Timothy Ray Brown, an HIV-positive American currently residing in Germany, had been diagnosed with leukemia. While undergoing chemotherapy, he received a transplant of stem cells from a donor carrying an extremely RARE, inherited gene mutation. This RARE gene is believed to make carriers virtually immune to the fatal HIV infection.
While the successful transplant appeared to wipe out both diseases, giving hope to not only doctors, but patients, victims, and the general public, the procedure's primary physician, Dr. Anthony Fauci, also the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has been studying HIV/AIDS for almost 30 years, said "while this is an interesting proof of concept, it’s absurdly impractical."
Fauci also mentioned, while this patient is “functionally cured” this is not something you can do with every HIV-infected individual, in addition, Fauci also added to the fact that this transplant process is not only expensive, it’s incredibly painful and complicated, and requires the patient to start a whole new regimen of drugs.
So...you want to know why I stressed the word "RARE?" Here is an interesting statistic about the cell transplant, after locating a compatible donor:
Defect is only found in:
- 1% of the Caucasian population
- 0% percent of the African American population
If that isn't RARE at it's most RARE point...I'm not sure what is. Keep this in mind, just when you thought is was ok to go in, uncovered.
SCREAM @ ME!!!
1 comment:
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks the body's immune system. A healthy immune system is what keeps you from getting sick.
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