TRIPLE THERAPY FOR HIV

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*TRIPLE THERAPY FOR HIV*
HIV was discovered in the late 1980s and since then scientists have been looking for, say, a cure. In 1997, the first coformulated HIV medication AZT/3TC(Combivir) was released. The pill burden had then been reduced from two-pills twice daily to one-pill twice daily. Combivir was popular among patients as they loved the reduced pill burden and reduced pharmacy co-pays. This was a bonus for the medical field as they did not expect it.
In 2006 the scientists had a breakthrough, efavirenz/Tenofovir/FTC(Atripla) first one-pill once daily for HIV was approved. Not only does it contain one of the most effective Triple drug regimens available for treatment but also represents an unprecedented collaboration between pharmaceutical companies.
This Triple therapy has helped change AIDS from being an a death sentence to a chronic but manageable disease. It is the closest thing medical science has to an effective therapy. What makes this therapy effective is the drug combination's ability to disrupt HIV at different stages in its replication.
However, like everything else, it has drawbacks if not taken on a strict regimen. The viral load can rapidly rebound to high levels if patients discontinue part of or all of the triple therapy regimen.
Naturally this drug is not for everyone. Patients with base line renal diseases are better of treated with alternative to tenafovir and sexually active women of childbearing potential should not receive efavirenz. Other patients have experienced a type of weight distribution where the face and limbs become thin while the stomach or neck enlarges.
Indeed this limitation has brought about a bittersweet exchange in clinical practice.
The good news is that research is still ongoing and with more powerful anti-HIV drugs, the triple therapy paradigm might be changing, or perhaps, even a cure may be discovered!
NAME: AKOI JURKUCH BARACH*

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