Prospects for Potential Cures?

[RobbyR]

Hi all, new to the site here, and have been poz for 6 years, undetectable for 2! I'm sure everyone has heard of the case of the man who had a bone marrow transplant and ever since then has not shown any signs of the HIV virus. Could this be the breakthrough we have been waiting for in terms of potential cure...Obviously, it's not practical to give everyone who is HIV positive a bone marrow transplant, but perhaps the virus somehow lives and incubates in the blood somehow and figuring out how to stop that is the key to a cure? I am far from a doctor and medicine is not my area, but perhaps somehow developing some kind of drug to trick the body into thinking it has had a bone marrow transplant or been infused with new blood might be the key?  At any rate, these are just speculations and maybe wishful thinking on my part...

I realize how wonderful the HIV medications have been in terms of saving and extending those of us who have HIV's lives, and I am very grateful for them. And there's no doubt that today's meds are way better than those of the past...But, isn't it time, particularly with today's new technology, to go beyond simply being content to TREAT hiv, and start working hard to CURE it again? I know many have been out there working hard on this for years, but as good as the new regimens are, I'm sure many of us who are poz would rather not have to take even one pill for HIV and deal with the side effects and the lingering stigma that hiv has...My own suspicion is that there may not ever be a singlular "cure" as it were, like in terms of going in and getting a vaccine and being cured of HIV...I suspect if a cure does come, it may involve maybe several rounds of treatment to render if effective, since hiv itself seems to be such a cryptic, diffuse virus. But I hope we can still realistically hope for a cure, no matter what form it may take....

Lastly, there has been much talk in recent years of giving people certain hiv medications within a certain time of potential exposure, to perhaps stop the virus from being transmitted in the early stages of exposure..I am all for this, but again, I and I am sure many of us who have been hiv positive for many years want the focus to be on curing those of us who already have it as there is to those who are simply at risk for it....

All that being said, we live in exciting times medically speaking, and I suspect in the next few years we may see some major new breakthroughs in potential practical cures for the virus, for the first time since the early 80s...Maybe I am just an optimist, but I have to hope!! 

[Rockin]

Hi all, new to the site here, and have been poz for 6 years, undetectable for 2! I'm sure everyone has heard of the case of the man who had a bone marrow transplant and ever since then has not shown any signs of the HIV virus. Could this be the breakthrough we have been waiting for in terms of potential cure...Obviously, it's not practical to give everyone who is HIV positive a bone marrow transplant, but perhaps the virus somehow lives and incubates in the blood somehow and figuring out how to stop that is the key to a cure? I am far from a doctor and medicine is not my area, but perhaps somehow developing some kind of drug to trick the body into thinking it has had a bone marrow transplant or been infused with new blood might be the key?  At any rate, these are just speculations and maybe wishful thinking on my part...

I realize how wonderful the HIV medications have been in terms of saving and extending those of us who have HIV's lives, and I am very grateful for them. And there's no doubt that today's meds are way better than those of the past...But, isn't it time, particularly with today's new technology, to go beyond simply being content to TREAT hiv, and start working hard to CURE it again? I know many have been out there working hard on this for years, but as good as the new regimens are, I'm sure many of us who are poz would rather not have to take even one pill for HIV and deal with the side effects and the lingering stigma that hiv has...My own suspicion is that there may not ever be a singlular "cure" as it were, like in terms of going in and getting a vaccine and being cured of HIV...I suspect if a cure does come, it may involve maybe several rounds of treatment to render if effective, since hiv itself seems to be such a cryptic, diffuse virus. But I hope we can still realistically hope for a cure, no matter what form it may take....

Lastly, there has been much talk in recent years of giving people certain hiv medications within a certain time of potential exposure, to perhaps stop the virus from being transmitted in the early stages of exposure..I am all for this, but again, I and I am sure many of us who have been hiv positive for many years want the focus to be on curing those of us who already have it as there is to those who are simply at risk for it....

All that being said, we live in exciting times medically speaking, and I suspect in the next few years we may see some major new breakthroughs in potential practical cures for the virus, for the first time since the early 80s...Maybe I am just an optimist, but I have to hope!! 

I think it's quite possible that we might see a long-term treatment that eventually leads to a cure, as opposed to a treatment that only keeps the virus controlled. I do think in my lifetime, at least (I'm 30). I just don't hold my breath for a vaccine, I think we are a long long way from that.

[sensual1973]

A day at a time,my meds work just fine.