World's only cured HIV patient will attend Philly conference

[William769]

In the long, lethal history of the AIDS epidemic, only one human has ever conclusively beaten the disease: Timothy Brown.

A gay American man in Berlin, Brown was on the brink of death from leukemia and HIV in 2006 when he was given a novel treatment that rebooted his immune system, simultaneously curing him of both diseases.

Now 46, Brown has since been poked, prodded, and tested by experts around the world, and been declared healthy, albeit with lingering side effects from his care.

Since the New England Journal of Medicine published his case in 2009 as "the Berlin patient," the soft-spoken Brown has become something of a rock star in medical circles. Researchers have been trying to build on his example, searching his case for the road map to a broader cure.


Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/health/158993695.html#ixzz1xn5DazY8

[shaayecanaan]

1. How long can it be before the wealthier HIV patients start accessing this?

There's no particular mystery to this form of treatment. About 10% of white populations have one CCR5-delta 32 gene, which gives them some measure of resistance. About 1% of whites have two sets of the gene, which gives them functional immunity against HIV.

All you need is a bone marrow donor that is compatible and who is double-delta 32. And a crapload of money to fund the bone marrow transfer, and a bit of luck, as the mortality rate is up around 30%.

You can be pretty sure the HIV sufferers with deep enough pockets are probably looking into this already.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. the transplant process is very risky

the only reason it happened here is because the guy would have died from leukemia otherwise.

[shaayecanaan]

3. about 30% mortality rate

still, some people might like those odds, particularly if it meant being cured.