https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/04/health/hiv-remission-london-patient-study-bn/index.html?no-st=1554787078
This article was written on March 6, 2019 by Susan Scutti. More than a decade ago, Timothy Ray Brown was living with HIV and was consistently using antiretroviral therapy (ART), which are drugs that do not kill or cure the virus but can prevent the growth of the virus. However, soon after, he was diagnosed with another disease: acute myeloid leukemia. Timothy Ray Brown received two bone marrow transplants and was considered cure of HIV. For years, he was the only person to be considered healed until the "London Patient". The anonymous patient was diagnosed with an HIV infection 2003 and started ART in 2012. Then he was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma and started chemotherapy. He received a stem transplant and continued ART. The anonymous "London Patient"stopped ART to test if he was free of HIV and the result was an undetectable trace of HIV.
This new method of stem cell transplants connects to the medical breakout in the 1900s. Early in this decade, there were many technological and scientific advancements. in 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, which is now being used to treat illnesses. In the 1930s, European scientists used sulfa drugs to treat strep blood infections. Less than 100 years ago, cures and treatments were discovered for un-treatable diseases that caused many deaths, but because of our technological advances, more and more cures are being found for long-term diseases.
Today, with developments in artificial intelligence, and stem cells, our society is getting closer and closer to reinventing itself again. Of course there's risks, but they are worth it in order to make progress. Also, we need to take risks and that is exactly what stem cell researchers are doing.
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