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Experts Claim HIV Patients Made Non-Infectious
Misanthrope writes to tell us that Swiss scientists are claiming that with proper treatment HIV patients can be made non-infectious. "The statement's headline statement says that 'after review of the medical literature and extensive discussion,' the Swiss Federal Commission for HIV / AIDS resolves that, 'An HIV-infected person on antiretroviral therapy with completely suppressed viraemia ("effective ART") is not sexually infectious, i.e. cannot transmit HIV through sexual contact.'"
One can only hope that the treatments can be made available at a decent price, so that the folks who are most likely to pass it on--poor people who don't know how to use contraception and the like--will be able to be treated.
Unlikely, though, I dare say...those drug companies do love their income.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree
If this is true, then it effectively means that the world can be AIDS free in a generation. I'm willing to bet it's not going to happen, though. The drug companies have no interest in this.
My UID is prime. Hah!
Can you imagine the shitstorm that would ensue if they're wrong? It takes a whole lot of balls to not just put your reputation on the line like this, but the lives of thousands of people too. I really hope they're right.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
but it does make life possible for those around you.
I sucks but its a step in the right direction. (But will any company take the next step; after all, once YOU're dead, the disease is eradicated.)
Sucks to think like an actuary...
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
I've got some shocking news for you: even if you don't get HIV, you're going to die
Given that the same high risk behaviour that spreads HIV also spreads other STDs, I can't see this will actually help much.
If you haven't made a developer cry, you've wasted a day.
It's in the article but non-infectious here does not mean it's impossible for HIV transmission during sex. It's only improbable and of course the probability of transfer is unknown - as even in the studies done with these drugs other protection measures were used (of course). Furthermore this is not new; rather it's a statement made by a few experts based on older research. The statement is meant to be a standard taken throughout the healthcare world.
"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Not all people who contract AIDS are engaging (voluntarily, anyway) in high-risk behavior.
Also, treating STDs would provide opportunity for conversion of high-risk behaviors into lower-risk behaviors, e.g. you're in the office anyway, why not have a little talk about safe sex while you're there?
Hence, treating the other (usually more obvious) STDs would presumably impact the treatment of AIDS for a number of reasons--counselling, earlier detection, and possible reduction of the viral load to a less-dangerous level.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree
You're asking people other than you to change their behavior based on your principles?
If you can figure out how to accomplish that reliably, then every government, armed service, advertising agency, and school wants to speak with you right now.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree
Is it just sexually? What about blood transfusions? What about sharing needles?
AIDS is spreading rapidly in different parts of the world by different means. In Africa and India/Asia, it's spreading because of unprotected sex. In eastern Europe and Russia, it's being spread predominately from dirty needles used for drugs.
It is your duty as modern enlightened people to downmod whoever mentions "abstinence" as a response to sexually transmitted infections.
well its obviously not currently working, so i think thats why they're still trying to find a cure/preventative.
Is abstinence really that difficult?
You want the average human to stop doing what evolution has spent 300 million years programming them to do? Its kind of like asking bears to not eat trout. Its what they do!
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
Smallpox? You kidding me? The eradication of smallpox was a time of big governments, big non-profits, and a concerted effort for the greater good not for profit.
Also, back in the late 1700s, someone couldn't patent a scab off of a cows back.
Everything is funny. Some things just aren't funny to you.
You're asking people other than you to change their behavior based on your principles?
I'd venture to guess that not having sex if you are infected with AIDS is a pretty universal principle, much in the same way that murder is universally frowned upon.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
Badass Resumes
the CDC.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
So who wants to be the one to test this hypothesis?
On another note, how can you say for sure if this even works? Usually whenever an AIDS vaccine is tried in humans, it is given to a population of people at high risk of getting HIV(usually gay men). How can you tell if something like this stops people from spreading it, when their partners are interacting with other, infectious people? They are likely to get HIV regardless, if not from the non-infectious person, then from someone else. How do you figure out which partner gave who what?
Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
If you have HIV, that doesn't mean you have to stop having sex. It means you have to start using condoms (which you should have been doing anyway!!). The article is saying that so long as you take your meds, you won't give it to a partner. For example, a HIV positive women slips on broken glass and now there is bloody glass everywhere. Her husband helps her up and gets cut too. It is very unlikely that he'll get HIV.
Space Shuttle was a program that strapped humans to an explosion and tried to stab through the sky with fire and math
Instead of seeing a person as a patient, and quite frankly, the single most experienced person with their body, you see an "asshat".
False dichotomy. Patients can be asshats. If you are working at a McDonald's and some jerk keeps on demanding you serve him a Whopper is he or is he not an asshat? Is it worth arguing about for 30 minutes?
You, someone who thinks that 30 minutes is WAY to long to discuss a persons treatment.
I'm not a doctor and I think 30 minutes is WAY to long to convince someone they do not need antibiotics when you are not going to give them antibiotics anyway and there are others in need.
I have no doubt that if you went into a restaurant, and the waiter told you what you were going to order, you would tell him no, and order what you actually like. Why in the world would you think that someone would take less part in their own health.
A bartender would have been a much better analogy. If you want to a restaurant and were obviously blitzed out of your mind, you might demand to be served, but the bartender will probably tell you no. You'll eventually leave or be thrown out and try to get your drink on elsewhere.
Likewise, if you go to a doctor for antibiotics and his professional opinion is that you don't need them, then leave. Get a second opinion if you think he's a moron.
I'm afraid that the terms "patient" and "asshat" are not mutually exclusive. Especially in your case.
You had some bad experiences with some doctors. Congratulations. Does this mean that every doctor everywhere is as outrageously incompetent as you seem to think they are? This DOCTOR just told you why doctors won't just whip out the Rx pad and write up a script for any old thing the patient wants, and you're arguing that he should just prescribe the wrong treatment for what the patient has.
Did it ever occur to you that you JUST might have been the exception to the rule, and that most people don't know jack shit about what's going on with their body, THUS THE VISIT TO THE DOCTOR?
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