Comments on: Gene Therapy Hope for HIV: Engineered Stem Cells Hold Promise http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/06/17/gene-therapy-hope-for-hiv-engineered-stem-cells-hold-promise/ 80beats is DISCOVER's news aggregator, weaving together the choicest tidbits from the best articles covering the day's most compelling topics. Tue, 22 May 2012 06:34:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Joseph Calamia http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/06/17/gene-therapy-hope-for-hiv-engineered-stem-cells-hold-promise/comment-page-1/#comment-199696 Joseph Calamia Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:32:21 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=16309#comment-199696 Henry, Thanks very much for the comment. You are right; if patients strictly adhere to the regimen, the drugs can remain effective. More information about highly active antiretroviral therapy is available here: http://www.globalhealthreporting.org/diseaseinfo.asp?id=261 Thanks again for the catch, and sorry for the mistake. I've changed the line in the post. Henry,

Thanks very much for the comment. You are right; if patients strictly adhere to the regimen, the drugs can remain effective.

More information about highly active antiretroviral therapy is available here: http://www.globalhealthreporting.org/diseaseinfo.asp?id=261

Thanks again for the catch, and sorry for the mistake. I’ve changed the line in the post.

]]> By: Henry http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/06/17/gene-therapy-hope-for-hiv-engineered-stem-cells-hold-promise/comment-page-1/#comment-198900 Henry Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:25:33 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=16309#comment-198900 You state, "Treating HIV currently comes down to controlling the viral load with a mixture antiretroviral drugs, but over time, this drug cocktail becomes less effective." Antiretroviral drugs do not become less effective over time. That could only happen if a person is not properly adherent to the medications and misses too many doses. This is what can lead to suboptimal levels of drugs in the body, opening the door for the virus to possibly mutate and become resistant. A person on an effective drug cocktail who is adherent will not have problems with the virus mutating or with the medications becoming less effective. You state, “Treating HIV currently comes down to controlling the viral load with a mixture antiretroviral drugs, but over time, this drug cocktail becomes less effective.” Antiretroviral drugs do not become less effective over time. That could only happen if a person is not properly adherent to the medications and misses too many doses. This is what can lead to suboptimal levels of drugs in the body, opening the door for the virus to possibly mutate and become resistant. A person on an effective drug cocktail who is adherent will not have problems with the virus mutating or with the medications becoming less effective.

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