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Author Topic: Living with HIV. I agree!  (Read 2986 times)

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Offline zeb

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  • Posts: 172
Living with HIV. I agree!
« on: March 22, 2007, 12:39:20 pm »
A quote of Joel Gallant
source: thebody.com

I had to share this with you after reading it:


HIV and Lifespan

For my final question, I wanted to get your idea about mortality issues. Everyone newly diagnosed wants to know what his or her chances of living a normal lifespan is. Are there any new data about that?

Well, not so much data. You've heard different presentations, trying to estimate lifespan. There was a lot of fuss about the one that gave an estimate of 24 years. I tell my patients: ignore those studies. Not that they are not good studies; they are very useful. But they are talking about large populations. In those populations are included people who don't take their medications, people who are actively injecting drugs, people who have hepatitis C, people who have renal failure.... If you're not one of those people, if you're just a healthy person who plans on taking every dose of your medications, then those kinds of estimates are meaningless to you.

I tell my patients that they should expect to live a normal lifespan, and to die of something other than AIDS, when they're old.
I tell my patients that, granted, these new therapies ... the whole idea of suppressive therapy has been only around for 11 years, so it's still relatively young. But we're not seeing [in] people who have undetectable viral loads; we're not seeing their virus evolve and become more resistant, or harder to treat. So I tell them that they should expect to live a normal lifespan, and to die of something other than AIDS, when they're old.

Can I promise this 100 percent? No. But I do think that it's a pretty realistic prediction. But I know that every time somebody publishes some study about what the average lifespan is, I'm going to get 40 e-mails and 20 calls from people, saying, "But you told me that I was going to live a long time." So, be careful how you extrapolate data to your own personal situation.

So, basically, on the whole, would you say the news from CROI was positive for patients living with HIV?

Oh, yes. I think definitely the news from CROI and from other recent conferences, like Toronto and some of the other meetings. The fact is, we've got incredibly good initial therapy now that could last you for decades if you do it right. Then, if things don't work out with the initial therapy, or if you get toxicity or side effects, we've got a lot of options to go to that will work when the first line therapy fails.

We used to say you have got one or two good shots at antiretroviral therapy, and I would say we can go much further than that now. But at the same time, people on initial therapy are much less likely to fail than people were in the early part of the HAART era. So I think the news, from a treatment standpoint, is great.


full interview can be found here:
http://www.thebody.com/hivmonth/thismonth0307.html

Take care,
Zeb

Offline Val

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Re: Living with HIV. I agree!
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2007, 12:44:24 pm »
Great, positive (wow) post, Zeb.  Thanks for sharing!

Val
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Offline scotttt

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  • Posts: 146
Re: Living with HIV. I agree!
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2007, 12:46:31 pm »
Thank you Zeb.  Beautiful!  Words of hope make my heart soar!!!!!

Offline Fosbery

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  • Posts: 47
Re: Living with HIV. I agree!
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2007, 12:51:10 pm »

 I agree, thanks for that info, it helps us newbies to stay positive, that we will live a normal lifespan.

It helps me allot.
Thanks again.

Offline antibody

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  • "every man thinks his burden is the heaviest"
Re: Living with HIV. I agree!
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2007, 01:27:10 pm »
i listened to the podcast yesterday. there was a lot of interesting stuff.

http://thebody.com/hivmonth/thismonth.html
Timbuk      <50/ 794  CD4 10/06 
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Offline Ihavehope

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  • Yes, I'm a cry baby, AND WHAT?
Re: Living with HIV. I agree!
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2007, 02:49:59 pm »
HEy Zebbie

thanks for the article. It makes senses to expect to live many years and why not a normal lifespan. Many of my concerns deal with the quality of life and not the quantity. I want to live a long life but only if I am not stuck in hospitals for the last decade of my life. If all works out well kudos to us.

Al
Infected: April 2005
12/6/06 - Diagnosed HIV positive
12/19/06 - CD4 = 240  22% VL = 26,300
1/4/07 - CD4 = 200 16% VL = ?
2/9/07 = Started Kaletra/Truvada
3/13/07 = CD4 = 386 22% VL ?

Offline zeb

  • Member
  • Posts: 172
Re: Living with HIV. I agree!
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2007, 04:38:26 pm »
Well hope,

I agree with you. I wonder what the future has in mind for us. I just have a simple way of looking at it: when i can live a good lifespan and when i'm able to work, take care of my kids and love the ones close to me it's okay, hiv won't be an obstacle in reaching my goals.

Well let's wait and see. Now i want to quit smoking else 'not dying of aids' will be too much a self fulfiling prophecy.

greets
Zeb

 


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