Doesn't it seem like this whole cure for AIDS thing should have been a bigger deal?

[joephant]

http://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/news/20120724/man-cured-of-aids-virus-news-conference

I spoke to a bunch of people who had never even seen this story, which is crazy I think. I grew up in the early 90's, and I remember them telling us in like 4th grade to use condoms cause we were all so petrified of Aids.

[aprilian]

I think the circumstances of this guys case are pretty unique. It would be irresponsible for anyone to go around say they have the cure for AIDS based on this outcome.

[LibertyHarkness]

Money .... all the time their vast amounts of money for the pharms to make from treatments you wont see a cure/vaccination etc for a long time ...

[Prospero]

Money .... all the time their vast amounts of money for the pharms to make from treatments you wont see a cure/vaccination etc for a long time ...


There speaks a cynic. But I think she is right.

[BigDF]

There speaks a cynic. But I think she is right.I know she is right, at least here in the US. If Big Pharm can't make money on it, then no cure. Also in the US there is little tolerance for saving victims of a disease that most associate with homosexuality. :geek:

[danthepoetman]

There speaks a cynic. But I think she is right.

I don’t. As much as I respect your opinion, Prospero, and as much as I love Libby, in body and wit, I think they will find a vaccine (not a cure), they will circumscribe the disease and eradicate it. Yes, it will cost a lot of dough and we will be the ones to pay, but they will make much more money by making everybody pay, which is what they will do by instituting state programs when they get the vaccine. It won’t be the first time modern medicine eradicate a wide spread disease, and it won’t be the last. Let’s not give in this actual tendency to mistrust medicine and research: it’s still the best warrant of our well being, whatever way we possibly can look at it.

[LibertyHarkness]

nahhh they make millions from retrovial treatments ...once your viral load is undectable you will live a normal life basically and they also claim people are living into old age with it ...

i think the vacines will come over a staggered approach .. or perhaps they will price the vaccine at an extremely high cost as an opt in ....

who knows .. personally all governments are init for money ..having sick people makes money , lots of money ...

[danthepoetman]

We do have the feeling that researches have slowed, ever since they’ve found the right formula for people to live on. But in most western countries, it’s the State that ultimately pays for such medication. I don’t know how long it will last until they pressure themselves the pharmaceuticals to get rid of the problem. Besides, everywhere the medical bill is becoming overwhelming. Will they tolerate such a thing for much longer?
Then again, how much influence can they exert? I don’t know: maybe you’re right, Liberty…
Or maybe they will wait for the arrival of the next, great epidemic.

[Fancy fancy]

hence generics.....?



nahhh they make millions from retrovial treatments ...once your viral load is undectable you will live a normal life basically and they also claim people are living into old age with it ...

i think the vacines will come over a staggered approach .. or perhaps they will price the vaccine at an extremely high cost as an opt in ....

who knows .. personally all governments are init for money ..having sick people makes money , lots of money ...

[freedom]

on behalf of the physiologists, HIV is a tricky virus. But i can assure that there are many very active research programs looking for a cure. I know that "Big Pharma" does a lot of things that earn the public's ire but it is silly to say that they, as an industry, ignore "cures" in favour of "treatments".

Think about the millions of people with HIV, think about the fact that no one will pay for "treatment" when a "cure" becomes available. These pharma companies compete ferociously and the one who can patent cure will tear a huge hole in all the others.

As to the case cited, Aprilian is correct. We have seen a bunch of unique individuals who have fought off the infection and they have proven a very fertile source of research ideas. However, the "cure" is not here yet and may not be for 5, 10 or 20 years. Biol research is a tough bitch, but we are making important discoveries and personally i'd bet on 10 rather than 20 years.

[buttslinger]

Before the discovery of penecillin in 1928, you could expect to lose a brother or sister groing up. There is no cure for any virus, but I'm more optimistic than you guys, because a patent on an anti-viral will be worth more than rogaine, lipitor, viagra, oh man......
I had a brush with Hep-C and the doctor said there'd be a cure in 10 years. Of course, that was like 17 years ago.....
This new AIDS cure only works with some people, not all, and it's super expensive.
Magic Johnson looks damn good. Better than Larry Bird!!!!!!!

[joephant]

Just as a side note, my main point was this should have been a bigger deal, 15 years ago it would have been 24 hour coverage on CNN. Anyway...

I didn't mean to imply AIDS was about to be eradicated, the "cure for aids" headline was dramatic license, which I was hoping could be forgiven. But there are 3 people (one in Berlin and 2 at a Boston hospital) recently who have had the virus completely eliminated from their blood and their cells following bone marrow transplants. Their cells had been replace by the donor cells and the virus no longer appeared. While I realize viruses are tougher to treat, people are cured of viruses everyday. You get a flu virus, and your immune system fights it and eliminates it from your body, curing you. We have drugs that can help with that, but it is not the same as an antibiotics which directly breaks down the bacterial cell walls.

But the more interesting thing about this, I thought, was that at least one of the patients had developed a tepid immunity from the virus after the transplant. They tried to re-introduce the virus into his cells in a lab setting, and the virus was killed without being able to replicate itself. (He was treated with donor cells from a man immune to AIDS). I agree that the more likely scenario is a vaccine rather than a cure, as bone marrow transplants are arguable as dangerous as the virus, extremely expensive, and difficult to even get, as the donor has to be virtually an exact match to avoid rejection.

Here are the other articles if anyone is that curious.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/05/16/apparent-immunity-gene-cures-bay-area-man-of-aids/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57481578-10391704/bone-marrow-transplant-eliminates-hiv-traces-from-two-patients-dna-call-it-a-cure/

[CaptainPlanet]

There is no "Profit" in Cure. They will never find one.

[natina]

I read about this cure a long time ago on this site.

there is also an aids vacine


http://www.hungangels.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=68833

http://www.hungangels.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=56366