Health briefs: Gay couples and HIV

Being in a serious relationship does not protect young gay men from infection with HIV, new research suggests. A study at Northwestern University found that young gay couples are six times more likely to have unprotected sex than casual partners. They noted that gay men account for nearly 70 percent of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses among adolescents and young adults in the United States. A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found that the majority of new HIV infections occur within committed relationships. The researchers, who examined the behaviors of 122 men, 16 to 20 years old, over the course of two years, concluded that HIV prevention programs should be redirected toward serious relationships, not casual ones.

It's depressing

A new study suggests that depressed people suffer from an inability to rid themselves of negative thoughts because they can't turn their attention to other things. "They basically get stuck in a mindset where they relive what happened to them over and over again," said study co-author Jutta Joormann of the University of Miami in an Association for Psychological Science news release. "Even though they think, 'Oh, it's not helpful, I should stop thinking about this, I should get on with my life,' they can't stop doing it."

-- HealthDay