Stem Cell Transplant cures patient of HIV/AIDS

Started by Livewire December 14th, 2010 9:29 PM
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Livewire

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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.
I'd say this is a huge breakthrough. Even if it isn't the end of the disease as a whole, it's definitely a step in the right direction, and it can lead to more research and ultimately more breakthroughs.

Thoughts?

Meganium

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I think this is a HUGE breakthrough. So many people are living with the disease in this world, and now, hope is slowly coming. This is just incredible.

Livewire

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I think this is a HUGE breakthrough. So many people are living with the disease in this world, and now, hope is slowly coming. This is just incredible.
If anybody was waiting for a good reason to actively pursue Stem Cell research, well here you go.

I agree, this is a pretty monumental development. Hopefully with this development, Stem Cell research could get more funding so more breakthroughs like this one can happen.

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Holy cow. I thought the thread title must be a mistake. They seriously found a person who has probably been cured of HIV/AIDS? What a breakthrough! I mean I know it'll be a slow path, but before now, many people probably never even thought a cure would EVER be found!

Livewire

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Amazing stuff. Proof that stem cell treatment can cure HIV-infected people is an incredible breakthrough. Hopefully more people will support stem cell research given it has produced results. Anybody know whether these were adult or embryonic stem cells?
That's exactly what I was beginning to wonder. I wonder how the public would view this if the discovery was via embryonic stem cells, or if you can cure AIDS with them. :|
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Don't bet on this being pursued. The healthcare industry makes too much profit off of three drug cocktails in order to let HIV/AIDS be eradicated.
**** their profit. It cured me.
Regarding the profit part, "Welcome to the real world".

As for the discovery, I think we shouldn't be too happy. I do not understand in healthcare or anything regarding it, but someone should go and do some research. There might be negatives, or even dangers. It's all nice and happy but most things do have a bad side.

Livewire

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**** their profit. It cured me.
Regarding the profit part, "Welcome to the real world".

As for the discovery, I think we shouldn't be too happy. I do not understand in healthcare or anything regarding it, but someone should go and do some research. There might be negatives, or even dangers. It's all nice and happy but most things do have a bad side.
If you mean the patient who received the stem cell transplant, then no, he's healthy now. In the abstract, there weren't any side affects listed that would compromise his health, aside from the usual fever, pain or rash at the injection site, etc.

Rich Boy Rob

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Amazing stuff [/followtheherd]
If this doesn't convince people that stem cell research is the way to go then nothing will.
I never thought a working (if young) cure for HIV/AIDS would be discovered/invented in this decade.

<Finalfantasy Fanfare>

As for this:

Don't bet on this being pursued. The healthcare industry makes too much profit off of three drug cocktails in order to let HIV/AIDS be eradicated.
That may be true of the private sector to some extent, the National Healthcare Service would save money on said cocktails so why would they reject this research?
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Livewire

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Amazing stuff [/followtheherd]
If this doesn't convince people that stem cell research is the way to go then nothing will.
I never thought a working (if young) cure for HIV/AIDS would be discovered/invented in this decade.

<Finalfantasy Fanfare>

As for this:



That may be true of the private sector to some extent, the National Healthcare Service would save money on said cocktails so why would they reject this research?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15655257/

I read another article that the Average American AIDS patient's care costs 600,000 dollars over the course of a decade or so. Now, multiply that by the thousands of AIDS/HIV patients, and the heath care corporations and the taxpayer would save a hefty sum if there was no need to produce/sell/buy AIDS/HIV medications.

Esper

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I read elsewhere (forgive me for not remembering where) that the doctors involved in this breakthrough cautioned people that the procedure isn't something they would recommend to most people with HIV/AIDS. But that aside, for someone to be cured or near-cured of HIV is nothing less than a medical miracle. I could almost cry this is such a hopeful sign for the future amid all the horrible things you read about in the world.
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It's great we've found a way to manipulate this, but we've actually known about HIV resistance for a long time now. This is just the first time we've applied it to an infected individual... Reason being that HIV resistance is pretty rare. We're still working on replicating the resistance factors in lab, but we're nowhere close due to the lack of stem cells and the controversy over it. This case was sort of lucky because the donor already carried the receptor mutation.

Still, the individual still carries the virus in them, but they won't be able to replicate.
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Livewire

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It's great we've found a way to manipulate this, but we've actually known about HIV resistance for a long time now. This is just the first time we've applied it to an infected individual... Reason being that HIV resistance is pretty rare. We're still working on replicating the resistance factors in lab, but we're nowhere close due to the lack of stem cells and the controversy over it. This case was sort of lucky because the donor already carried the receptor mutation.

Still, the individual still carries the virus in them, but they won't be able to replicate.
Yeah, I was always under the assumption that HIV/AIDS patents best bet was antiretrovirals, and hoping for the best. Basically the process itself needs to be replicated, I take it. But I think a development like this could be the tiebreaker of sorts in the whole stem cell controversy, hopefully it could sway public opinion to the side of further R&D.
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This is quite a break though...I read an article one day saying that Stem cells from a Man' Testicles might be able to cure Diabetes type 1 in males...It's amazing all the wonders non-embryonic stem cells can do :D!
Too bad Stem cell research is still expensive for those who need it
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Corvus of the Black Night

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Wait, why do people oppose stem cell research again? People are willing to deny others the right to live the rest of their lives paralysis, and now AIDS/HIV free, for what now? Jeez.

Awesome stuff. Seriously. This makes me all cuddly, then wants me to hack some anti-stemcell-research peeps.

Livewire

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It doesn't work on everybody, from what I've heard.
It's only been performed on one person, the "Berlin patient" as he's called. but that still doesn't changed the fact that it happened. Curing HIV/AIDS is now in the realm of possibility, unlike before.
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Wait, why do people oppose stem cell research again? People are willing to deny others the right to live the rest of their lives paralysis, and now AIDS/HIV free, for what now? Jeez.

Awesome stuff. Seriously. This makes me all cuddly, then wants me to hack some anti-stemcell-research peeps.
Well one type is really controversial and that's Embyonic stem cells. The other one is less controversial and I think it should be used :)
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Livewire

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Well one type is really controversial and that's Embyonic stem cells. The other one is less controversial and I think it should be used :)
Technically, one can use embryonic stem cells without even touching an embryo/Fetus. ;)