Sage Francis
Self Fighteous
Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 21336
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| Stem cell transplant cures HIV in a Berlin patient |
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Sad day for the religious right.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/14/hiv-cure-berlin-patient_n_796521.html
On the heels of World AIDS Day comes a stunning medical breakthrough: Doctors believe an HIV-positive man who underwent a stem cell transplant has been cured as a result of the procedure.
Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the "Berlin Patient," received the transplant in 2007 as part of a lengthy treatment course for leukemia. His doctors recently published a report in the journal Blood affirming that the results of extensive testing "strongly suggest that cure of HIV infection has been achieved."
Brown's case paves a path for constructing a permanent cure for HIV through genetically-engineered stem cells.
Last week, Time named another AIDS-related discovery to its list of the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2010. Recent studies show that healthy individuals who take antiretrovirals, medicine commonly prescribed for treating HIV, can reduce their risk of contracting the disease by up to 73 percent.
While these developments by no means prove a cure for the virus has been found, they can certainly provide hope for the more than 33 million people living with HIV worldwide. Alongside such findings, global efforts to combat the epidemic have accelerated as of late, with new initiatives emerging in the Philippines and South Africa this week. |
Tue Dec 14, 2010 4:54 pm |
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PoetryBox
Joined: 14 Feb 2007
Posts: 452
Location: brampton, ON |
There is a god!! This is awesome news!!! Lets hope this is the real deal |
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Tue Dec 14, 2010 4:59 pm |
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Juan
girls don juan anything to do with me
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 1042
Location: Ohio |
my only memory of my uncle was being at the hospital when he was dying of AIDS and going to his funeral, so I've been terrified of AIDS since I was like 4. And I always click on these stories whenever there is a new breakthrough or update. Hopefully there's more of this in the future |
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Tue Dec 14, 2010 5:13 pm |
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Dr Sagacious
Joined: 01 Mar 2009
Posts: 1842
Location: Redford |
With a proven cure of HIV/AIDS coupled with universal health care, America could be a ridiculously better place.
That's my Chrimbus wish. |
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Tue Dec 14, 2010 6:51 pm |
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kese
Joined: 16 Mar 2003
Posts: 5450
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Holy shit!
This is amazing news... wow... |
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Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:35 pm |
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crash
Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Posts: 5441
Location: the chocolate city with a marshmallow center and a graham cracker crust of corruption |
cool, but this guy already cured aids, with plants!
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Tue Dec 14, 2010 9:30 pm |
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benjy compson
Joined: 01 Feb 2008
Posts: 1179
Location: cliffs of opal |
ah. the inimitable dr. sebi... |
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Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:08 am |
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jehu
Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 9309
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kese wrote:
Holy shit!
This is amazing news... wow...
to say the least. this is absolutely astounding & awesome. |
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Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:06 am |
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monkeyseemonkeydo
Joined: 23 May 2003
Posts: 498
Location: aussie outback mate! |
Just to clarify that article a bit the donor carried an extremely rare resistance to HIV that was transplanted as part of procedure. I will look to see if I can find a comment on this but my old man was telling me that it is already difficult to find a donor for any form of transplant, (in this case marrow?) therefore this is simply a random one in a billion event. Not to say it wont further research but this is not a magic bullet cure for AIDS is my understanding. |
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Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:17 am |
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selfworth
Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 1109
Location: maryland |
man, if this does get developed further and they find a way for this to work on a more common level, this could be a huge step in the right direction. |
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Thu Dec 16, 2010 12:24 pm |
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Captiv8
Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 8177
Location: Third Coast |
I hate to be the ambivalent curmudgeon, but here I am. Medical advances like this are terrific, no doubt, but I the other hand I'm worried that keeping people alive for significantly longer periods of time is ultimately worse for everyone (and the planet). And where's all the money going that could be used to educate people across the globe about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and the goodness of safe sex? Granted, that money would also need to provide affordable and readily available birth control. I'm inclined to agree, in my cynical way, with monkeyseemonkeydo here. |
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Fri Dec 17, 2010 10:11 am |
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Nahgied
Joined: 30 Mar 2004
Posts: 376
Location: Ontario |
Captiv8 wrote:
I hate to be the ambivalent curmudgeon, but here I am. Medical advances like this are terrific, no doubt, but I the other hand I'm worried that keeping people alive for significantly longer periods of time is ultimately worse for everyone (and the planet). And where's all the money going that could be used to educate people across the globe about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and the goodness of safe sex? Granted, that money would also need to provide affordable and readily available birth control. I'm inclined to agree, in my cynical way, with monkeyseemonkeydo here.
There is no way this story should be greeted with anything but a universal "awesome".
I would also accept "neat".
Sometimes you gotta let a feel good story be a feelgood story.
*editted for grammer. |
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Fri Dec 17, 2010 10:39 am |
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Lonely Shinobi
Joined: 27 Oct 2007
Posts: 349
Location: adelaide, AUS |
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It is good news for sure, but a few things to bear in mind
1. It wasn't stem cells. It was a normal bone marrow transplant. We do this already for leukemia as a last resort. No playing god, the religious right probably doesn't care. if they do, then they would have to be against all transplants. Maybe Mormons?
2. The chance of having that resistant gene as a Caucasian isn't super low, a measurable percentage of people have it. It could be a viable treatment if...
3. It wasn't crazy. This is reserved in end stage leukaemia, when there is nothing to lose. Essentially your own bone marrow is killed with radiation, removing your ability to make blood cells. Someone elses marrow is implanted and hopefully it takes/doesn't die/isn't rejected. Mortality is high (don't know the exact number, but suspect it would be between 10 and 50%).
This is a great breakthrough. It is not a new treatment, but at least it proves that conceptually you can use one person's genes in another person to prevent/cure aids. It improves our understanding of these things, and proves that that gene is a viable target for gene therapy, when we learn how to do that.
Good times |
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Fri Dec 17, 2010 5:28 pm |
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Captiv8
Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 8177
Location: Third Coast |
Nahgied wrote:
Captiv8 wrote:
I hate to be the ambivalent curmudgeon, but here I am. Medical advances like this are terrific, no doubt, but I the other hand I'm worried that keeping people alive for significantly longer periods of time is ultimately worse for everyone (and the planet). And where's all the money going that could be used to educate people across the globe about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and the goodness of safe sex? Granted, that money would also need to provide affordable and readily available birth control. I'm inclined to agree, in my cynical way, with monkeyseemonkeydo here.
There is no way this story should be greeted with anything but a universal "awesome".
I would also accept "neat".
Sometimes you gotta let a feel good story be a feelgood story.
*editted for grammer.
I'm not saying it isn't good. This will save a lot of lives. It's a double-edged sword in my mind, is all. |
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Fri Dec 17, 2010 10:55 pm |
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Nahgied
Joined: 30 Mar 2004
Posts: 376
Location: Ontario |
are all modern medical advances double edged swords? I'm not sure I understand your position...
...because if its medical advances save lives, our population is out of control, therefor all medical advances should be confronted with a 'meh', then thats a pretty shitty position. |
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Sat Dec 18, 2010 6:13 am |
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