HIV & The Future...

 

The field of HIV research is decades old & huge steps have been made in the fight against the virus.  However, we haven't found a cure.  We're back to admitting prevention is currently our best option.  While there have been advancements in treatment, there's still no silver bullet. 

Some are admitting the difficulty of this pursuit & altering course.  Alongside long acting treatment & PrEP that can greatly limit transmission, researchers are looking at options not found in pill bottles.  Some are researching the areas of gene therapy and broadly neutralizing antibodies.  

I've discussed these topics before.  It's a shift from a wide net approach meant for the masses to a personalized effort for individuals.  This could be the path forward, but it's still early days on this matter.

That's all for now, take care.

C=ya...

 

Gloomy Final Friday...

 

The last weekend of March looks to be dark & colder.  It's gloomy this morning & it might rain.  Benefit renewals are in process.  My roomie is home from her appointment.   

I saw 2 articles (A & B) on suppressing HIV without meds.  Both pieces detailed an approach to handling HIV with antibodies & T-Cells.  This is a direction researchers have been looking at for a while.  At this moment it isn't widely viable.  This could lead to a new primary treatment of HIV & head away from  traditional medications.  

That's it for now, take care. 

Cya...

Different & Same Old....

 

I was going to post about this article yesterday, but things happened.  It's from AmFAR & it's recognizes the current limits of HIV regimens, mostly ARTs.  It proposes the use of immunotherapy to extend the benefits of current meds.  It focused on broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) and an immune-stimulating agent (a TLR9 agonist).  This wasn't proposing a cure, but a step in a new direction for treating HIV.  Maybe, if this works, it could lead to a functional cure.

I haven't been doing well.  I'm just tired, detached &  ready just to let go.  This has been exhausting.  2026 is going to bring a lot changes to my assistance programs.  The orange asshats say it's for health.  They don't care about any poor person's well being.  They just get off on punching down & harming those who can't really fight back.  If every orange follower would just die, the world would be a better place.

My sister called.  The call itself was benign.  I guess she needed to touch base with me, so she could say did.  Between everything going one, the time of the year, the alleged holiday happening & governmental BS, I'm just over it.   That call just reminded me or how much of an afterthought I've always been to those people related to me.  If I wasn't that I was a bother or nuisance to them.  I have a hard time seeing my life being any worse if I'd never met any of my relatives. 

I didn't need to see 59, another holiday season or 2026.  There won't be anything for me.  My life will continue to descend into worse levels.  So yeah, I don't care about 2026.  It'll only be a worse version of 2025.

Sorry for the bummer, but do give the article a read.  It could be a new direction for HIV treatment.  Take care.

Cya...

Mono...What...

 

This piece is about  monoclonal antibodies & there use in preventing HIV.  I've blogged about these antibodies before, but as a treatment, not a form of PrEP.  At this point, the approach only works if the antibody & viral strain match.  Currently, 70% of the time, they didn't.  Even if they do, the prevention rate is only 75%.  

This may be ready for wide application, but the research is important.  It may add to HIV research or other viruses, such as COVID-19.   Research often provides unexpected outcomes & applications. Give this a read.

Cya...

CytoDyn...

I blogged about how CytoDyn is currently researching their antibody therapy on mild to moderate COVID-19 cases.  According to this article, they just filed to move ahead & treat those patients whose cases are severe & most likely terminal.   The paper suggests that the approach has promise.  Here's hoping.

Take care.

Cya...

PS - I forgot to say, we had our 1st mowing March 31st.   Mine April was an allergy-fest.  The mowing begins.

1st Friday in February...

Not much going on here.  We'll be handling bills & stuff this weekend, but that's about it.  It's a little chilly, but that's the season for you.  According to the forecast, our Winter is mostly done for except for some cold nights.  

That's about it for this post.  There's been some talk in the articles about a novel approach to fighting HIV.  They want to use antibodies from or similar to those found in the small number of people actually resistant to HIV.    They've talked about this for years.  If it goes beyond conjecture, I'll post more on the topic.

Cya...