HIV breakthrough

Godfather.

Researchers from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) have reported a major breakthrough in the field of HIV research, claiming they have created a vaccine that completely eradicates the virus that causes AIDS in some monkeys, Discovery News reported.

And the next step? Testing the vaccine in humans.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/1 ... z2eoIvbgOL

gimmesometruth27

it would probably cost the patient $500,000 and not be covered by insurance because hiv is primarily a disease contracted through risky lifestyle choices, needle sharing, unprotected sex, etc and it has such a negative societal stigma associated with it... insurance companies don't like people with risky lifestyles.

that is the great shame about aids, we could have researched the shit out of it under reagan and maybe had a cure back then, but since the people who contracted this disease were so stigmatized, i do not feel like the funding or the urgency was there.

hopefully i am not too much of a cynic, and hopefully this will lead to a cure.

hedonist

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

it would probably cost the patient $500,000 and not be covered by insurance because hiv is primarily a disease contracted through risky lifestyle choices, needle sharing, unprotected sex, etc and it has such a negative societal stigma associated with it... insurance companies don't like people with risky lifestyles.

that is the great shame about aids, we could have researched the shit out of it under reagan and maybe had a cure back then, but since the people who contracted this disease were so stigmatized, i do not feel like the funding or the urgency was there.

hopefully i am not too much of a cynic, and hopefully this will lead to a cure.

Realism, good. Cynicism, sometimes not so much

Stigmas are attached to many diagnoses - hell, look at the mental health side of it. But medications and therapy are covered by insurance, aren't they?

This is a wonderful step! I hope it's one that reaches its end goal, and soon.

gimmesometruth27

hedonist wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

it would probably cost the patient $500,000 and not be covered by insurance because hiv is primarily a disease contracted through risky lifestyle choices, needle sharing, unprotected sex, etc and it has such a negative societal stigma associated with it... insurance companies don't like people with risky lifestyles.

that is the great shame about aids, we could have researched the shit out of it under reagan and maybe had a cure back then, but since the people who contracted this disease were so stigmatized, i do not feel like the funding or the urgency was there.

hopefully i am not too much of a cynic, and hopefully this will lead to a cure.

Realism, good. Cynicism, sometimes not so much

Stigmas are attached to many diagnoses - hell, look at the mental health side of it. But medications and therapy are covered by insurance, aren't they?

This is a wonderful step! I hope it's one that reaches its end goal, and soon.

the reason psyche meds are covered by insurance is because they are cheep now. the patents have run out, so there are generics. plus, their efficacy has been noted. this is why statin drugs are so cheep too...i think an insurance company would rather throw out $100 a month to make sure that someone does not freak out and hurt themselves or others. to insurance companies $100 a month is nothing. plus society accepts mental illness now. hiv, they do not accept. there is a huge stigma on you if you have hiv.

this drug, will have cost millions to research, millions to develop, millions to test, millions to advertise, and there will be no generic for 20 years. that is why this drug will be expensive.

brianlux

I hope this is true. Nothing would make me happier than to see this terrible disease go away.

R.I.P., M.K, my good friend and one of the first victims of AIDS.

hedonist

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

the reason psyche meds are covered by insurance is because they are cheep now. the patents have run out, so there are generics. plus, their efficacy has been noted. this is why statin drugs are so cheep too...i think an insurance company would rather throw out $100 a month to make sure that someone does not freak out and hurt themselves or others. to insurance companies $100 a month is nothing. plus society accepts mental illness now. hiv, they do not accept. there is a huge stigma on you if you have hiv.

this drug, will have cost millions to research, millions to develop, millions to test, millions to advertise, and there will be no generic for 20 years. that is why this drug will be expensive.

You know...I went back and re-thought my stigma comment and believe I was mistaken.

Where ARE the stigmas? There are commercials all over the place for antidepressants and the like. For virtually anything and everything.

And I believe after what, 30 something years, HIV isn't unaccepted (not a big fan of that term but it'll have to do for now) - and certainly no more or less than any other ailment or illness or word du jour.

It's a crying shame that insurance companies - what they do and what they don't - have taken the spotlight in what should be an occasion for joy.

C'mon...finally, something good!

Fuckit, I'm gonna be happy for this. I am

brianlux

hedonist wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

the reason psyche meds are covered by insurance is because they are cheep now. the patents have run out, so there are generics. plus, their efficacy has been noted. this is why statin drugs are so cheep too...i think an insurance company would rather throw out $100 a month to make sure that someone does not freak out and hurt themselves or others. to insurance companies $100 a month is nothing. plus society accepts mental illness now. hiv, they do not accept. there is a huge stigma on you if you have hiv.

this drug, will have cost millions to research, millions to develop, millions to test, millions to advertise, and there will be no generic for 20 years. that is why this drug will be expensive.

You know...I went back and re-thought my stigma comment and believe I was mistaken.

Where ARE the stigmas? There are commercials all over the place for antidepressants and the like. For virtually anything and everything.

And I believe after what, 30 something years, HIV isn't unaccepted (not a big fan of that term but it'll have to do for now) - and certainly no more or less than any other ailment or illness or word du jour.

It's a crying shame that insurance companies - what they do and what they don't - have taken the spotlight in what should be an occasion for joy.

C'mon...finally, something good!

Fuckit, I'm gonna be happy for this. I am

Fuck yeah! We can use some good news! :thumbup:

Prince Of Dorkness

When I was 21 at an age where you're supposed to be looking towards your bright future, I was watching all of my friends sicken and die. Sometimes I wouldn't even see them sicken, they'd just... die with no warning. They were the lucky ones.

By 1995, I lost count of how many funerals I'd been to. I'd lost so many friends that I honestly can't remember them all.



And since the late 80s, every three or four months some scientist, medical researcher or drug company comes rushing in the door, shouting "EUREKA!!! WE HAVE FOUND IT!!!" and telling us they just need a bit more money to finish their research or testing on their wonder drug that will cure us all and rid us of "THIS HORRIBLE PLAGUE."

They're always full of shit. Always.

in the mid 90s, protease inhibitors ended the fast slide to death and now living with HIV is common up into people's 70s.

But I'll say what I've said for over 20 years.... "I'll believe it when I see it."



Gay men and doctors understand the concept of things like undetectable viral loads, but the general public doesn't really understand any of that.

As far as the stigma... trust me... it's there. It's horrible. People are still fired for having HIV, children with HIV are still treated like lepers. It's not as bad as it was, certainly... but it's still there.

Prince Of Dorkness

As far as "risky lifestyle choices" goes... what you're saying essentially is that "gay men have sex."

Straight people have sex with no condoms at a MUCH higher rate than gay men, but nobody calls their unwanted, accidental children "risky lifestyle choices."

And those things cost us all a lot more than HIV meds. They're also a lot more annoying on airplanes and public transit.

Prince Of Dorkness

(OH... but yes... insurance DOES cover HIV meds. )

Guitar92player

Let's hope this is the one breakthrough that does indeed lead to the cure.

lukin2006

I call having sex with someone you hardly know a risky lifestyle ... whether they are straight or gay, with all the education available having unprotected sex is risky ... imo, doesn't mean you deserve to get sick or worse. Just like anyone sharing needles is risky. We definitely need more education. I agree POD about announcing breakthroughs to generate cash. POD you have my sympathy for all your friends that passed on well before their time.

Prince Of Dorkness

well... unprotected sex with someone you dont' know... or even if you DO know them but don't know their status.

either way.. yeah... I hope this one is real but I've lost count of how many times I've said THAT, too.

Who Princess

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

As far as the stigma... trust me... it's there. It's horrible. People are still fired for having HIV, children with HIV are still treated like lepers. It's not as bad as it was, certainly... but it's still there.

I can echo many of the things you've said. I am obviously not a gay man but I was an HIV educator in the early 90s. I went to too many funerals. Seeing so many people die, especially so many young people, was like being in a war.

Treatments have improved and in some ways HIV can be regarded as a disease like diabetes, life-threatening but manageable. But it's still a pretty horrible disease. And the public often overlooks the fact that despite the knowledge about prevention, a lot of people are still being infected. That's what happens when facts and prevention education aren't widely available. I continue to be amazed at the misinformation that out's there.

Lest you think I'm a total cynic, I will say that I expect the stigma to lessen. In the early 20th century, there was a similar stigma toward tuberculosis. People kept it secret because they could lose their jobs or be evicted if others found out. Cancer also had a severe stigma until around the 1930s. People considered it contagious and avoided anyone with any kind of cancer. That's where the old-fashioned term "the C-word" came from.

Most of the laws that protect people with HIV from discrimination were based on the similar laws protecting people with TB. Laws are great but they don't change people's prejudices, as we know from civil rights legislation. At least they are a start.

Right now, the only absolute cure that has been documented for HIV is bone marrow transplant. This is an expensive and complicated procedure that isn't practical. I'll keep hoping for a cure, but nothing will bring my friends back. I'm just glad for the treatments that have extended the lives of many people, including a lot of those I care about.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

As far as "risky lifestyle choices" goes... what you're saying essentially is that "gay men have sex."

Straight people have sex with no condoms at a MUCH higher rate than gay men, but nobody calls their unwanted, accidental children "risky lifestyle choices."

um, where exactly did gimme even come close to implying that? I'm pretty sure he knows as well as you do that he wasn't talking about gay men having sex.

everybody with a brain knows the main problem with this disease is not gay people at all. don't perpetuate your own stigma.

Who Princess

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

As far as "risky lifestyle choices" goes... what you're saying essentially is that "gay men have sex."

Straight people have sex with no condoms at a MUCH higher rate than gay men, but nobody calls their unwanted, accidental children "risky lifestyle choices."

um, where exactly did gimme even come close to implying that? I'm pretty sure he knows as well as you do that he wasn't talking about gay men having sex.

everybody with a brain knows the main problem with this disease is not gay people at all. don't perpetuate your own stigma.

Unfortunately, to paraphrase you, there are lots of people out there with no brains. There's still lots of misperception. The stigma and the reason it's treated as a moral issue rather than a public health issue is that it's most often sexually transmitted. And people get edgy when you start talking about sex. Then they add to that the belief that it's mostly among gay men. It gives people a chance to feel morally superior and to feel that they're immune.

It's not like gay men or ANY sexually active people have cornered the market on "risky lifestyle choices." Smokers can get quadruple bypass surgery and it's covered by their insurance. Obese people, who may or may not be that way because of lifestyle choices, can have gastric bypass to lose weight. But these situations aren't regarded as the result of risky lifestyle choices by most people when it happens to someone they know.

There's still a perception that all gay men are having rampant unprotected sex and minorities are the only ones shooting drugs. Not a problem in suburbia and "not something I have to worry about my insurance covering because I'll never have that problem." The stigma may not be as overt but it's still there.

Prince Of Dorkness

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

everybody with a brain knows the main problem with this disease is not gay people at all. don't perpetuate your own stigma.

Ok well... you're probably right. He's never said anything that would make me think he feels that way before.

Sorry.. the term "risky lifestyle choices" is one of my hair triggers.

brianlux

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

everybody with a brain knows the main problem with this disease is not gay people at all. don't perpetuate your own stigma.

Ok well... you're probably right. He's never said anything that would make me think he feels that way before.

Sorry.. the term "risky lifestyle choices" is one of my hair triggers.

I question the term just based on the concept of "lifestyle" alone. I think we are who we are and even more so when any individual is self-aware to the point of simply being who they are.

Does that make sense?

Prince Of Dorkness

brianlux wrote:

Does that make sense?

I think. But I'm pretty drunk.

brianlux

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

brianlux wrote:

Does that make sense?

I think. But I'm pretty drunk.

I'm a little lit up myself, so I wasn't sure either.

Godfather.

:shock: ....welll everybody how about this...don't use needles (just don't do drugs) and don't go whoring around and use a condom for casual incounters...geeeeeeeze I knew somebody would turn this into something argumentive oh yea and no sex with monkeys


Godfather.