Industry lobby on HIV search for Cure
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Many people believe that a cure for HIV will never be presented to the world becuze drug industry make a lot of progit of this and will use its strong lobby and influence to keep the situation like this. Watcha guys think?
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I wouldn't be surprised at all if there has been a cure all along, but the doctors, scientists, and pharma companies don't want to let it out of the bag because of how much money they are making off of the meds. Did you know that the average HIV treatment regime is over $3000/mo just for the drugs that you need to stay alive, yet alone all the others that you need for their side effects?
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Luckily here in my country all the first line HAART are free for locals
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Remember ulcers? In the 60's, doctors and scientists knew it was a bacterial infection, but medicine and big pharma both made money on diagnosis and treatment. In the 90's, it was revealed that ulcers was an easily cured bacterial infection. Voila, no more ulcers. Now it;s obesity, heart disease, cholesterol and AIDS.
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A cure is very difficult because of how the virus lives in your body. Even if you get it down to undetectable levels, it hides in places where no drugs can get to it. There are spots in the body where nothing can get to because that's how your body works. If you were infected recently and went on medications in the US, your medications would cost around $3000 to $4000, but nobody pays that amount. Your insurance company does and if you aren't insured, you send a paper to the drug company and they send you the medication for free. Even if you're insured, the drug companies pay your copay and send it to you for free. Doctors appointments, copays are covered by the Ryan White funding. Testing, whatever the insurance doesn't cover, again, paid for in full. Side effects from medications? Doesn't happen any more. They've refined the medications to the point where the only downside is that the tablets are really large. Most people take one or two tablets once a day and become undetectable and their CD4 count goes back to nearly normal in a few months. If you are infected at the age of 20 years old and live in the US and start on medication quickly and respond to it and stay compliant with therapy, your life expectancy is - 82 years. How do I know? I'm living with it, someone I love very dearly is infected, but it's not the death sentence it used to be. There's plenty of hope.
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Yes a44425, but you're overlooking one critical thing…. There's more than just the $3000 - $4000 monthly price for the cost of meds to take into account. In my case for example, while the meds have been able to keep me undetectable, there are also side effects that have to be considered. For some people, the meds can cause liver and kidney problems, or in my case, can cause cholesterol levels to sky rocket. It kind of makes you wonder where the minds of the big pharma companies really are. I'm just lucky that Triumeq has come out, which doesn't seem to come with the rather "shitty" side effects that the Truvada once did for me.
Also, despite the R&D having been long ago paid for with such meds, the big pharma companies still have not lowered their prices. One can only conclude that this is due to corporate greed, because they know full well that we're either bound to their drugs for life or we die..... As a general rule though, yes, the meds do work. The only question one must ask themselves with the meds is are the side effects worth it?
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Yes a44425, but you're overlooking one critical thing…. There's more than just the $3000 - $4000 monthly price for the cost of meds to take into account. In my case for example, while the meds have been able to keep me undetectable, there are also side effects that have to be considered. For some people, the meds can cause liver and kidney problems, or in my case, can cause cholesterol levels to sky rocket. It kind of makes you wonder where the minds of the big pharma companies really are. I'm just lucky that Triumeq has come out, which doesn't seem to come with the rather "shitty" side effects that the Truvada once did for me.
Also, despite the R&D having been long ago paid for with such meds, the big pharma companies still have not lowered their prices. One can only conclude that this is due to corporate greed, because they know full well that we're either bound to their drugs for life or we die..... As a general rule though, yes, the meds do work. The only question one must ask themselves with the meds is are the side effects worth it?
Currently my friend is taking Lami/Zido + Efavirenz, threw up almost everyday as the side effect of Efavirenz (not to mention those f*cking vivid dreams until he woke up in the middle of the night with tachycardia and chest pain due to the dream), went to see the doc to change to Nevirapine, however been told by him that in the short run yes, he will feel good, no more Efavirenz-induced CNS disturbances but in long term Nevirapine is very hepatotoxic. Final decision is to reduce the dosage to 400mg (before was 600mg), feeling much better but still he had to sacrifice his nightlife or else will puke and light-headed if he do not go to sleep after taking it.
Are the side effects worth it? He said yes, he would rather sacrifice his nightlife than indirectly killing himself by not taking HAART. He's been undetectable and feeling quite positive about it. Nevertheless, there's that tiny piece of himself who keep feeling down and regretting about his current condition, here in our country, people really have stigma to the PLHIVs and this is not helping… ???
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Ummmm…. I'm not sure what formulation that they're on (whether it's Atripla, or otherwise separate), but I must forewarn you that Efavirenz should be avoided like the plague. It's more commonly known as Sustiva, and while your friend may not realize it now, but Sustiva is a very evil drug. I have seen first hand the kind of damage that Sustiva (Efavirenz) can do to a person with long-term use. For example, thanks to Sustiva, my ex now suffers from a severe case of peripheral neuropathy. To go along with this, he still frequently suffers from brain farts as I like to call them where he'll mean to say one thing, but will reverse the order of a few words, or otherwise associate the wrong word with something, leaving the person that he's talking to very confused.
I would strongly recommend that your friend get off of Sustiva ASAP for their own good. I'm not saying this to be a bitch or anything, but rather out of serious concern because I have seen first hand what Sustiva will do to a person with long-term use. I would be more inclined to recommend the switch to something like Truvada (Tenofovir 300mg / Emtricitabine 200mg) & Isentress (Raltegravir 400mg) as a substitute in the meantime. There are two down sides to this regime, however they're more manageable when paired up with something like Lomotil. The first down side is that Truvada often causes dry mouth and (and I say this from first hand experience of having been on it myself) can make for a rather "shitty" situation, if you catch my drift. The other down side is that Isentress in its standalone formation needs to be taken twice a day, which is statistically proven to be harder to adhere to than a once a day treatment.
Once on that regime, I would be inclined to recommend that they get a blood test done known as the HLA-B5701, which tests to see if you will have a rather serious reaction to Abacavir. If this test comes back negative, I would be inclined to recommend at that point making another switch from the Truvada/Isentress combination over to Triumeq. It falls under the same drug class as Isentress, however is formulated differently as to only need to be taken once a day. This would roll them down into one pill once a day. That being said though, I would not recommend just starting the Triumeq blindly as the reaction that the HLA-B5701 tests for is a severe body rash that can blister and become quite painful. To my understanding, it is the most common side effect and is thought on the most part to be the only real known side effect. I have been on this regime now for a while and have noticed no side effects to speak of. Also, on that note, it just so happens that the class of drugs that the Isentress falls into happens to now be regarded as the most powerful class of medications when combatting HIV in the world. It is responsible for me finally breaking the 700 mark in my CD4 count and coming in at an all time high of 1040 as of the last test.
Triumeq is a combination drug that mixes Dolutegravir, Abacavir, & Lamivudine, however it is rolled down into one pill. It's similar to a solution such as Atripla (which more or less is Tenofovir & Emtricitabine (or Truvada) and Sustiva (Efavirenz) all rolled into one pill), only it uses the newer medications and is all rolled into one pill that is taken once daily. In all seriousness though, I strongly recommend the discontinuation of Sustiva ASAP for their own good. If they're comfortable staying on the Sustiva for 3 months or so for the HLA-B*5701 test to come back, it may make more sense to make the switch over to Triumeq right off the top. It's proven to be much more effective, without the hassles of the nasty side effects. I know this may sound like I'm out to lunch, but this is something that I happen to have years of first hand experience with. I would not recommend making such a switch if I did not feel so strongly against the use of Sustiva. It's seriously saddening to see what 13 years of Sustiva has done to my ex, and I seriously would not wish that kind of life on anyone.
Again, understand that this is my opinion based on the years of experience that I have first hand with these medications. I seriously think that they would be much better off with one of the newer options such as Triumeq because it's easier to manage, without the hassles of the side effects. I know that they're happy enough dealing with the side effects for now, but I can say first hand from my own experience that there WILL come a time where the side effects will eventually become quite depressing, which can cause a number of other issues. What I'm getting at here is why deal with the side effects if there is an alternative that is clinically proven to be more effective that will help them manage, without the side effects? In all seriousness I'm not trying to criticize their decision to stick with it. My only intent is to offer my experience to try to help by providing a better solution that is easier to manage both physically and for long-term mental & physical health.
All this being said, Triumeq is rather new, so it's possible that at the time that their doctor put them on the Sustiva option, the option of using Triumeq may not have existed at that time. It only came out within the last about 4 months or so, so I would imagine that this is likely the reason why their doctor hasn't yet recommended it.
