The possible?

[Makasu]

cure for AIDS?

Well its not an "official cure" for AIDS but it is a step in the right direction. If this continues up in the near future we may be able to successfully combat the disease in its entirety. I've already heard things about scientists being able to regrow missing limbs [[they regrew a man's finger, bone, nail and all!]] Its absolutely amazing what scientists are capable of nowadays and it just keeps going further and further.
Who know's what the next breakthrough may be!

They used a bone marrow transplant [[who would've figured?]] that is normally used for fighting Leukemia  to 'cure' the victim of his disease. Now it might have just been luck; but I have to admit that is pretty interesting nonetheless.

Either ways I'll post exerpts from the article and link it if you're interested.

These and many other reasons have compelled both local and international stakeholders to intensify efforts at reducing the rate of new HIV infections. The following article, sourced from the Associated Press news organisation would make interesting reading as far as the search for the cure for AIDS is concerned. Read on:An American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors have confirmed.

While researchers and the doctors themselves caution that the case might be no more than a fluke, others say it may inspire a greater interest in gene therapy to fight the disease. Dr. Gero Huetter said his 42-year-old patient, an American living in Berlin who was not identified, had been infected with the AIDS virus for more than a decade, but 20 months after undergoing a transplant of genetically selected bone marrow, he no longer shows signs of carrying the virus.   "We waited everyday for a bad reading," Huetter said. It has not come.

full article

I do believe this isn't fairly new news and most of you may already be well aware of this. But for those who aren't I figured it would make an interesting discussion topic.

In my personal opinion I used to always have this discussion in my health class and I figured it would be something practical that would be the cure for it. Of course some people say that bone marrow transplants hurt like hell, but I mean think about it. Pain for a while or death from a deadly disease. I'd gladly take the pain if it'd keep me alive and kicking a little bit longer. I wish this would've been around when my uncle was still alive though...

 

[Stupid Penguin]

I read an article about this a week or so ago.

The only problem with this treatment is that it's expensive, painful and not practical.
The number of people with the specific mutation that resists AIDS is very low (my mother actually has the genetic mutation as my stepfather had AIDS and didn't know and they had a kid. After he died, so did my mother's next love. Note: DON'T SHARE NEEDLES)

This would probably be good only for a select few people because also finding someone who's a match for a bone marrow transplant is also very difficult.

This give more hope than anything else.

At least we know that now it's possible.

 

[Venetia]

Holy shit if this is true, that's amazing. (I don't know how reputable of a source "Peace FM Online" is). I've heard that alligator blood is actually powerful enough to destroy HIV, though it would also kill a man were it transfused. I've also heard of localizing radiation at a spot in the leg where all your blood passes through long enough to reach all of your blood as it passes through the artery, though the success of that was spotty I think ...

In any case, you're only seeing the small picture. Curing AIDS? Yeah, that'd be amazing. But you know what? The Hepatitis Virus kills a lot of people. The common fucking cold kills thousands of people a year. If we were able to destroy a virus as aggressive as HIV, imagine the applications, the openings made toward the destruction of ANY virus. Sure, they all act differently, but HIV is one of the most aggressive and wide-spreading. The technology could be adapted for so much more.

 

[moog]

One of my very close friends passed away from AIDS complications, so this is a very good thing to see happening.

It doesnt seem practical like Ishbuu said, but it still is one of the things that should me most concentrated on.

 

[Nachos]

It is true, read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell. I think its possible to accomplish anything. The human body has a mechanism that can be manipulated or reverted.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... iagram.png[/img]

 

[moog]

In any case, you're only seeing the small picture. Curing AIDS? Yeah, that'd be amazing. But you know what? The Hepatitis Virus kills a lot of people. The common fucking cold kills thousands of people a year. If we were able to destroy a virus as aggressive as HIV, imagine the applications, the openings made toward the destruction of ANY virus. Sure, they all act differently, but HIV is one of the most aggressive and wide-spreading. The technology could be adapted for so much more.

Life expectation jacks up and the world sings happily

This is all hypothetical however and I still dont expect much to rise from all this.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

This kind of brings up the topic though: How far can science go? A few decades ago people thought reattaching fingers was impossible. Goes to show the potential of humanity. It's inspiring, to say the least. If only they put this much work into fixing the other problems we have, like, you know, how nearly half the world lives on less than two dollars a day.

 

[Venetia]

Another medical breakthrough that amazed me a few months ago, and this is totally non-vital to life, but it was the natural regrowth of hair follicles in mice whose hair follicles had either become inert or were destroyed entirely. All the scientists did was rub some fucking fetus jelly on the balding mice, and hair regrew. Though, very interestingly, all the hair was white and colorless.

Stem cell research is so incredibly amazingly important to medical science, and I am so fucking happy that Bush's administration is coming to a close so that we can finally start seeing less stops on the progress because of fucking backwards religio-nut ideas.

Coming from a long line of people with failing livers and kidneys, I am absolutely livid about the restraints science has had in recent years from doing more stem cell research.

Once those barriers are removed, who KNOWS what we will be able to accomplish in that field in coming years. Within our lifetimes, we may see countless diseases and fatal organ failures completely absolved. It's amazing. I wish I were more interested in medicine and biological chemistry, so I could get into that field.

 

[Makasu]

While it is simply amazing I couldn't find the yahoo article. But yes its absolutely amazing that they're making such progress. I thought Hepatitis wasn't to much of an issue? As Pam Anderson is still alive and I hear she has it. But for the most part the limitations of science are exceeding that of what anybody expected and such short time!

While it is a painful solution and more than likely incredibly expensive just imagine the lives it will save from a stupid mistake or of not knowing that your partner was carrying it!

But I think it might have a "I am Legend" kind of effect sooner or later. But you never know. I do wish I had more interest in this medicinal work but sadly things like this while interesting can't hold my attention for too long. But can't flu shots cure the common cold? I've never heard of anyone dying from a cold other than someone who already had a weak immune system [[or various other sickness']] early on in life.

As a man with a dying heart I'd like to see some work to extend life. But there were some religious nay-sayers that were like, "If god wills it then it shall be willed." or something along those lines. But it is nice to see progress. I wish I could meet the man just to see for myself!

 

[alexis]

One of my very close friends passed away from AIDS complications, so this is a very good thing to see happening.

how unfortunate

 

[Venetia]

I thought Hepatitis wasn't to much of an issue?

HCV is what is killing my mother, don't say that. It kills about 10,000 people a year. That, combined with the other forms of Hepatitis, like A, B, and D-H, add another 2-30,000 on top of that, per year. It is a chronic, degenerative disease, which can lay dormant in your system for up to 15 years, and then suddenly, without warning, send your body into total liver failure, then erode away your liver until you have nothing left. Usually takes 5 years after the 1st liver failure, that that varies depending on treatment.

It's not affecting Pam Anderson as much because
a.) She caught it very early
b.) She can afford the VERY VERY expensive interferon treatments.

For people who catch it late, they enter end-stage liver failure, of which only 10% of people survive. They also become highly susceptible to liver cancer and cirrhosis.
It's a bigger issue than anyone cares to realize

If you catch it very early, you can bring it down to very low levels, but it still will never go away, and it will probably be the thing to ultimately kill you anyway.

 

[Makasu]

I'm sorry V. I didn't mean for it to sound that way. I just figured that since they make it mandatory for kids to get a shot for it that it was like a common cold or something? Either ways I see now that its more drastic. Do you think they'll be able to cure Asthma? Because that runs in my family like crazy. Only time will tell though.

And whoa I seriously had no idea that you could die from it but with statistics like that as well as the fact that you can never get rid of it. I guess it is way more serious than people are aware of.

Either ways if there is a possible cure for AIDS then that means that sooner or later there will be a cure for blindness or something! That'd be the day.

 

[Venetia]

There is a vaccine for Hepatitis A, which is a milder form of Hepatitis. You can get that primarily through consuming decayed fecal matter (it's a larger concern in 3rd world countries, but you can still get it from unwashed fruits/veggies). You can also transmit it via fluids or blood. It is rarely fatal with treatment.

But there are are many, many forms of Hepatitis, C being the worst. Those can only be transmitted via body fluids, (though B can OCCASIONALLY mutate from A), and can only be contained by radiation-style or extreme treatments, like interferon.

Anyway yeah. Enough about that I guess

 

[skirtboy]

The most important thing about curing AIDS, if possible, is that many diseases, the ones that usually are the actual cause of death for AIDS patients (AIDS destroys the immune system, and an opprotunistic infection finishes off the patient) would be deprived of a huge number of suitable hosts, which would vastly increase the ability of public health services to contain them.