Man Cures Himself of HIV Infection

[MacShreach]

I was going to post this a few days ago, and got diverted.

A man who was diagnosed HIV +ve in 2002 was last weekend reported as all clear-- that is, NO antibodies in his blood. And he refused all treatment.

I think they're going to dismantle him to find the secret....

Here's a link to the Sunday Times story-- everybody else has got it too

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...870340,00.html

[kennbo]

Yeah, I heard of this. Actually he is not unique. Research into the bubonic plaque has yielded very interesting info regarding AIDS/HIV. Researchers in England wanted to know why some people didn't die from plague, so they focused on historical documents that indicated villages which were quarantined due to plague outbreaks in the village. After a period of a year or more it was found that people were still alive, with no more sign of plague. There were even accounts of specific individuals who either 1)got sick then got better, or 2)never got sick, but should have. The ancestors of these people were found to still be living in the same areas in rural England and were given genetic screenings. It was found that they had a genetic mutation which prevented the plague from infecting their t-cells. Those who had a double copy of the mutation, from both parents, didn't get sick, those with a single copy got sick, but enough tcells were effected by the mutation to pull them through the infection. This mutation is found throughout Europe, where the plague was at its worst. Unfortunately, areas of the world that had no plague outbreak show no markers for this muatation. Areas like Africa and Asia. This could be a reason for the rampant spread of AIDS in Africa.

[lar336]

Actually there are some people out that that can't get HIV and they are called "mutants."

Basically here is a short summary how viruses in general work and the HIV virus. All viruses are intracellular parasites, meaning they need living cells to survive, that is why they can't survive on the outside of a human body. A virus attaches onto a site on the human cell than enters the cell, brings up the cell's DNA, than replicates many other viruses using the cell's DNA. Than the many viruses burst through the infected cell, killing it in the process, and infect other cells.

It was found that in this mutants their receptor site on the cell for these viruses is slightly changed and thereby the virus can't attach on to the human cell and, thus, the virus can't infect the human cell causing the virus to eventually die.

[Quinn]

It's been theorized by a number of scientists that a certain percentage of the population has a natural immunity to AIDS/HIV. There has been research concerning this for at least the last decade or so.

-Quinn

[lar336]

of course, the above case is remarkable because we are talking about someone who had the virusn and now no longer has it.

[McRen]

Is that legit? Probly mind over matter. I never get sick, because I refuse to believe im getting sick. Thats different than curing aids, but i'm positive some people make themselves ill by thinking they are coming down with something all the time

[kennbo]

of course, the above case is remarkable because we are talking about someone who had the virusn and now no longer has it.

Actually, it isn't remarkable in light of scenario #1 in my previous post. Those with a single marker for the mutation were not totally free of the disease, but eventually became free from the disease once the normal cells were used up and the mutated population was left. In this case the person may have a single marker for the muatation, or he may have been newly infected when he got his initial blood test.

[MacShreach]

Is that legit? Probly mind over matter. I never get sick, because I refuse to believe im getting sick. Thats different than curing aids, but i'm positive some people make themselves ill by thinking they are coming down with something all the time

There is a huge amount of activity over this as you can imagine. In fact there is strong anecdotal evidence from Africa that this has happened before, but this is as far as I understand it the first time that such a case 1) has bee properly documented and 2) the patient is still available.

I'll post anything that pops up on it if there is general interest.

[AllanahStarrNYC]

I have posted on this subject matter before-

There is actually a rather large segment of doctors and scientific community who question the hiv=aids theory and have many unanswered questions about the virus and how it affects people differently.

I read about the guy who was suing the goverment a few months ago somewhere as well.

I see it's interesting that the media is picking this up now- and I bet it is mostly Europen media.

I think there is too much money invested by pharmaceutical companies in making HIV a "life managable disease" where they make great profit in keeping patients on meds for years-that if any different breakthoughs or oppositions are made to the establishment they would take years for it to be accepted by the American medical community.

Just look at Hormone Replacement Therapy in women and how that was handled since the 60's- and all medical evidence now points in the opposite direction of what the protocol was tp treat menopausal ( and post) women for 40 years.

Mediicne and science are not absolute- so I think these debates and findings can only help people. Unfortunately, medicine is a business- and keeping people on meds is how money is made.

[McRen]

^^^^^ Gotta agree with Alannah. There is no money in 'curing' aids, but theres a LOT of money in making it managable. So thats where the research is going. It sucks, but thats how it is.