HIV/AIDS CURE
HIV/Aids has been a feared predicament since its discovery in New york in the U.S.A. The main reason as to why this disease is greatly feared by a majority is because it has no known cure and hence many presume that it is literary a 'death warrant'.
There is still no known cure for HIV but scientific efforts to improve treatment and prevention tools to the infected are still on the pursuit, at least to give a temporal relief before the cure is eventually found. There is a very high cost to provide lifelong care to those infected with HIV and hence there is maximum increasing effort to find a permanent cure that controls the virus in the absence of anti retroviral treatment. The cure is still in the early stages of research and development but it's a promising undertake.
HIV cure is mainly categorized in two main calibers; a functional cure and a sterilizing cure. The functional cure, if achieved, will maintain low levels of HIV in the body by using a treatment strategy that keeps the virus under control, but doesn't require ongoing medication. As for the sterilizing cure, if achieved too, it will be able to completely eradicate the virus completely from the body. The scientists are at a busy and crucial moment that will completely change this scenario portrayed by HIV/AIDS. If achieved, it will greatly be a game changer in the health sector worldwide.
However, despite all these visions and resilience about cure and treatment of HIV, it is proving difficult as it has always been due to the nature of HIV/AIDS. Due to it's structure in the human body, locating and quantifying the amount of virus in the human body is proving to be a daunting task. On entry into the body, the virus inserts it's genetic code within the CD4 cells, or simply the T cells which play a great role in defending the body from infection as they are the ones that send signals to activate immune response. If left untreated, the virus develops to a chronic infection. This it does by destroying these cells and collapsing the immune system hence leaving opportunity for other diseases to vent in. These are referred to as the opportunistic infections. Despite the ART treatment working effectively at inhibiting the virus from replicating itself, the virus still manages to persist at an undetectable level.
The virus does not only infect the T cells, but study has also shown that it exists in macrophages cells which exist in almost every tissue of the body. The major problem with these macrophages is that they're able to persist under the virus and hence harbour 'hidden virus' inside latent reservoirs from which the virus can leak and re_establish itself in case the infected fails to continue with treatment. This is another major problem as to why the cure might delay way longer before it is established.
There is one famous and known case of HIV/AIDS 'cure' about Timothy Brown, also known as ~the Berlin patient ~ who through a combination of chemotherapy to destroy Brown's infected immune cells, and two bone marrow implants to treat Leukemia, removed all traces of HIV in Brown's body in 2008.
It is achievable to establish this cure for this chronic infection. It will only take countless and endless hours of persistence in the research about the virus, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. And with enough devotion, it will finally pay off. As of the moment, the infected should continue receiving ART treatment for a healthy livity.
Report compiled by:
Mwai Dennis Macharia,
There is still no known cure for HIV but scientific efforts to improve treatment and prevention tools to the infected are still on the pursuit, at least to give a temporal relief before the cure is eventually found. There is a very high cost to provide lifelong care to those infected with HIV and hence there is maximum increasing effort to find a permanent cure that controls the virus in the absence of anti retroviral treatment. The cure is still in the early stages of research and development but it's a promising undertake.
HIV cure is mainly categorized in two main calibers; a functional cure and a sterilizing cure. The functional cure, if achieved, will maintain low levels of HIV in the body by using a treatment strategy that keeps the virus under control, but doesn't require ongoing medication. As for the sterilizing cure, if achieved too, it will be able to completely eradicate the virus completely from the body. The scientists are at a busy and crucial moment that will completely change this scenario portrayed by HIV/AIDS. If achieved, it will greatly be a game changer in the health sector worldwide.
However, despite all these visions and resilience about cure and treatment of HIV, it is proving difficult as it has always been due to the nature of HIV/AIDS. Due to it's structure in the human body, locating and quantifying the amount of virus in the human body is proving to be a daunting task. On entry into the body, the virus inserts it's genetic code within the CD4 cells, or simply the T cells which play a great role in defending the body from infection as they are the ones that send signals to activate immune response. If left untreated, the virus develops to a chronic infection. This it does by destroying these cells and collapsing the immune system hence leaving opportunity for other diseases to vent in. These are referred to as the opportunistic infections. Despite the ART treatment working effectively at inhibiting the virus from replicating itself, the virus still manages to persist at an undetectable level.
The virus does not only infect the T cells, but study has also shown that it exists in macrophages cells which exist in almost every tissue of the body. The major problem with these macrophages is that they're able to persist under the virus and hence harbour 'hidden virus' inside latent reservoirs from which the virus can leak and re_establish itself in case the infected fails to continue with treatment. This is another major problem as to why the cure might delay way longer before it is established.
There is one famous and known case of HIV/AIDS 'cure' about Timothy Brown, also known as ~the Berlin patient ~ who through a combination of chemotherapy to destroy Brown's infected immune cells, and two bone marrow implants to treat Leukemia, removed all traces of HIV in Brown's body in 2008.
It is achievable to establish this cure for this chronic infection. It will only take countless and endless hours of persistence in the research about the virus, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. And with enough devotion, it will finally pay off. As of the moment, the infected should continue receiving ART treatment for a healthy livity.
Report compiled by:
Mwai Dennis Macharia,
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