A cure for HIV

[W_L]

I was looking through CNN and found this interesting piece of news:

 

Man appears free of HIV after stem cell transplant

 

This is cool and Stem cell research is only beginning to take shape. If it keep going at this rate, there might be hope for people suffering from this disease in our community and across the world.

 

They are still far from a workable cure, but if this works out and they can duplicate the inhibitor, which would allow immune system to function despite the HIV virus, then people could live longer and more fulfilling lives. Research is going to be key, but I wonder what this may affect in the future in a world without AIDS or fear of AIDS being a death sentence.

 

I think GA's dkstories noted that HIV and AIDS issues were the reason many gay people came together in 1980's and formed the beginnings of the modern gay rights movement. The problems with the movements dislocation as of late without leadership is only one piece of a greater issue with keeping it together. Without the significant catalyst of fighting against prejudice brought on by HIV/AIDS, what will happen to the gay community?

 

It is interesting to ponder a world after HIV, since it might be within a few decades.

 

This is not meant to be political question, but just an observation on a world without the threat of HIV/AIDS.

[corvus]

It's an interesting idea that HIV brought gays together, and I think it's true -- imagine the strain of all that health care without any sort of government assistance. However, I don't think we need to "worry" about HIV getting cured soon; the treatment in the article worked only because the man was losing all his bone marrow anyhow. Losing one's bone marrow is extremely dangerous, and starting from scratch with a stem cell is still a nascent technology. Some problems have a habit of taking forever to cure -- many treatments that work great in mice, for example, don't go so well for humans, and skin implants, which were thought to be solvable in the 80s, are still a problem today. On the other hand, you never know -- some things may work out easily.

[Nephylim]

I certainly hope that this works out. I have some really good friends who are HIV positive and it certainly is a worry. I hope that the research comes on apace and a cure is found before it is too late for them... purely selfish I know but they are great guys and something like this is kind of personal and therefore selfish.

[tomon]

I always thought gene therapy was one of the most amazing things when I was studying biology. Seeing how it can be used in treating cystic fibrosis as an example was something I really excited about - there's something quite satisfying about the thought of using a strain of a virus to infect people with a cure. Gene therapy is still pretty new but yeah maybe one day something like this could work. *fingers crossed*

[Hoskins]

I was looking through CNN and found this interesting piece of news:

 

Man appears free of HIV after stem cell transplant

 

This is cool and Stem cell research is only beginning to take shape. If it keep going at this rate, there might be hope for people suffering from this disease in our community and across the world.

 

They are still far from a workable cure, but if this works out and they can duplicate the inhibitor, which would allow immune system to function despite the HIV virus, then people could live longer and more fulfilling lives. Research is going to be key, but I wonder what this may affect in the future in a world without AIDS or fear of AIDS being a death sentence.

 

I think GA's dkstories noted that HIV and AIDS issues were the reason many gay people came together in 1980's and formed the beginnings of the modern gay rights movement. The problems with the movements dislocation as of late without leadership is only one piece of a greater issue with keeping it together. Without the significant catalyst of fighting against prejudice brought on by HIV/AIDS, what will happen to the gay community?

 

It is interesting to ponder a world after HIV, since it might be within a few decades.

 

This is not meant to be political question, but just an observation on a world without the threat of HIV/AIDS.

 

I think if HIV/AIDS were no longer an issue, and as tolerance for GLBT people continues to improve over time, there will be less need for gay communities and gay "ghettos". Of course I live in Michigan, where the idea of a gay community ends at the door of the community center (unless you count the bars. I don't).

 

I really hope to see a cure for HIV in my lifetime. I've (We've!) lost too many people to it.

Edited July 14, 2009 by Hoskins

[Excuse]

This is exactly the reason I went into Biomedicine! Its truly amazing what science can achieve! (yes scary if its in the wrong hands but amazing)

 

As to the community and movement idea - well I dont see it... I know I'm too young to have experienced past events, bt even after the usual play ground bullying, I don't see it as us and them... I mean for instance the term "breeder" is just as offensive in my eyes as "faggot"

 

Tolerance is improving, and if people live side by side, eventually acceptance will win out. Segregation is not something that will improve or help tolerence, nor is walking about with a chip. (not that I'm a saint/dont have my own chips) (all this talk of chips has made me hungry :| ) Everyone should just learn to live together without dividing themselves up.

 

anyway back on point! A cure for HIV will hardly affect the way in which the "gay community" functions, and it wont be too soon for the cure to be administerable. Bring on more research!!

[MikeL]

I think GA's dkstories noted that HIV and AIDS issues were the reason many gay people came together in 1980's and formed the beginnings of the modern gay rights movement. The problems with the movements dislocation as of late without leadership is only one piece of a greater issue with keeping it together. Without the significant catalyst of fighting against prejudice brought on by HIV/AIDS, what will happen to the gay community?

One reason the gay movement lacks leadership is the lack of a common purpose. An HIV cure is only one of the issues that is of interest to the gay community. In seeking resolution of these issues, the gay movement has become politicized. Obviously, we aren't unanimous on our politics, yet politics is a necessary tool to use in reaching our goals. If the various organizations involved in the issues would unite and agree on a single agenda, strong leadership might result.

 

I have a personal interest in new medical technology, particularly those breakthroughs which can fight disease by strengthening the immune system. I have high hopes for genetic medicine and am thankful that the new administration has relaxed some of the guidelines which hampered research. I apologize for being political, but I feel that this is one of the most significant things President Obama has done.

[David McLeod]

If our society were ever to be judged by some greater force (god, space aliens, or our enlightened descendants), the most important criterion, IMHO, would be how we used our wealth and knowledge to provide health care (cures, treatment, etc.). A very old science fiction series...Mercy Men? something like that...had this as its theme. A million people a year...or so I hear...die of preventable malaria. Others die because they cannot afford the so-called "orphan" drugs. It doesn't seem to me as if we were living up to our capabilities and...more important...our responsibilities. HIV/AIDS is one area in which we probably have the technology, now, to provide prevention (vaccine) and a cure...but we don't. More's the pity, and more's the judgment of the future.

[Daisy]

A lady I met is immune to the HIV virus, she is taking part in studies to help the research. Sadly her husband died of AIDS due to being a haemophiliac and bad blood transfusions (I think HIV, there were numerous other things he got from the blood too). So yeah I'd heard about this too.

 

As with David I agree there is more to do today and in numerous areas with health that aren't and others were frustration reigns for those who do try for numerous factors. But the pharmacetuials cooperating more would be a great help, if they ever fully will I doubt, but there has been some small progress there recently.

 

If there was a vaccine or cure it could have an immense effect on Africa and other places in that region. But would the vaccine/cure be available to them and widespread and affordable? Another question, what would the world do if countries in Africa were able to turn their populations around, at least in that big mortality and caring area? Or the dynamics in their own countries of course.

 

celia

[Rilbur]

A lady I met is immune to the HIV virus, she is taking part in studies to help the research. Sadly her husband died of AIDS due to being a haemophiliac and bad blood transfusions (I think HIV, there were numerous other things he got from the blood too). So yeah I'd heard about this too.

 

Immune to aids?! Wow! I didn't know that was possible!

[W_L]

I really do enjoy scientific studies and exploration of the unknown, too much Trekkie still inside me!

 

Medical science is nearing a point, where a theoretical cure for HIV, not AIDS itself, might be possible. I like the notion that Stem cells have that kind of capability and it opens the options slightly. If I were infected, but I had the money and influence, then I would take this hundred to one chance of curing myself. I really do hope this pans out into a full cure for HIV and eventually isolate the viral components and reverse AIDS altogether.

 

Due to my business legal background, I also have an interest in medical ethics (yeah, I know strange right, a business guy having ethics ).

 

Right now, the few organizations with gay rights being well funded are the HIV/AIDS foundations; some could argue the marriage equality is also starting to get their own niche funding, but it is smaller than HIV/AIDS groups. Common hatred and common discrimination due to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's brought many differing gay people from various backgrounds together. Yet, through time and less emphasis, AIDS is no longer as frightening and the hatred has become more overt.

 

In Gay history, I would call those that grew up in the 1970's can be called the Stonewall generation, 1980's generation could be called the HIV/AIDS generation, 1990's could be called the Don't Ask/Shepard Generation and the 2000's could be called the "legal" generation (for the end of sodomy laws and beginning of same sex marriage). Even after those changes, HIV/AIDS have always been that issue we could find many allies on and have a common ground with heterosexuals or religious authorities.

 

I grew up during the late 1990's on into the 2000's, so I am on the fence here for the future of Gay rights.

[Graeme]

Immune to aids?! Wow! I didn't know that was possible!

It's rare, but known. I remember a documentary on TV many years ago that looked at one particular gay guy in New York City (I think) whose friends had been dying around him, but he never contracted HIV, despite doing the same thing as them. Unfortunately, I don't believe they ever managed to work out why....

[JamesSavik]

Radiation treatment for cancer is known to kill bone marrow cells causing the need for bone marrow transplants.

 

It appears that they are using stem cells to rebuild the bone marrow. That alone would be a major step forward. Bone marrow transplants are needed by all sorts of people but finding a match is extremely difficult.

 

It has been known for years that the HIV virus can be reduced to undetectable levels with drugs. The problem has been that HIV hides out in all sorts of cells, sometimes for years, before reestablishing itself.

[W_L]

It's rare, but known. I remember a documentary on TV many years ago that looked at one particular gay guy in New York City (I think) whose friends had been dying around him, but he never contracted HIV, despite doing the same thing as them. Unfortunately, I don't believe they ever managed to work out why....

 

I think they figured it out now, finally.

 

Genetics is such a good science.

[Mark Arbour]

It's rare, but known. I remember a documentary on TV many years ago that looked at one particular gay guy in New York City (I think) whose friends had been dying around him, but he never contracted HIV, despite doing the same thing as them. Unfortunately, I don't believe they ever managed to work out why....

 

Wasn't there some thing about some people being genetically immune, and they found that those whose ancestors survived the plague tended to resist HIV infection? Or was I just stoned and imagining it?

[methodwriter85]

<<<<Research is going to be key, but I wonder what this may affect in the future in a world without AIDS or fear of AIDS being a death sentence.>>>

 

I'm not saying this is a right perception, but it seems like the vast majority of young people I meet today aren't all that concerned with AIDS, because people are living longer with AIDS medication in the Western World. Back in the 1990's, it seemed like you constantly saw safe sex ads on TV and people talking about using condoms to prevent AIDS. Now, it seems like the current teenage/twentysomething generation just doesn't get that.

 

Here's an article about AIDS apathy in young people:

 

AIDS Apathy In Young People

 

Seriously, it's f**king scary to hear the way guys talk about having unprotected sex. It really is like there's absolutely no fear of AIDS, at least in the United States, because we're just not seeing people die off the way they were back in the 1980's and 1990's. South Park actually did an interesting episode about the total apathy you see about AIDS in the U.S. today- that it's seen as some 90's disease we don't have to worry about anymore. Though it was satire, that's sadly closer to the truth than I'd like to see.

[Benji]

.

 

In Gay history, I would call those that grew up in the 1970's can be called the Stonewall generation, 1980's generation could be called the HIV/AIDS generation, 1990's could be called the Don't Ask/Shepard Generation and the 2000's could be called the "legal" generation (for the end of sodomy laws and beginning of same sex marriage). Even after those changes, HIV/AIDS have always been that issue we could find many allies on and have a common ground with heterosexuals or religious authorities.

 

I grew up during the late 1990's on into the 2000's, so I am on the fence here for the future of Gay rights.

 

.........An interesting analogy of the gay movement, I'd concur with your analysis. It is unfortunate to have to agree that AIDS brought the gay movement forward in a giant leap. The fundies claiming G-d was raining down his wrath actually upset a lot of people, non-gays alike. Partners were denied hospital visits and estates were stripped from them, by the same families that threw them out for being gay. I would have to think that Matthew Sheppard's murder not only shocked the nation, but had a profound effect on the younger generation on the gay rights issue. We are reaping benefits from this and the next generation, the fundies will lose evenutally as they did with nthe civil rights issue in the '60s. I ramble and am off topic, I am both fearful of and yet applaud stem cell research, applaude the cures I see down the road, fearful that once they get hold of this 'power' they won't stop.

[Jack Frost]

It's rare, but known. I remember a documentary on TV many years ago that looked at one particular gay guy in New York City (I think) whose friends had been dying around him, but he never contracted HIV, despite doing the same thing as them. Unfortunately, I don't believe they ever managed to work out why....

I've known this since 11th grade biology. It is possible to be naturally immune to HIV virus due to a genetic defect that deprives the immune cells of a very important surface protein on their "skin" that HIV virus needs to attach and infect such immune cells. This defect is mostly common among those with European ancestry...about 5%-10% of the population.

 

Naturally this defect does nothing to the person's health.

 

It is known that some people have HIV virus in the blood, yet it never developed into AIDS despite 25 years of infection. And they've never controled the virus with drugs either.

 

Wasn't there some thing about some people being genetically immune, and they found that those whose ancestors survived the plague tended to resist HIV infection? Or was I just stoned and imagining it?

You weren't being stoned.

Edited July 16, 2009 by Jack Frost