Showing posts with label HIV/AIDS research in Berlin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HIV/AIDS research in Berlin. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

First Real Hope for Eradication of HIV

by Pragmatus (Daily Kos)

New Procedure Expands on Sole Cured Patient’s Experience.
Building upon the success of the first-ever cure of someone with HIV/AIDS, a new treatment has been developed that modifies the genetic makeup of the human T-cell to prevent HIV from inserting itself into the cell’s DNA and thus perpetuating the infection.  Developed by Sangamo BioSciences, the treatment, a “zinc-finger” process code-named SB-728, modifies T-cells of persons with HIV/AIDS so that they can no longer be infected by the virus.  Clinical trials, currently in phase II (to determine efficacy), show dramatic results, including some beyond what was originally expected.
READ: Did science really cure the first case of HIV 
http://bit.ly/fW2geP
 

Friday, February 3, 2012

HIV and AIDS: The U.S. vs. Germany


Hey Tom, 
Did you ask why we keep ignoring the fact that NO ONE has been cured, yet as you discovery more and more people are dying from AIDS DRUGS...?

"Doctors say they're also seeing other AIDS-related illnesses, like lymphoma and heart disease, become bigger problems in patients they're treating."


WTOP's Thomas Warren recently traveled to Germany for a fellowship with the RIAS Berlin Kommission. While there, he conducted research on the history of HIV in Germany, including the governmental policies aimed at handling the disease and how the virus is treated medically. As we continue our series, he takes a look at the German system and how it compares to the U.S.
WASHINGTON - Washington, D.C. and New York City both are recognized as having an extremely high prevalence of HIV infections in the U.S. Out of their combined populations of just under 9 million people, 123,000 are living with the virus, according to health department statistics from both cities.
By comparison, that's 56,000 more than in the entire country of Germany, which has a population of nearly 82 million people.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Did science really cure the first case of HIV (aka AIDS)?


(NaturalNews) "The first and only person ever to be cured of HIV/AIDS is a leukemia patient treated in Berlin with HIV-resistant stem cells." This statement by Daniel J. DeNoon from WebMD comes in response to a paper published this month by the American Society of Hematology on an individual named Timothy Brown who was allegedly cured of HIV infection.

But was he the first to be cured of HIV?

In the 1990s, boxing heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison tested positive for HIV, according to the screening and confirmatory tests he took. He also sustained a viral load and maintained an antiretroviral regimen for a period of time. In 2007 he tested negative for HIV multiple times and was allowed to return to the ring.

Then a few years ago in South Africa, I spoke with doctors whose patients tested positive, but after taking natural medications for their HIV infection they then tested negative.

The multiple cases above are not isolated, as there is much testimony documented regarding scenarios where people who tested positive were later found to be negative. These instances beg the question of whether these individuals were cured of HIV. An equally important question is: were they ever even infected with HIV in the first place?

As shown in the film House of Numbers and in additional interviews taken for the film, the issues with HIV testing are enormous.

 How Accurate is the HIV Confirmation Test

Before we can state that someone has been cured of HIV, I would like to see the scientific community come to a consensus on criteria for testing whether someone is infected with HIV. It is not plausible to determine if someone is cured unless it is proven that they are infected in the first place.

Another question that should be posed is why so much attention is being paid around the new study published by the American Society of Hematology when Luc Montagnier, the Nobel Laureate for discovering HIV, has already testified that it is possible for HIV to be cured naturally, without drugs.

See the interview with Luc Montagnier where he makes this earth shattering statement.


Intrigued by this study, I sent an inquiry to establishment scientists and The Perth Group for a comment. The Perth Group provided a brief response with a commitment to providing a full breakdown and response of the paper. The Perth Group writes:

"In the Subjects, Materials, and Methods Subjects section of this paper one reads: In February 2007, an HIV-infected patient underwent stem cell transplantation (SCT) due to a relapse of AML with a graft consisting of CCR5A32/A32 donor cells. The pre-transplant conditioning regimen included 100 mg/m2 of amsacrine, 30 mg/m2 of fludarabine, 2 g/m2 of cytarabine (day -12 until -9), 60 mg/kg of cyclophosphamide (days -4 and -3), 5.5 mg/kg of rabbit antithymocyte globuline (in three doses between day -3 and -1), and a 400 cGy total body irradiation (TBI; day -5). ART was discontinued on the day of transplantation, and 13 months later the patient received a second transplant with CCR5A32/A32 stem cells from the same donor due to a second relapse of AML. The conditioning regimen consisted of 100 mg/m2 of cytarabine (day -7 until day -1), 6 mg/m2 of gemtuzumab (day -7 and day -1), and a 200 cGy TBI (day -1)... Twelve months post-transplant, the patient underwent liver biopsy and histological examination confirmed GvHD grade I that was controlled with adaption of immunosuppressive therapy (cyclosporine A, methylprednisolone, mycophenolate mofetil)."

In other words, this particular patient received two transplants of foreign white blood cells, eight different drugs, anti-lymphocyte serum, and body irradiation, and had other drugs in the form of antiretroviral therapy, discontinued.

According to the title, all of this led to 'CURE OF HIV INFECTION BY CCR5A32/A32 SCT.' The administration of CCR5A32/A32 SCT constitutes only one part of a much larger experiment involving multiple drug and other therapies. All of these must be regarded as separate experiments, making it impossible to know exactly what 'cured the HIV infection.' If someone with hypertension is given multiple therapies, including non-pharmacological therapies, and blood pressure returns to normal, how can anyone say which treatment was responsible?

However, in order for the findings of the study to even have a valid platform for discussion, there must first be evidence that HIV exists. Until then, the question of whether someone can be cured of AIDS is moot.