A Doctor, a Mutation and a Potential Cure for AIDS

[Will20]

Amazing news

The patient, a 42-year-old American living in Berlin, is still recovering from his leukemia therapy, but he appears to have won his battle with AIDS. Doctors have not been able to detect the virus in his blood for more than 600 days, despite his having ceased all conventional AIDS medication. Normally when a patient stops taking AIDS drugs, the virus stampedes through the body within weeks, or days.



The breakthrough appears to be that Dr. Hütter, a soft-spoken hematologist who isn't an AIDS specialist, deliberately replaced the patient's bone marrow cells with those from a donor who has a naturally occurring genetic mutation that renders his cells immune to almost all strains of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

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[ConcKahuna]

I saw this on Logo the other day. It's amazing news and I hope they find a way to test for folks who can offer their marrow for others

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing? Finally. A cure.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I hadn't seen that particular story. I read a different article about it the other day that didn't mention that they had hand selected the marrow donor.

It sounds like they may have found a useful strategy, but it will be a long time before they can figure out how to use this info to benefit a large number of people. I hope they are able to secure the funding to push ahead with the research.

 

[Uncle Remus]

I hadn't seen that particular story. I read a different article about it the other day that didn't mention that they had hand selected the marrow donor.

It sounds like they may have found a useful strategy, but it will be a long time before they can figure out how to use this info to benefit a large number of people. I hope they are able to secure the funding to push ahead with the research.

That funding is the important part.

 

[zeitzeuge]

After living with this disease for 18 years (wow, has it been that long?) I hate the fact that I'm still pessimistic. I try to have hope, but it's just difficult. I learned a long time ago, not to look towards the future and live for the now because back then, it was all about staying alive. Things have changed now and I'm trying to train myself to look towards the future.

I see articles like this from time to time, showing amazing results with grand promises for the future. I know one of these days, these findings will be crutial in finding a cure. It's just sad that articles like this are found on a forum and not on mainstream media, garnering tons of media attention. It's not a priority anymore or at least in my opinion.

Like you said, we need the funding. It's hard enough during these economic times to find the funding to keep all the HIV/AIDS charities afloat, let alone raising money for finding a cure as well.

I hope this article leads to something spectacular. I just hope I see it in my lifetime.

 

[kingLouiethe1]

Unfortunately the stories I've read points at this procedure point to it being too costly and experimental for it to be a widespread cure for AIDS.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Why? Too costly for whom? Those who don't have the diagnosis? Those who don't have families, partners, loved ones with the diagnosis? That's garbage.

If there is any indication of a cure, a real, effective cure then that is where the focus should be. I am so over this whole stinking issue.

I lost someone to AIDS, early (1981) and I ache for that person still, every single stinking day.

This whole pandemic would never have gotten such a strong foothold if had been respected for the killer it was at the initial outset.

Ugh. Sorry for the rant (but then, I don't honestly think I am) I am just so completely over people suffering and dying from this illness when it didn't need to be this way.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

AIDS is incredibly intricate. It mutates and changes very quickly, which is why missing a few doses of a med can make the entire class of drugs ineffective. The virus becomes resistant very rapidly. It "learns" ways around the drugs. The things the scientists thought would work don't always work long term. And each person is individual in the way that they respond to both the drugs and the virus itself.

I don't think it is likely that there will be a single cure that works for everyone, because there are so many variations and strains. Back when the protease inhibitors were first introduced there were folks who interpreted "undetectable viral load" as "not contagious" and the strains that they infected their partners with were already largely drug resistant. I would guess that finding 2 identical cases is very rare.

The article said they tested 61 donors before they found what they were looking for to treat the guy who is now "cured", and only 1% of people have that natural immunity. For this particular procedure there may not even BE a match for everyone. Not to mention that not everyone would survive the treatment. Systematically destroying the immune system and having a bone marrow transplant is dangerous and requires a lengthy hospital stay. Definitely not a practical solution for third world countries.

I do believe that one day there will be cures. Maybe some sort of customized stem cells or something. Something targeted to each individual patient that doesn't require a bone marrow transplant. This case is interesting and hopefully it will generate interest and funding for more research, but I am not sure this particular case is THE thing that will lead to a widespread eradication of the disease.

 

[hematite153]

Wowzers!

I do get the pessimism...we can't really expect this approach to save lives immediately, but, it seems like a terrific step forward. I hope that enough money goes into funding follow-up research.

 

[Will20]

3 words. Read "The Secret"

 

[zeitzeuge]

I can understand peoples frustration. I've lived with this disease for too long and I can't even begin to count the number of best friends, close friends and aquaintences that I've lost over the years. The numbers are staggering. When you spend a few years of your life going to funerals every couple of weeks and not wanting to open the local fagrag to see who's passed away, I understand frustration of wanting to find a cure as much as anyone.

Unfortunately, the complexity of the disease has hindered finding a cure or a vaccine. Luckily, in the short time that this disease has been around, we already have medications to prevent it from getting worse and in most cases improving the patients overall health. I'm living proof of that. Many died in the begining because we had a president and a general public who didn't care about us. It hadn't affected them at that point. When this disease started touching everyone in some form or fashion, we started making progress. ie, the drug cocktail.

I think we forget about the progress we've made in the past 10 years alone in the fight against HIV/AIDS. There are cancers and other terminal illnesses out there that we're no further along then we were 25+ years ago. We've made tremendous strides. I think we as a people, are just impatient and want things done now. It's in our nature.

There are going to be studies and test results like this that might help a small portion of the population if progress is made. Hopefully we'll find a major breakthrough that can help most if not everyone. Unfortunately, there can be nothing done about the lives of loved ones that we've already lost.

Only thing we can do is have hope and pray that our new government will continue with the fight and not be complacent about it. I hope that we continue to raise money for local charities and continue with fundraising efforts to fund research. We all need to do our part.

I get frustrated with this issue as well, but if WE give up, who's left to fight?

 

[RickinNYC]

3 words. Read "The Secret"

What does that have to do with this thread?

 

[zeitzeuge]

The Secret deals with the power of positive thinking and the impact one person can make just by believing in something and if you have enough positive energy and something will happen that it will. Basically saying we all have the power inside of us to cause change.

 

[RickinNYC]

The Secret deals with the power of positive thinking and the impact one person can make just by believing in something and if you have enough positive energy and something will happen that it will. Basically saying we all have the power inside of us to cause change.

Oh! I had no flippin' idea. THAT's all that book is about? I just thought it was Opra hooey.

 

[zeitzeuge]

Well, the book has some amazing points. Some I think are a bunch of hooey, but much of the concept is a great way to lead your life. Positive thinking is always a good thing. It's just the level that some people take it. There's being positive about things, then there's living outside of reality of what is in the realm of possibilities. I can believe and think positively that there will be a cure some day. But thinking positively that we'll find a cure that's cost effective within the next two years or something is probably not thinking very realistically.

Sometimes I play Debbie Downer too much. My previous partner was always the epitomy of positive thinking. Silver lining to everything. Good always comes out of something bad.

I swear to GOD he pooped rainbows, kittens and butterflies.

After hearing him go off on a tangent, I would be the one that would sit there, think a while, then try to reason with him or bring him back down to reality a bit.

Just in my nature I guess.

 

[rpmdfw]

I swear to GOD he pooped rainbows, kittens and butterflies.

Sounds like Wally when he's in his "Sunshine, Happiness, Wallyana" phase.

 

[kingLouiethe1]

Why? Too costly for whom? Those who don't have the diagnosis? Those who don't have families, partners, loved ones with the diagnosis? That's garbage.

If there is any indication of a cure, a real, effective cure then that is where the focus should be. I am so over this whole stinking issue.

I lost someone to AIDS, early (1981) and I ache for that person still, every single stinking day.

This whole pandemic would never have gotten such a strong foothold if had been respected for the killer it was at the initial outset.

Ugh. Sorry for the rant (but then, I don't honestly think I am) I am just so completely over people suffering and dying from this illness when it didn't need to be this way.

Aww. I'm sorry DVC, I didn't mean to imply that someone's life is not worth the money. I think we all agree when the life of someone we love is at stake, cost doesn't matter.

But there are other problems with this approach that make it unreasonable as a cure for everyone. We are looking at one of those cases where the cure can definitely be worst than the disease. Marrow transplants really suck.

I think the best we can do is keep hoping for the best at this point, and keep doing what we can to stop the spread.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

No apology necessary, King! I understand what you were saying. It's a real touchy subject with me (like I had to tell you that, eh) and I tend to be pretty overbearing.

I know how very complex an RNA based virus is, but I also believe that we could be further along if this disease were given the respect for the killer that it is.

I'll shut up now.

 

[hematite153]

Whether it's HIV/AIDS focused or not, bone marrow transplants are getting research money on a fairly broad basis these days. There is a study that is using cleaned autologous bone marrow transplants to treat MS. They've found that they can freeze MS symptoms and in one case they've even managed to eliminate them. It's very experimental at this point, but, promising.

I'd like to believe that this sort of research will eventually be able to help people with all sort of auto immune disorders.