Two More Patients HIV-Free After Bone Marrow Transplants

Re:Two More Patients HIV-Free After Bone Marrow Transplants by ars on Friday July 27, 2012 @05:10AM (#4300617)

Yes, definitely this is not a simple treatment. Among other things it requires lifetime immunosuppressive medications.

So at least for now this will never be used in places without a strong medical establishment.

However it's a lot easier to find donations for a cure than for a treatment. So money will probably not be a factor - instead they will have to try to build a complete medical community in each area.

This may end up being a positive thing since good doctors are useful for more than just transplants :)

Places like India will probably have no trouble, but Africa will.

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Re:Two More Patients HIV-Free After Bone Marrow Transplants by kolinko on Friday July 27, 2012 @06:15AM (#4300775)

I'm curious - why does the bone marrow transplant require a lifetme mmunorepresants? Is it because otherwise the new immuno-system would attack the host organism?

Also - isn't an organism on immunorepresants essentially n a smilar position as an organism with inactive immun system due to HIV?

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Re:Two More Patients HIV-Free After Bone Marrow Transplants by ars on Friday July 27, 2012 @06:53AM (#4300839)

Yes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graft-versus-host_disease

The drugs do not suppress the entire immune system, just parts of it. (Otherwise the person would die from random infections.)

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Re:Two More Patients HIV-Free After Bone Marrow Transplants by kolinko on Friday July 27, 2012 @08:39AM (#4301059)

Thanks :)

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