Monday, October 10, 2011
Scientists have genetically modified cats to combat an epidemic affecting feline populations worldwide: FIV
What is FIV? FIV, or feline immunodeficiency virus, is extremely similar to the virus that causes AIDS in humans (HIV). Both belong to a group of viruses called lentiviruses. All lentiviruses belong to a larger group of viruses called retroviruses which can lie dormant in the genetic code itself and activate at a later time. This is what makes viruses like HIV and FIV so dangerous because of the fact that they can lie dormant in host cells. This makes it nearly impossible to eradicate the entire viral load. Hence, there is no proven cure for FIV or HIV currently. FIV causes similar symptoms as HIV including long term weakening of the host's immune system until other diseases or antigens cause death. Can I catch FIV? Rest easy, you cannot …
Monday, September 5, 2011
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania may have discovered an innovative approach in combating cancer itself: HIV.
A few weeks back, a research team from the University of Pennsylvania simultaneously published some amazing results in both the New England Journal of Medicine and in Science Translational Medicine. Out of three individuals who were part of the research project, two of them appear to be free of cancer, and the third had their cancer load reduced by 70 percent. According to MSNBC, in each of the patients, as much as five pounds of cancerous tissue has been completely destroyed, and is still gone after a year’s time. All three of the patients were diagnosed with chroniclymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which is the most common form of leukemia, or cancer of the blood. According to an article on MSNBC, CLL affects about 15,000 people in the United …
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
A German doctor claims that he has cured an American patient living in Germany, who is diagnosed with both Leukemia and HIV/AIDS - now this patient has no detectable HIV presence. Is this claim true?
Some may have heard in the last two weeks or so, that an American man in Berlin, Germany was cured of HIV/AIDS. In some respects, this is a valid conclusion, but many more tests are required to be absolutely sure. Regardless, this is indeed a milestone in the fight against HIV/AIDS. According to the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a recent FOX news article, the concept is interesting but extremely impractical. Timothy Ray Brown, an HIV positive American man living in Germany, was also diagnosed with Leukemia. According to an article on WebMD, Brown was receiving chemotherapy treatments in addition to an HIV drug regimen, but a third type of procedure may have lead to him being …
A German doctor claims that he has cured an American patient living in Germany, who is diagnosed with both Leukemia and HIV/AIDS - now this patient has no detectable HIV presence. Is this claim true?
Some may have heard in the last two weeks or so, that an American man in Berlin, Germany was cured of HIV/AIDS. In some respects, this is a valid conclusion, but many more tests are required to be absolutely sure. Regardless, this is indeed a milestone in the fight against HIV/AIDS. According to the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a recent FOX news article, the concept is interesting but extremely impractical. Timothy Ray Brown, an HIV positive American man living in Germany, was also diagnosed with Leukemia. According to an article on WebMD, Brown was receiving chemotherapy treatments in addition to an HIV drug regimen, but a third type of procedure may have lead to him being …
Philip Freda
4:10 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Ms. Dalantinow, I too hope that one day we can eradicate diseases that have taken so much from us all. Only time, and more research, will tell. Thank you for your comment. more ›