Researchers knock out HIV

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1020103343.htm

I half-heartedly searched Google for more news stories but only found one from a German site. If this is true (I'm kinda skeptical about news stories) it sounds awesome.

Life expectancy of HIV positive patients is increasing every day... let's hope this one outfoxes the virus.

I sure hope they have found ways to make it dormant! That would just be a major miracle for so many people!

What's intriguing is that it says the information was published back in August in The Lancet, which is a respected British medical journal... so why would it not have been picked up by mainstream media, or at least by American medical journals?

I found the summary of the original article on The Lancet's website:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...10150/abstract

As best I can tell, the phrase "knock out HIV" in the title of that Science Daily article is really too strong... it sounds like that's what they believe they can eventually do, based on a small, short-term success. Still, it's wonderful to hear promising results! I hope this turns out to be the real thing!

I could be wrong, but I would think that if this were true that it would be the number one story, but this is the first I've heard of it. I hope it is true, but I'm afraid I have my doubts.

I thought I read that they could do this a couple of years ago, that they found a cure for HIV, but not AIDS.

Originally Posted by clixpix

I could be wrong, but I would think that if this were true that it would be the number one story, but this is the first I've heard of it. I hope it is true, but I'm afraid I have my doubts.

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If this were true it would be all over the news but I haven't seen a single article on it until now. I really doubt it's true.

I just did a google search archive for HIV cure.

It's been in the talks and has been performed in Africa, where the highest Aids/hiv population is. http://news.google.com/archivesearch...s&sa=N&start=0

I think its not on the front page as there are so many other diseases, like the Supervirus, Bird Flu, etc that are more of public concern. I could be wrong but I don't think that HIV has been on the rise lately.

I agree that it would have been all over the news. That's some big stuff. It is weird that Science Daily would publish that article though.... HIV is a hot topic, Amercian reporters would have picked that up in a hurry if it was true.

Originally Posted by lunasmom

I just did a google search archive for HIV cure.

It's been in the talks and has been performed in Africa, where the highest Aids/hiv population is. http://news.google.com/archivesearch...s&sa=N&start=0

I think its not on the front page as there are so many other diseases, like the Supervirus, Bird Flu, etc that are more of public concern. I could be wrong but I don't think that HIV has been on the rise lately.

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At 14,000 new HIV infections every day, 22 million people have died from AIDS, and 42 million people are living with AIDS: http://www.until.org/statistics.shtml

The total number of cases of bird flu is 36: http://birdflu.sis.gov.eg/html/flu01001.htm

I could find no statistics on Supervirus.


I'm thinking that if there were a cure for HIV, we probably would have heard about it.

Originally Posted by clixpix

I'm thinking that if there were a cure for HIV, we probably would have heard about it.

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According to the article, it's not the cure for HIV.

Originally Posted by clixpix

At 14,000 new HIV infections every day, 22 million people have died from AIDS, and 42 million people are living with AIDS: http://www.until.org/statistics.shtml

The total number of cases of bird flu is 36: http://birdflu.sis.gov.eg/html/flu01001.htm

I could find no statistics on Supervirus.


I'm thinking that if there were a cure for HIV, we probably would have heard about it.

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Thanks for the stats. I think HIV and AIDs just aren't "cool" in the media anymore. I mean I haven't seen a PSA on tv for a long, long time.

I don't know I was merely providing suggestions and a link to other articles.

I did read on CNN about a week ago that they have developed a new drug for the HIV virus that will help people who have not responded to the usual drug cocktail.

If they could ever find a cure for HIV, that would make me happier than having all the money in the world. It would save so many lives of those who already suffer from not only the terrible disease itself, but also from public fear and judgmental stereotyping. HIV is one of the worst dieases out there because there is so little support and it is still to this day so misunderstood.

Wow, it seems too good to be true

It would be amazing. I do not have aids or HIV, but another disease that there is no cure for, and anything at all, to someone who has no hope of ever being cured is good news to hear. If this is truthful, then thank god. The smallest bit of hope helps. . .

As I said, the Science Daily article overstates the case -- according to the summary of the original article in The Lancet (the full article is only available to subscribers, and would be over my head anyway), this is not a cure... it is apparently a way to arrest the growth of the virus and keep it controlled through ongoing treatment.

That alone is a big story, of course, but if it hasn't yet been shown to work over the long term, that might explain why it isn't getting more press.

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

As I said, the Science Daily article overstates the case -- according to the summary of the original article in The Lancet (the full article is only available to subscribers, and would be over my head anyway), this is not a cure... it is apparently a way to arrest the growth of the virus and keep it controlled through ongoing treatment.

That alone is a big story, of course, but if it hasn't yet been shown to work over the long term, that might explain why it isn't getting more press.

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The reason why they are having so many problems finding a cure is because 1) there are many subtypes of HIV (with O being the most aggressive and can kill a patient in 6 weeks from initial diagnosis) and 2) once you have HIV, it can and has mutated to a different subtype.
You also have HIV1 and HIV2 with 1 occurring mostly in the US and 2 in Africa.

Interesting article. Interesting website as well - I love science articles...

I've read these articles as well. I think the reason it's not more widely circulated is because the "cure" isn't 100% effective and is still being tested.
so far they say that people in Africa are responding well, but again it's also mostly on people that have recently contracted the virus and they've caught it quickly, and again, of course, not working for everyone...

hey it's progress though!