A cure for AIDS?

[Banned]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#ixzz1D6BAJ3pN

Scientists may have found a way for the body to cure itself of HIV.

In a series of tantalising experiments, they were able to harness the immune system to such an extent that it defeated the virus and completely removed it from the body.

While there have been advances in treating the condition, the virus’s remarkable ability to outwit the immune system means that the recipe for a cure has so far eluded even the world’s best scientists.
New hope: Scientists may have found a way to cure AIDS

New hope: Scientists may have found a way to cure AIDS

The latest experiments were carried out in mice but the researchers believe they raise the possibility of a cure, not only for HIV but for other long-term infections, including hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis.

A lot of the work into finding a cure for these illnesses has focussed on trying to use the immune system to gradually eliminate the virus or bacterium.

But the latest research, funded by the Australian and Canadian governments, suggests that a short, sharp shock is far more effective.

Dr Marc (CORR) Pellegrini, of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute said: ‘Viruses such as HIV and hepatitis B and C overwhelm the immune system, leading to establishment of chronic infections that are lifelong and incurable.

‘Despite tremendous efforts, long-lived immune responses for some of these viruses are ineffective, because the body is so overrun by virus that the immune system just give up trying to battle the infection.

‘Some people have coined the phrase “immune exhaustion” to explain the phenomenon.
Breakthrough: the research centres on a gene called SOCS-3 which has a strong reaction to overwhelming infections (file photo)

Breakthrough: the research centres on a gene called SOCS-3 which has a strong reaction to overwhelming infections (file photo)

‘Our approach is to discover some of the mechanisms that cause this immune exhaustion, and manipulate host genes to see if we can boost the natural immune response in order to beat infection.’

The breakthrough centres on a gene called SOCS-3.

When faced with an overwhelming infection such as HIV, the gene becomes highly active and slams the brakes on the immune response, allowing the virus to persist.

When the researchers boosted levels of a hormone called IL-7, the gene ‘switched off’ and mice were able to gradually remove HIV from their bodies, the journal Cell reports.

Dr Pellegrini said the research had provided ‘excellent ideas ‘for new therapies that could target and boost host immune cells called T cells to fight disease, rather than targeting the disease itself.

‘The findings could help to develop drugs that target some of these host molecules, such as SOCS-3, and turn them off for very short, defined periods of time to reinvigorate the T cells, allowing them to regroup to fight infection,’ he said.

An estimated 86,500 Britons are living with HIV, including more than 21,000 who are unaware of their infection.

[Del Valle]

BRB NO condoms for me!

[Adar]

BRB NO condoms for me!

Herpes might make you blind if it spreads to your optical nerve.

[hellheaven1987]

Anyone who has some common knowledges about Biology would know that there is no way to kill virus using any medicine today - if there is a cure for AIDS, then there would be a "cure" for every virus-caused disease too.

Unfortunately we did not hear that so that news is pretty much worthless.

[Vanoi]

Daily Mail. Not a very good new source.

[Gelgoog]

They have probably had the cure for aids for a long time. Curing diseases however does not make these companies money, not when you can treat someone for 30 years and make 5000 times the profit.

[Tom Crooze]

They have probably had the cure for aids for a long time. Curing diseases however does not make these companies money, not when you can treat someone for 30 years and make 5000 times the profit.

So, your trying to say that they've had the cure, but they kept it secret so they could make money, even though most people with aids can't even afford treatment.

[Heavy Weapons Guy]

*Applause*

[Kurtz]

So, your trying to say that they've had the cure, but they kept it secret so they could make money, even though most people with aids can't even afford treatment.

With a cure they receive zero funding and are expected to release it free or very cheap to those who aren't wealthy.

[Irish Warrior]

They have probably had the cure for aids for a long time. Curing diseases however does not make these companies money, not when you can treat someone for 30 years and make 5000 times the profit.

Even though most business execs get more sex than a whatsit? They are most likely to get it, especially with the kind of ladies they lay with.

[Ludicus]

They have probably had the cure for aids for a long time

Probably not...

[Logios]

They have probably had the cure for aids for a long time. Curing diseases however does not make these companies money, not when you can treat someone for 30 years and make 5000 times the profit.

Finding even a partial cure for AIDS or something new on the cancer front will send a drug manufacturers stocks skyrocketing and promote all other products of this manufacturer. Btw a drug patent only lasts for like 25 years and at least 5 of these years is taken by clinical testings. So no, finding an actual cure will be the profitable prospect.

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

This is an interesting find.

[Nimthill]

While it would be nice to have something like this, the list of factual inaccuracies in that report is rather large, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

[Knight of Heaven]

That isnt new there are people imune to HIV for decades, in Africa for instance, the problem is to make it imune to everybody, then it was when come up the ideia of a vacine, but it is hard doenst work on everybody only a small number of people. And they dont realy know why exactly. or how to put it?! they know that the patiente body after a persisntent contact with the virus, or the vacine became imune after a while, but that isnt the most cases. very few. Or in alternative to hide the symtoms and the ill effects of the disease, or delay then , that is possible, even for years.
For the record there are imunerous vacines, but largely depends of the patient body to accept the vacine. If this article says that they find a cure to every human body infected with the virus, then it is quite remarkable. Not sure the valadity of this article though.

[Solid Snake]

Hmm, I read the other day on the HHMI page that scientists were looking at the innate inmunity of certain individuals towards AIDS, they were infected alright, but the virus was in really low numbers, they found apparently, that these inmune people lacked a certain gene, this gene´s task was to usher the T-cells into specializing to fight the bad guys, what happens with HIV is taht the virus can change it´s antigenic surface just like that, so the T-cells can not pin point the virus to attack it. So, the people missing that gene, had an antibody full of "rookie" T-cells just willing to pull the trigger at anything that looks suspicious, thus keeping the pace with the antigenic changes in the HIV surface, the drawback, was that these rookie T-cells were also attacking their own organism, so these patients also had a high rate of developing autoinmune diseases, so pick your poison eh?

[Nimthill]

Hmm, I read the other day on the HHMI page that scientists were looking at the innate inmunity of certain individuals towards AIDS, they were infected alright, but the virus was in really low numbers, they found apparently, that these inmune people lacked a certain gene, this gene´s task was to usher the T-cells into specializing to fight the bad guys, what happens with HIV is taht the virus can change it´s antigenic surface just like that, so the T-cells can not pin point the virus to attack it. So, the people missing that gene, had an antibody full of "rookie" T-cells just willing to pull the trigger at anything that looks suspicious, thus keeping the pace with the antigenic changes in the HIV surface, the drawback, was that these rookie T-cells were also attacking their own organism, so these patients also had a high rate of developing autoinmune diseases, so pick your poison eh?

True, they miss the gene that encodes the CCR5 receptor I think, which is apparently vital for entry into the cell. Thus, the virus floats through the blood unable to invade cells, making it harmless.

[Thanatos]

Forgive me for being somewhat pessimistic, but I just don't see this stuff ever turning into a true cure. The medical industry makes so much money from both sale of temporary medications and from grant money, why would they release a cure?

[Nimthill]

Forgive me for being somewhat pessimistic, but I just don't see this stuff ever turning into a true cure. The medical industry makes so much money from both sale of temporary medications and from grant money, why would they release a cure?

Because the company that makes the first AIDS cure will earn so much money and prizes it won't ever have to worry about making profit again. It could only be topped by curing cancer in terms of public opinion, and there are many markets that give equal or better profit margins than HIV drugs. Antidepressants for example.

[Solid Snake]

Hmmm, I personally think they would make more moneys out of AIDS vaccines, if they ever get devoloped.Right now well, one cant really tell whats going on when the researches are funded by goal-oriented laboratories (most of them anyways)