Re: Magic & HIV (non-Celtics topic)

[lamphier@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Marc Lamphier)]

At  0:07 AM 97.4.4 -0500, Luke357401@aol.com wrote:
>I just heard on a Detroit radio station that Magic Johnson is no longer
>testing HIV positive; they attributed this to the drugs he has been taking to
>combat the virus. Has anyone else heard this report? The report said his
>doctors noted that he could easily return to HIV+ status if he stops taking
>the drugs...
>
>That's all I heard.
>
>--Luke


This is not surprising -- the combination of nucleotide analogs (AZT, etc.)
and protease inhibitors which are now being use to treat HIV infection seem
to do really well in reducing the virus to undetectable levels. The reason
he can't stop using them however is that no-one can be sure that 100% of
the virus has been eradicated. HIV, like many other viruses, can sit
dormant in the body for fairly long periods of time. Also, no one is sure
how easily mutant strains resistant to these drugs can evolve, and one of
the worst ways to create such mutant strains is to treat with a drug, stop,
treat again, stop, etc. This gives the mutants a chance to recover and
flourish, and similar to why so many antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains
have also evolved. 

But these drugs are certainly going to extend people's lives, and the hope
is that they will keep you alive while better drugs are being developed. 

- -Marc