US FDA approves first drug shown to reduce risk of HIV infection

[alp227]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Tx4obama (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: AP

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection, a milestone in the 30-year battle against the virus that causes Aids.

The agency approved Gilead Sciences' pill Truvada as a preventive measure for people who are at high risk of acquiring HIV through sexual activity, such as those who have HIV-infected partners.

Public health advocates say the approval could help slow the spread of HIV, which has held steady at about 50,000 new infections per year in the US for the last 15 years. An estimated 34 million people worldwide have HIV, including 1.2 million Americans. HIV develops into Aids unless treated with antiviral drugs.

Gilead Sciences has marketed Truvada since 2004 as a treatment for people who are already infected with the virus.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jul/16/fda-drug-hiv-infection

[mountain grammy]

1. Better late than never..

Think of how much sooner this could have happened and how many lives saved if "the gipper" had not been president when this epidemic began.. Another republicon legacy of death and destruction!

[YOHABLO]

2. Well, Yes Reagan showed no leadership ...

However, these types of medications were still in the clinical trial periods, if not in the discovery stages. Truvada is actually a combination drug of EMTRIVA and VIREAD, both
nucleoside analog HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors. These type of anti retro-viral drugs didn't hit the 'market' until the early 90s. I am not sure whether we can hold Reagan responsible for the slow development of these medications that would definitely have saved many lives. But we can hold Reagan and his administration responsible for lack of leadership, lack of awareness, and also Congress for not understanding how crucial it was then to take some action. The fact that it was hitting the gay communities in this country the hardest, probably had much to do with the lack of response. Shame Shame America.

[pinto]

4. Ah geez. Have you anything, i.e. facts, to cite beyond this one comment?

Thanks.

[alittlelark]

5. I think your premise is likely

But you shouldn't post it here w/o links.

[pinto]

6. Do you think HIV was a manufactured virus / conspiracy?

The research points to a mutation from a more common, less lethal simian borne virus, acquired via human hunting and ingestion.

[alittlelark]

8. I'm just saying that we have done hideous things in the past

.....we are likely still doing them.


All I ask for is a link.

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. You might want to peruse the TOS you agreed to abide by in order to participate here.

Particularly this section:

Don't go overboard with the crazy talk.

Democratic Underground is not intended to be a platform for kooks and crackpots peddling paranoid fantasies with little or no basis in fact. To accommodate our more imaginative members we tolerate some limited discussion of so-called "conspiracy theories" under the following circumstances: First, those discussions are not permitted in our heavily-trafficked Main forums; and second, those discussions cannot stray too far into Crazyland (eg: chemtrails, black helicopters, 9/11 death rays or holograms, the "New World Order," the Bilderbergers, the Illuminati, the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, alien abduction, Bigfoot, and the like). In addition, please be aware that many conspiracy theories have roots in racism and anti-semitism, and Democratic Underground has zero tolerance for bigoted hate speech. In short, you take your chances.

Full: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

[Tx4obama]

9. Locking, LBN Dupe. Please continue discussion on previously posted LBN thread on link below

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014167869