Comments on: HIV Cure “Game Changer”

By: norrisL

norrisL — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 04:58:12 +0000

What is it with vitamin C? We all know that it does not cure a cold (sorry Linus). Here in Australia we have quack vets who insist that vitamin C will cure snake bite. Given the toxicity of our snakes, I certainly would prefer an appropriate antivenom than vitamin C if I was bitten. Sadly there is a long list of diseases that are cured very effectively by vitamin C, in the world of woo that is!

By: QuiteDragon

QuiteDragon — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 04:19:56 +0000

“It was good discussion overall until the last five minutes of the program when a caller informed the host that megadoses of Vitamin C could cure AIDS but it wasn’t being published. I didn’t bother listening to the response but now I’m curious what I missed.”

The topic of vitamin C introduced by the was completely ignored by both interviewer and interviewed. I was disappointed there wasn’t an immediate slap-down.

By: Berlinesque

Berlinesque — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:55:07 +0000

While I’m pretty sure ART doesn’t cause cancer, I was under the impression that the neurological effects of ART on adults still haven’t been ferreted out. Painful peripheral neuropathies, motor coordination difficulties and mild to moderate cognitive dysfunction all seem to crop up in adult patients maintained on ART, and I thought there was some debate as to whether these symptoms were a result of early infiltration of HIV into the CNS or some nasty side effect of the drug. Given that the child/test case is already difficult to follow up with, how can long term effects of high doses of ART early in life be tracked? Was this even remotely ethical to try in the first place?

By: PharmD28

PharmD28 — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 15:37:36 +0000

being that we have only 2 documented “cures” and neither of which as I recall had anything to do we know of with Vitamin C….

PS – a facebook friend (old high school buddy) who is a chiropractor (a “straight”) told me about groundbreaking experience in africa these days with chiropractors treating and even curing cancer….even had a website to “prove” it

By: Sawyer

Sawyer — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:29:42 +0000

I’m curious if anyone heard the Talk of the Nation coverage of this story on NPR. It was good discussion overall until the last five minutes of the program when a caller informed the host that megadoses of Vitamin C could cure AIDS but it wasn’t being published. I didn’t bother listening to the response but now I’m curious what I missed.

By: PharmD28

PharmD28 — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:17:02 +0000

“And what if later (assuming the child indeed is ‘cured’) the antiviral treatment at that age causes cancer? If i had the choice i’d take hiv over cancer anyday.”

***If*** you had that choice….

By: HHC

HHC — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:00:05 +0000

How can you be sure that the tiny viral strands of RNA or DNA might not become neoplasms in the blood at later stages of life?

By: petrossa

petrossa — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:52:38 +0000

And what if later (assuming the child indeed is ‘cured’) the antiviral treatment at that age causes cancer? If i had the choice i’d take hiv over cancer anyday.

By: PharmD28

PharmD28 — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:13:17 +0000

exactly! as soon as I read it, I quickly went over to facebook and put up some basic cautionary statement about the NPR article to this basic degree…

its so damn annoying these headlines…do they not know that many people pretty much only read headlines and short blurbs….argh

I think the analogy to PEP makes more sense than “cure”…as I understand, it is thought that this early, the virus has not set up in CD4 cells fully establishing what Dr. Novella calls “resevoirs”….thus allowing the “cure”…..im wondering if this will now become a standard of care for kids being born from mothers with HIV, even in addition to current prenatal care standards for HIV infected mothers?

The real “cure” will be when we can take an average patient and treat them in some way to “functional cure”….then we will have a “cure”….this is however a breakthrough for alot of children, particularly in Africa…

By: jre

jre — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:56:04 +0000

Excellent post: clear explanation, good context, important points highlighted.
Please forgive one nit-pick: suggest sed s/”cannot be underestimated”/”should not be underestimated”/