From U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (posted on TheBody.com)

Truvada (tenofovir) is used for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce risk of HIV infection among risk-taking HIV-negative gay men. Researchers investigated whether use of Truvada as PrEP encouraged risk-taking among men who have sex with men (MSM). The researchers studied 400 gay men for 24 months between 2005 and 2007 in a randomized double-blind placebo study. One group of participants began taking Truvada at the outset of the study and the other began nine months later. Researchers interviewed the men at entry into the study and every three months concerning sexual risk-taking and use of recreational drugs and erectile dysfunction medications.

From Seattlepi.com…

The latest bad news in the hunt for an AIDS vaccine: The government halted a large U.S. study on Thursday [April 18, 2013] , saying the experimental shots aren’t preventing HIV infection. Nor did the shots reduce the amount of the AIDS virus in the blood when people who’d been vaccinated later became infected, the National Institutes of Health said.

“It’s disappointing,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But, “there was important information gained from this” study that will help determine what to try next.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/

From queerty.com…

From thinkprogress.org:

A new study from the University of Michigan has found that simply overhearing the expression “that’s so gay” used to describe something in a disparaging way can have negative consequences for gay, lesbian, or bisexual students. Practically every college student interviewed for the study had heard “that’s so gay” at least once in the past year, with more than half hearing it with much more frequency. Those who heard it more frequently were more likely to report feelings of isolation, as well as negative health symptoms, such as headaches, poor appetite, or eating problems.

Study author Michael Woodford, assistant professor of social work at U-M, describes the results: “Given the nature of gay-lesbian-bisexual stigma, sexual minority students could already perceive themselves to be excluded on campus and earing “that’s so gay” may elevate such perceptions. “That’s so gay” conveys that there is something wrong with being gay.  And, hearing such messages about one’s self can cause stress, which can manifest in headaches and other health concerns.”

Read the full post on thinkprogress.org.

From the The Advocate:

The Centers for Disease Control has launched the largest survey ever conducted by a federal agency for gay and bisexual men in the United States at SexistheQuestion.org. According to HRC, Sex in the Question will also make a monetary donation to the It Gets Better Project for every survey complete.

The survey is aimed at understanding men’s sexual behaviors and health and finding ways to deal with STD and HIV transmission among men who have sex with men.

A quick online survey, Sex Is the Question is also one of the first surveys to provide immediate feedback based on participants answers so you know how you compare to other men who are taking the survey as well.

To take the survey and send money to It Gets Better, click here.

From GoodTherapy.org:

Several associations between substance use and risk taking have been clearly established in psychological and behavioral research. Among them is the trend for sexual risk taking in individuals who misuse substances, including alcohol and drugs. The negative health consequences of both substance use and sexually risky behavior are significant. For gay and bisexual men, the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV are especially high. One theory for uninhibited sexual activity is the alcohol myopia theory, which suggests that alcohol intoxication creates a short-range outlook relying on immediate stimulation. In other words, intoxicated individuals don’t always look at a person’s morals or personality when considering sex. Instead, they look for instant gratification.

Some experts believe that drug and alcohol misuse and addiction impair executive functioning (EF), resulting in higher rates of impulsivity and skewed reward motivation processes. In an effort to determine if EF contributes to sexual risk taking, Sarit A. Golub of the Department of Psychology at Hunter College of the City University of New York led a study examining the EF of 104 bisexual and gay men, all of whom had a history of substance misuse and were HIV negative. Golub conducted neurological and psychological tests on the participants and evaluated their levels of substance use and sexual activity in the 30 days preceding the interview.

She discovered three unique classifications of EF. They included poor performing, indicated by impairment in some, but not all tasks, low performing, indicated by impairment across all tasks, and high performing as evidenced by successful performance on all tasks. Although all three classes had the same levels of substance misuse, substance dependency was highest among the low performing group. These individuals also reported the highest levels of sexual risk taking. In contrast, the poor performing group, which only exhibited EF deficits on the Iowa Gambling Task, had the lowest levels of risky sexual behavior. The results from the high-performing group suggested that the link between substance misuse and sexually risky behavior was episodic and not chronic. Golub added, “These findings underscore the importance of identifying different EF subtypes—rather than simply examining specific EF tasks individuals—in the development of interventions to reduce risk behavior among substance users.”

GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from over 30 countries worldwide who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.