[mojo2]

http://euronews.net/create_html.php?...e=319178&lng=1

If this is true...

WOW

British man 'cured' of HIV

He could prove to be a medical miracle. Newspapers in the UK are reporting that 25-year-old Andrew Stimpson has become the first person to be cured of HIV.

He had not taken any medication as he was in the early stages of developing the disease.

But after a year of living with HIV he was tested again at hospital and the results came out negative.

Baffled doctors are now going to carry out further tests on Stimpson to try to find out how and why he could escape a normally terminal illness that has infected 35 million people worldwide.

There have been anecdotal stories from Africa of people curing themselves of HIV but this appears to be the first case where medical tests can provide proof.

There's video of the story at the site.

EDIT: Here are other links to other sites carrying the same story!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4432564.stm
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/heal...p?newsid=33558

[mojo2]

Experts cautious on HIV 'cure' claim

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...5E1702,00.html

Experts cautious on HIV 'cure' claim
From correspondents in London
14nov05

DOCTORS urged a British man to come forward for further tests overnight after he claimed to have become the first person in the world to become clear of the HIV virus.

Andrew Stimpson was diagnosed as HIV-positive in August 2002 but tests 14 months later showed the virus had completely disappeared from his body, according to hospital officials.
The 25-year-old, from Largs, on Scotland's west coast, told two British newspapers he felt special and blessed to have been "cured" and pledged to help medics in their fight against the condition, which usually leads to AIDS.

"It's so amazing to think that one day I was staring death in the face and now I am waving it goodbye," Mr Stimpson told the News of the World.

But doctors at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London who carried out the initial tests on Mr Stimpson's blood, were more cautious, stopping short of saying he had been given the all-clear.

"I can confirm that he has a positive and a negative test," said a spokeswoman Sunday. "I can't confirm with you that he's shaken it off, that he's been cured.

"When we became aware of his HIV-negative result, we offered him further tests to help us investigate and find an explanation. So far he has declined to do so."

She added: "We urge him, for the sake of himself and the HIV community, to come in and get tested."

On being told the negative results, Mr Stimpson considered suing the hospital for bungling the initial test, it was reported.

But he received a letter from the hospital last month stating there was no case to answer. An investigation had confirmed the blood in all the samples was his and there were no mix-ups.

"Those tests are both accurate, the positive and a negative. They are correct," said a hospital spokeswoman.

Mr Stimpson said he was surprised at the so-called "spontaneous clearance", which has been reported anecdotally, because he had given up safe sex with his infected boyfriend, 44-year-old Juan Gomez after the diagnosis.

"I have no idea how I got rid of the virus... But maybe it's all down to some genetics in my immune system, so it's important for me to help with research because it can be a big step forward towards a cure for everyone," he told the News of the World.

Doctor George Kinghorn, an HIV specialist at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, told the News of the World, "If we can better understand what happened inside Andrew's body, it could prove to be a step towards a breakthrough in beating the HIV virus."

Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said: "This appears to be a highly unusual case and without further tests it is impossible to draw any conclusions for people living with HIV.

"The virus is extremely complex and there are many unknowns about how it operates and how people's bodies react to it.

"Therefore, if this case were able to shed further light, it could be extremely valuable for research into treatments or a cure."

Mr Stimpson first went for tests in May 2002 after feeling weak and feverish. They came back negative. However, the virus can take three months to appear in the blood after contraction.

Tests in August that year found an exceptionally low level of HIV anti-bodies.

Because he was in the early stages, he did not require medication, but doctors were surprised by his continuing good health.

Repeat tests in October 2003 and ever since have come back negative.

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[gururafiki]

Wasn't Magic Johnson cured first?

[Kerrigan]

After reading that I'm going to go engage in unprotected anal secks at my nearest sex party.

[wdlove]

Miracles do happen. The results would just need to be independently validated.

[mojo2]

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. (And to you, wdlove I say, YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. )

There is NO substantiation that this fellow DEFINITELY had HIV nor definite PROOF that he has been cured.

There is NO idea of whether what he DID or didn't do contributed to his cure, if he is cured.

We don't know if it was his BODY CHEMISTRY or something peculiar to his environment or heredity.

And if he was cured simply through use of vitamins (as he suspects) it will be up to the scientists to figure out which combination of vitamins are optimally effective and that testing could take many many months.

From living in San Francisco I know that simply taking mega-doses of vitamins may help but if that's all it took, to cure HIV, we'd have seen it before now.

And, no, Magic Johnson (Don't you love that name? ) has not been cured. His wife misspoke when she declared that in an article.

That's why THIS story is SO BIG!

If Andrew Stimpson really has been cured it would be the FIRST documented case of it happening.

To Kerrigan and/or any of you who are reading this and thinking it means it's safe to go back 'in the water' (so to speak) IT IS NOT!

People are still contracting the disease every day. They are still getting sick, every day. They are still losing their jobs and their insurance every day. They are still being discriminated against every day and they are still dying every day.

This is wonderful news but NO ONE SHOULD VIEW THIS AS AN "ALL CLEAR-ALL QUEER" SIGN!

If you are practicing safe sex, continue.

If you are not practicing safe sex, START NOW!

And if you are not asexual or in a long term monogamous relationship, practice safe sex and get tested AT LEAST yearly. Better is seasonally.

Your local public health service has info on free or low cost testing alternatives.

[mojo2]

http://www.24x7updates.com/FullStory...ID-200643.html

Doctors are saying they want to investigate the case of a British man with HIV who apparently became clear of the virus, to confirm the validity of the claim.

Andrew Stimpson, 25, was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 2002, and was later found to be clear of the infection when tested in 2003, the News of the World reported today, citing an interview. Stimpson considered suing the hospital that carried out the tests until checks showed there had been no mix-up in the results, the newspaper said.

A spokeswoman for London’s Chelsea & Westminster hospital, which carried out the tests, said she couldn’t say if Stimpson had been cured or not, and urged him to come forward for further tests. She confirmed he had sought to sue the trust, and that the tests, which both had his DNA in them, were accurate.

"I can’t confirm with you that he’s shaken it off, that he’s been cured."

She added: "We urge him, for the sake of himself and the HIV community, to come in and get tested."

She confirmed Mr Stimpson had subsequently tried to sue the hospital, believing his initial positive test was inaccurate.

But he was told there was no case to answer because both tests were correct, she said.

Patrick Dixon, a doctor and HIV expert, told Sky News this was the first time someone had kicked the virus out of their body.

"(AIDS) is a hugely significant problem which at moment we have no cure for," said Dixon.

"It’s just possible inside this man’s body is a biological key. If we can find an antibody that he’s produced that has enabled him to kick this virus out, we could in theory find a way of engineering that antibody and giving it as some sort of treatment," he said.

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by mojo2

There is NO substantiation that this fellow DEFINITELY had HIV nor definite PROOF that he has been cured.

There is NO idea of whether what he DID or didn't do contributed to his cure, if he is cured.

We don't know if it was his BODY CHEMISTRY or something peculiar to his environment or heredity.

And if he was cured simply through use of vitamins (as he suspects) it will be up to the scientists to figure out which combination of vitamins are optimally effective and that testing could take many many months.

From living in San Francisco I know that simply taking mega-doses of vitamins may help but if that's all it took, to cure HIV, we'd have seen it before now.

That's why THIS story is SO BIG!

No, that is why this story is so inignificant and not interesting and it can only become interesting if this guy was verifyably HIV pos. before and is now HIV neg., again verifyably. Until then.. it is not a worth a mention. Also a signifcant percentage of people who get AIDS and die are never HIV pos.

Perhaps there is a problem with the method of diagnosis of HIV pos. people leading to false pos. anf false neg. A far more likely scenario.

cheers

W-Y

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

No, that is why this story is so inignificant and not interesting and it can only become interesting if this guy was verifyably HIV pos. before and is now HIV neg., again verifyably. Until then.. it is not a worth a mention. Also a signifcant percentage of people who get AIDS and die are never HIV pos.

Perhaps there is a problem with the method of diagnosis of HIV pos. people leading to false pos. anf false neg. A far more likely scenario.

cheers

W-Y

I recognize and affirm everything in your post. May I add, however, that for someone looking for hope, even though this report of a cure may NOT pan out, if even false hope can give you one more day or one more week then it is not a useless thing.

But, of course, you are correct.

[Eriamjh]

Don't you think that out of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people who test positive for HIV that SOMEONE somewhere might have an immune system that wins? They key is to figure out what did it and how to make a vaccine.

That is the hard part.

[OldManMac]

Billions of dollars, involving innumerable doctors and other health professionals have been investigating and fighting this disease for decades. This guy was originally misdiagnosed; he obviously never had HIV.

[The Godfather]

This man needs to be dissected immeditely in the name of science!

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

Don't you think that out of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people who test positive for HIV that SOMEONE somewhere might have an immune system that wins? They key is to figure out what did it and how to make a vaccine.

That is the hard part.

Didn't they find that people in Iceland or something were resistant to HIV?

I think I also saw something about people descended from plague survivors, but that might have been some other disease.

[Wiskedjak]

Did I mention that 2 years ago I had HIV and now it's gone?

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

Did I mention that 2 years ago I had HIV and now it's gone?

You think that's something? Two years ago I was dead!

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

Did I mention that 2 years ago I had HIV and now it's gone?

I would think that news would have people flocking to your door to (perhaps literally) 'drink from the fountain of YOU!'

And I'm glad you beat it.

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by nonhuman

You think that's something? Two years ago I was dead!

Ahhh! So you are an example of someone in the afterlife? Nonhuman but extra-intelligent?

[Wiskedjak]

Originally Posted by mojo2

I would think that news would have people flocking to your door to (perhaps literally) 'drink from the fountain of YOU!'

Why do you think I didn't say anything?

This story is not big until:
a) it's proven this man had HIV
b) it's proven this man was cured of HIV without medical intervention
c) whatever cured this man of HIV turns out to be something that can be reproduced on demand.

It is not unheard of for people who had cancer to be cured, and yet our doctors are still unable to cure cancer. If this man had HIV and it went away from him without medical intervention, it could end up that we never learn what happened to cure him. You're looking at vitamins, but what about combinations of the other foods he eats, where he lives, where he works, the clothes he wears, what kind of cellphone he uses, etc.

Realistically, unless he's documented his entire life for the last two years, it's unlikely anyone will be able to figure out what cured him (if, indeed, he was sick in the first place). It's also unlikely that his blood would be able to produce a vaccine considering how rapidly HIV mutates.

[Rob van dam]

Many diseases are dose dependant - meaning that the level of exposure is quite critical in determining whether or not the disease takes hold. ...If the exposure dose was low, then his body may have fought it off.

just a thought i guess

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

Why do you think I didn't say anything?

This story is not big until:
a) it's proven this man had HIV
b) it's proven this man was cured of HIV without medical intervention
c) whatever cured this man of HIV turns out to be something that can be reproduced on demand.

It is not unheard of for people who had cancer to be cured, and yet our doctors are still unable to cure cancer. If this man had HIV and it went away from him without medical intervention, it could end up that we never learn what happened to cure him. You're looking at vitamins, but what about combinations of the other foods he eats, where he lives, where he works, the clothes he wears, what kind of cellphone he uses, etc.

Realistically, unless he's documented his entire life for the last two years, it's unlikely anyone will be able to figure out what cured him (if, indeed, he was sick in the first place). It's also unlikely that his blood would be able to produce a vaccine considering how rapidly HIV mutates.

We will certainly go back to the P/L and scrap like cats and dogs but let me tell you here and now that my heart goes out to you and I am exceedingly happy for your survival. If I could I would give you a big hug right now. Ok, now that that has passed...ahem...you are absolutely right and that IS what I was alluding to in my 2nd or 3rd post.

But, I WANT to live for the ups and downs and the hope that there MAY be. I am indeed fortunate not to have to live the ordeal that you and so many thousands have over these rather few numbers of years. But I feel the hopelessness around me and I can't help but sit here as though in the stands of a sporting event, but one with life and death consequences. And I DO get excited when there MAY be reason for hope. In football terms, it's late in the game and the home team is behind. They are on their own 5 yard line, but they have possession of the ball at least! And with that situation you have to hope even though, as you rightly point out, it's a long shot.

So, as you certainly know more about it than I, I will just keep my yap shut and my fingers crossed.

But, I really am glad for you! Yay!

EDIT: BTW, I take it you've gone through the whole, "what caused this miracle?" and have tried looking for every possible thing you've done right and wrong and different and indifferent to figure it out, but no luck, huh? Is there any advice you'd give a researcher or a patient who might read this?

[Warung]

I'm just waiting for a statement by him like: "Well, I didn't actually take any medicine really, but I did eat a lot of Twinkies over last couple of years", and then see Hostess' stocks skyrocket.

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by Warung

I'm just waiting for a statement by him like: "Well, I didn't actually take any medicine really, but I did eat a lot of Twinkies over last couple of years", and then see Hostess' stocks skyrocket.

Can you spell, "yummy creme-filled centres?"

[von Wrangell]

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Didn't they find that people in Iceland or something were resistant to HIV?

I think I also saw something about people descended from plague survivors, but that might have been some other disease.

Icelanders have the highest percentage of HIV resistance with most of Scandinavia in following. IIRC it's a simple mutation that causes it. I'll look it up if you want to for a better explanation.

Here's a decent article about it. http://biology.plosjournals.org/perl...l.pbio.0030339

***warning: above article contains some evolution theory***