please encourage me

[mwambui]

how far is the cure

[Ryan1979]

Hi hope you are ok. I recently diagnosed about 2 1/2 months now and I have been on medication now for 4 weeks. I'm hoping that when I go for my next check that my cd count will have risen and my VL will be down. I have been lucky as I have never been ill with this. Have you started or are you in medication. To me this is not a cure but it is almost as good as. I'm always happy to chat if you need support

[pauldecle Partner ForumLink]

HI there,

As Ryan mentioned, as things stand there is no cure for HIV But...

With treatment we will still live a long and healthy life.

Some studies suggest that, if we stick to our treatment properly, we will infect live a little longer than most people. Yep thats right. Because we are monitored so closely and any problems get picked up early some researchers believe we will live two or three years longer than average.

'The Cure' looks like it is at least ten years away. But the cure has always looked like it is ten years away.

One of the main problems with finding a cure is the fact that some of the cd4 cells that have been infected with the HIV virus, go into dormancy and when they do they are not affected by the current medications. We need to find a way of either attacking the sleeping infected cells or a way to wake them up so they can be killed.

The treatments for HIV have got a lot easier to take, most of the newer medications have little or no side effects and are highly effective at combatting the virus.

One area of research that I find very exciting is longer lasting medications. Researchers are working on medications that are either injectable or given as an implant and would last for months. This would mean that we could reach a stage, in the not to distant future, where we just go to the clinic three or four times a year for treatment and that is it. If my memory is correct I think the first of these longer acting medications has just go to first stage clinical trials so should be three or four years away from getting licensed assuming all goes to plan.

I hope this helps.

All the best,

Paul

[Ydontujustdie]

If you take your medications regularly you are highly unlikely to have any AIDS defining conditions. As a person infected before any treatment was available with symptoms of the onset of full blown AIDS i was told that I could hope for a maximum lifespan of two years, I consider myself cured.