Possible cure for AIDS? (Full Version)

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GreedyTop -> Possible cure for AIDS? (11/12/2008 4:25:40 PM)

Bone Marrow transplant

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 said Wednesday.



RainydayNE -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/12/2008 4:26:37 PM)

i read about this! it's so interesting! :D



DomKen -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/12/2008 10:49:33 PM)

While this points to a possibility of a cure, bone marrow transplants aren't a viable option. First it is fatal in about a quarter of all cases. Second it is swapping one chronic condition, HIV infection, with another, suprressed immune system to prevent rejection.

Finding a way to get infected people to produce HIV resistant T cells seems a possible route if we can figure out how to change all of a persons bone marrow to produce the resistant T cells.



scarlethiney -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/12/2008 11:33:29 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: GreedyTop

Bone Marrow transplant

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 said Wednesday.


We can hope!



ElectraGlide -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/12/2008 11:46:21 PM)

Thats great, I hope the cure works and gives him a long life, and helps others with AIDS.



BKSir -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 1:17:30 AM)

As someone who has lost many a friend, held the hand at the bedside of many a person as they close their eyes for the last time because no one else would be there, and has seen the way this disease destroys a person, I hold out any hope for any cure.  I'm not, however, holding my breath.  I do hope every day, that there will be a breakthrough, and that HIV/AIDS will be a thing of the past.  I also know that every step forward, even IF it's a fluke, is still a step forward.  And even flukes had to have SOMETHING that made them work.  The trick is to find it and work from there.

Thank you for sharing this Greedy.  It brought me a bit more hope.  *HUG*



GreedyTop -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 2:10:16 AM)

*hug* darlin.. I hope with all my heart that this IS a big step forward../..



sirsholly -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 2:30:39 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

While this points to a possibility of a cure, bone marrow transplants aren't a viable option. First it is fatal in about a quarter of all cases. Second it is swapping one chronic condition, HIV infection, with another, suprressed immune system to prevent rejection.



you need to site you source on this.
It is obvious that bone marrow transplants are a viable option...it seems to be working, does it not?

And as far as swapping one cronic condition for another...that is silly Ken. Some transplant patients do remain on anti-rejection medications for life. Some do not. Alot hinges on the antigen match between the donor and the patient.
Anti-rejection medications are immuno repressive which causes, among other side effects, an increased risk for infection...far preferable to AIDS.

And as far as bone marrow transplants being fatal in one quarter of the cases...again, state your source. Many who recieve a bone marrow transplant do in fact die. But you are implying their death is caused by the transplant. The patient recieving the transplant is very ill to begin with. Rejection of the marrow means their origional disease has progressed.



AquaticSub -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 3:50:39 AM)

~Fast Reply~

I just found this article and came over to post it! I don't know if it's going to work on a large scale but it's definately worth persuing. I hope there is more study done.



jlf1961 -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 5:43:30 AM)

There is one branch of HIV/AIDS research that seems to be ignored by the media.

On the African continent, the source of the HIV virus, it has become apparent that there are some who are repeatedly exposed to the HIV virus and it never develops, their immune system kills the virus outright.

Since the HIV virus is a mutation of possibly two different viruses, SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus) and FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) the first being carried by chimps and great apes, the second by the various Feline species on the continent.

The working Hypothesis is that exposure to either of these two viruses causes the person to develop an immunity to HIV, except that this is not always the case because another group of people exposed to the two viruses develop HIV.

The final point is that what works for one group of people may not work for other groups of people, or even that it may be that is some cases a case specific cure must be used.



RCdc -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 5:58:04 AM)

Hello Jif
I wouldn't say it is 'ignored'.  The fact that some people carry the genetic mutation that makes them resistant to HIV is why this transplant came about.  It is definately a fantastic start.
 
the.dark.



DomKen -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 6:49:25 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: sirsholly

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

While this points to a possibility of a cure, bone marrow transplants aren't a viable option. First it is fatal in about a quarter of all cases. Second it is swapping one chronic condition, HIV infection, with another, suprressed immune system to prevent rejection.



you need to site you source on this.
It is obvious that bone marrow transplants are a viable option...it seems to be working, does it not?

Did you read the article? Even if this was considered a viable option, it isn't, it would require finding a tissue matched donor with the HIV resistance mutation which occurs in 0.1% of the population or less.

quote:

And as far as swapping one cronic condition for another...that is silly Ken. Some transplant patients do remain on anti-rejection medications for life. Some do not. Alot hinges on the antigen match between the donor and the patient.
Anti-rejection medications are immuno repressive which causes, among other side effects, an increased risk for infection...far preferable to AIDS.

If the marrow isn't a perfect match, ie the person's own marrow or from an identical twin, then the odds are the recipient will be on anti rejection meds for life.

quote:

And as far as bone marrow transplants being fatal in one quarter of the cases...again, state your source. Many who recieve a bone marrow transplant do in fact die. But you are implying their death is caused by the transplant. The patient recieving the transplant is very ill to begin with. Rejection of the marrow means their origional disease has progressed.

Irradiating or chemically killing the bone marrow so as to allow for a transplant may be fatal in a reasonably healthy person.
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/bone_marrow_transplantation.jsp

If you want more details pubmed has hundreds of articles on the subject.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/



sirsholly -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 6:58:39 AM)

Ken...there are transplant patients who take no immunpsupressant at all. It takes time for the body to accept the transplant, but it occurs more frequestly than you might think. And so what if they do? If i had a choice between AIDS and an immunosupressant there is no doubt which one i would choose. Organ transplant patients all start out on immunosupressants.

And this type of a transplant IS a viable option. In time you will begin to see HIV/RM testing added to the Bone Marrow donor list.



DomKen -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 7:06:06 AM)

You need to check with a medical ethicist, there is no way that HIV infection, a chronic treatable condition, rises to the level of severity and imminent threat to ethically justify full body irradiation and the rest of the marrow transplant procedure. Before the anti retrovirals and the multi drug regimes came along maybe but now? Not going to happen. Even the doctors in this case agree that it was only an option due to the patient having leukemia as well.



DavanKael -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 7:08:09 AM)

Thank you for sharing this article, Greedy Top!  More potentially viable treatment options are never a bad thing and while I doubt a cure less than 30 years into knowing aobut the virus, we can hope!  :> 
  Davan



Lordandmaster -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 7:42:26 AM)

Ken is right, of course, that bone marrow transplants per se aren't a viable cure for HIV infection, but this case opens possibilities for OTHER therapies.



sirsholly -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 8:10:54 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

Ken is right, of course, that bone marrow transplants per se aren't a viable cure for HIV infection, but this case opens possibilities for OTHER therapies.

i should have made myself clear. You will see the bone marrow donation lists begin to test for HIV/RM. And you will see it soon. Can it be used now? Probably not. But the info will be there when and if there is a medical breakthrough.



jlf1961 -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 8:16:17 AM)

If I may be so blunt as to point out a simple fact, antiviral medications actually help the body build up resistance to the AIDS form of HIV.  While it does not cause the mutation for a full resistance, it does stem the progression of the disease.

Treatment and a cure for this disease will most likely be on the genetic level since it is a retrovirus, and attacks the host at the genetic level.

Now, while the Religious Zealots and Fanatics will proclaim AIDS the wrath of god for homosexual and the various other debauchery humans so enjoy, the truth of the matter is that AIDS and HIV is a direct result of the First World countries leaving the poverty stricken people of Central Africa to eat the meat of great apes, felines and other carriers of sub species of the parent virus.

Of course, there is the philosophy, "who cares if we flush a few hundred million people down the toilet...." the hold over from the colonial expansion period.



sirsholly -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 8:21:26 AM)

jif...i recall a rush by the homosexual community (years age) when this info first came out. They were asking their pcp's for antivirals, but there was no proof that it made a difference. Plus..even if it did have some effect, it was gone when they stopped taking the antiviral.



slvemike4u -> RE: Possible cure for AIDS? (11/13/2008 8:24:45 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

You need to check with a medical ethicist, there is no way that HIV infection, a chronic treatable condition, rises to the level of severity and imminent threat to ethically justify full body irradiation and the rest of the marrow transplant procedure. Before the anti retrovirals and the multi drug regimes came along maybe but now? Not going to happen. Even the doctors in this case agree that it was only an option due to the patient having leukemia as well.

I am not smart enought to enter into this conversation,don't know enough about the subject.All I can bring to the table is my own experience.....and solely based on what I have seen and what my family went thru,I tend to agree with DomKen here.
  My younger brother died of leukemia,I was a 6 point match ,so naturally I was a perfect doner for the BMT procedure.Seems to me this would be a case of the cure being worse than the disease.Suppressing the immune system opens the patient up to a laundry list of possible fatal diseases...all in the hope that the host body can accept the Marrow and not sucumb to the many ailments the process has left him/her at the mercy of.
There are all sorts of holes in my memory of things I was told and things I observed,despite being 35 when all this happened(disassociation and selective memory is a coping skill I learned early in life)but I can safely say the whole process of a Bone Marrow Transfer can only really be justified when imminent death is the result of not having the treatment.



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