Is AIDS really a death sentence?

Kutt

Is HIV/AIDS really a death sentence? I mean a 100% guaranteed fatality rate? Basketball player Magic Johnson has been living with the disease for over 25 years.

Is it at least theoretically possible to survive this disease with rigorous treatment?

Borek

Define "survive". And you have a death sentence since you were born, so I think the only way of correctly discussing these things is in the terms of life expectancy.

I don't know exact numbers, but from what I remember there was one (or perhaps a few?) cases of people that defeated AIDS (that is, they no longer test positive). Those that test positive and are treated do live quite long - but I don't know if their life expectancy is identical to their peers. I strongly doubt, as there are no medications without side effects.

OCR

Source is from a quick Google search....

http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/F...ith_HIV.9.aspx

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&tbo=d&q...iw=836&bih=623



OCR

Kutt

Famous basketball player "magic johnson" has had HIV for over 25 years. But then again he is worth over $200,000,000 dollars and can afford the best treatment possible. He has had an innumerable amount of blood transfusions.

Borek

It is not that easy, there are plenty of antigens, and with each next transfusion it is more difficult to find a suitable donor (or at least that's what I was told on many occasions by a friend of mine who works as a "blood analytician" (whatever it is called in English) in one of Warsaw hospitals). So while I am not saying he hadn't many, I would not exaggerate the procedure.

Ryan_m_b

This cohort study might interest you. Their findings were that if contracted at age 20 HIV positive individuals in the US and Europe have a life expectancy 2/3rds that of average
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...113-7/fulltext

boit

No, it isn't a death sentence. I work in a place where prevalance was 50% (simply saying, if I don't have it, the other guy has). It was one of the highest prevalance rate in the whole world. With Antiretrovirals and food, this guys life expectancy is at per with the rest of the population.
In children, it is a different story though. Early initiation of ARV and correcting/preventing malnutrition (which is rife) is at least mitigating the sitation.

Kutt

I assume that this is someplace in Africa?

boit

Correct.