cause cervical cancer. They then infected these cells and normal cells with AAV-2.

After six days, all the HPV-infected cells died.

The same thing happened with cervical, breast, prostate and squamous cell tumor cells.

This videos ties in a lot of topics we talked about today - satellite viruses, viruses which could target cancer cells, adeno-associated viruses. Plus I just like videos :) Enjoy!

Video: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2005/06/23/monie.cancer.treatment.whp
Article: http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/06/22/cancer.virus/

Stephanie