Cure For HIV - Get it While its Hot!

HifiGirly said:
Make sure you are correct before you say cure, I knew someone that died of AIDS, this isn't a cure.
IIRC, nobody dies "of" AIDS. If you're in the advanced stages, you can die from the common cold because your immune system can't fight it off. It goes unchecked and runs rampant inside you until it finally kills you.
 
fly said:
The body was removing the virus, and likely would continue to do so...
Not quite.

One of the biggest problems with HIV is the fact that it mutates to overcome antiviral activities. That's one of the biggest problems with the antiretroviral therapies they use these days. Because of this and the fact that virus targets for infection and destruction the very cells they're using for this therapy (dendritic cells) as well as the T-cells which need the dendritic cells for antigen presentation it is very likely that the virus would eventually break through, just as with chemical therapies.

This type of therapy has been tried in the past with tumors (TILs and LAK) with equal enthusiasm at first but only to be later virtually abandoned because of the expense and lack of efficacy. That brings up another problem: price. It's out of reach for the most affected population: 3rd world countries, Africa especially.

I'm not saying it has no chance of working, just that I don't put much stock in it being a panacea for HIV. Perhaps in concert with HAART (cocktail) therapy it might prove efficaceous, but I doubt it will ever "cure" the patient.
 
Viremia said:
Not quite.

One of the biggest problems with HIV is the fact that it mutates to overcome antiviral activities.

Couldn't they just reinject the mutated version? Its obivously prohibitively expensive, but seems like a possible cure. Besides, we only want to cure rich people anyway...
 
fly said:
Couldn't they just reinject the mutated version? Its obivously prohibitively expensive, but seems like a possible cure. Besides, we only want to cure rich people anyway...
Potentially, but to what end. The resulting mutants (there would be many more than one) would require MANY more vaccinations. All the while, the virus would be wreaking havoc on the immune system once it broke through, robbing the patient of the cells needed for this therapy.

That's not to mention the problems associated with this type of therapy. It's what's called the "Bystander Effect" and can lead to T-cells that are designed to destroy your own body's cells but are normally kept in check by mechanisms that are not completely understood. The result: autoimmunity. That's not a complication HIV patients need to deal with.
 
HydroSqueegee said:
im just affraid this will make people not care if they get aids.

"oh well, they can stop the spread in me and i can live a full life"

:rolleyes:

Exactly what I thought as I was reading this, soon there will be commercials for this like there are for Herpes and Valtrex.

April23 said:
I keep them in a mayo jar and feed them clowns.

Feed them valtrex.
 
April23 said:
No way, they're like my little sea monkeys... I like to watch them grow.


I hear valtrex is to herpes what catnip is to cats. :D