96% fewer AIDS virus
Posted in AIDS, Health on 04/14/2011 12:12 pm by Mary
Fighting Aids with it`s own weapon – that’s the idea of Leor Weinberger biochemist at the University of San Diego. Weinberger has a virus that made the HIV/AIDS more difficult to reproduce. This treatment is especially good for people who have no access to conventional medicine. In sub-Saharan Africa, treatment with the virus reduces the number of patients with AIDS for 96% (!)
Attenuated virus competes with AIDS
It works as follows: patients have a weakened and genetically modified variant of the HIV virus administered. This variant binds to the same proteins as HIV. There is less room for HIV to develop itself, there is a competition between viruses and malicious HIV remains weaker. For the individual patient, this means that it would take five to ten years longer for an existing HIV infection to develops into AIDS. For the population of Sub, the virus can provide a sharp decline in AIDS. In 50 years time, the number of patients decreased by 96%.
The drug is particularly suitable for remote areas or groups that are difficult to reach with conventional medicine, such as sex workers and drug users.
Research in testing phase
The investigation has not been tested on humans. It should also be figured out whether the virus is not worse than the disease itself and is also harmful as it mixes with other genetic material in the body. But Weinberger is optimistic: for polio, there is a similar drug that functions properly. So why not forAIDS? Read the rest of this entry »