Thread: A cure to Aids.

I know, I didnt believe it when I heard it either. But in this age where the global recession
and the new president seem to be dominating the headlines, this absolutely PHENOMENAL groundbreaking discovery seems to have gone unnoticed!

BBC NEWS | Health | Bone marrow 'cures Aids patient'

Its news like this that makes me proud to be a member of the human race.

this was reported on /. a couple of days ago. There have been dozens of similar announcements in the past.
Until reputed peer reviewed magazines publish results of more extensive studies, I treat this like the announcements of all the previous cures against AIDS, cancer, ...

Well, if it is true (and not just sort of random fluke), then this is the news of the decade, if not the century! I'll be hoping that the money and testing go into this post-haste so that this method can be verified, and then finally disseminated to the masses.

On the other hand, curing AIDS is still not a reason not to practice safe sex...that's my PSA for the day

Mark

Not just aids but leukemia too!!!!

The guy who "appears to have been cured" of both diseases (no sign of them for two years) "was an unusual case which needed further investigation."

My question is: how does a bone marrow transplant both kill the HIV virus and cure leukemia? That superdonor better take out a life insurance policy on him or herself...

From what I understood (which may be wrong) these are 2 treatments into one.
1) the specific DNA of the donor contains a gene that enables the immune system to fight AIDS.
2) leukemia can be cured by obliterating the immune system, and replacing it with a new one, kickstarted by healthy bone marrow.

(2) is already used as a treatment, though I do not know the conditions, requirments or the protocol.
(1) the AIDS immunity gene has been known for a long time. it can be traced to a specific village where this random mutation allowed plague victims to survive. Since the plague regularly obliterated large masses of the population, this gene could spread like wildfire (natural selection).
AIDS and the plague attack the body in the same way, which causes people with the double gene to be fully immune against AIDS, and people with the single gene to have a fighting chance.

In this case, someone thought of matching a specific donor with a specific patient.
As with all donor protocols, there are several conditions that have to be met in order for the whole thing to succeed.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

My question is: how does a bone marrow transplant both kill the HIV virus and cure leukemia? That superdonor better take out a life insurance policy on him or herself...

IIRC bone marrow is donated like blood, not harvested like a crop. Taking a life insurance policy would be silly. The bone marrow can only be donated from an ALIVE patient..... cant it?

Surely the only person that would want that donor dead would be the CURRENT AIDS drug manufacturers....

Sounds very promising, yet there still seems to be a lot more reserch needed just to understand what happened and why. Godspeed gentleman godspeed! We need this!

Ahh hope, the single most important aspect of survival. I lost a very good friend to AIDS and I gotta tell ya, it's a cruel way to check out. I happen to know a little bit about bone marrow transplants. Bruno is correct. Leukemia is destroyed in a patient by massive radiation treatments which while it destroys the cancer also destroys the patient's bone marrow. Fortunately, the marrow can be restored through transplant.

I am registered with the Red Cross Bone Marrow Donor Program. They start out with a basic blood type and cross match test series when you sign up. Then, when those data fit for a patient in need of a marrow transplant, they summon you for two more tubes of blood to run an additional, more detailed series of tests. If those test results are negative, the collected data is stored in the Marrow Donor Program database. This is very good because the tests all cost the potential recipient money. Having all the data on file saves not only money but valuable time as well for the next potential match. If those test results are positive, there is one final series of tests involving actually injecting the patient with your blood serum to determine if the patient's body will reject your marrow. If it all works out and the match is confirmed, the donor goes to a hospital where under general anesthesia, a quantity of liquid marrow is drawn from the pelvis by essentially a big syringe stuck through the hip into a hole bored into the big pelvic bone. After the donation, you get to go home with a band-aid and some pain medication. Then (and this is the coolest part) the liquid donor marrow is simply injected intravenously into the recipient and miraculously it knows were to go. It actually finds its way into the patiients bones and begins to regenerate!

I have made it to the second series of tests. I was a preliminary match for a 14 year old boy with leukemia but unfortunately, with the second tests I wasn't a match. The day after I gave the second two tubes of blood I was in a neighborhood bar talking about how excited I was to maybe be able to help some kid. A guy down the bar said, "I wouldn't donate my marrow. I heard it hurtts like Hell". I said, "I bet it doesn't hurt nearly as much as being a fourteen year old who is facing death as hiis friends and classmates are out having fun".

Icedog am I right in hearing that the donating itself- the needle into the back of the spine- that its an exceptionally painful thing? Is that a spinal tap then?

Whatever the case, BIG up repect to you and in fact ANYONE who donates blood, bone marrow and organs. You are absolutely right, the pain you'd suffer short term would be well worth it. I wish I could donate. I have epilepsy and they say that they dont want anything thats had my blood thru it cos of the meds.

I think it's from the hip bone, no?