I find it odd that we haven't had any posts in here. Rather than place this in the politics forum I'm placing it here in hopes that this subforum will grow. A good friend of mine has recently discovered that he is positive. Hopefully some of you out there can help me help him with your stories. Here's to the HIV/AIDS forum! May news better than the one below be posted!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7007734.stm

International drug company Merck has halted trials on an HIV vaccine that was regarded as one of the most promising in the fight against Aids.

Merck stopped testing the vaccine after it was judged to be ineffective.

In trials, the vaccine failed to prevent HIV infections among volunteers who were at risk of catching the virus, including gay men and sex workers.

Merck had previously expressed high hopes for the drug, which it spent 10 years developing.

'Headed for failure'

Merck's international trial, called Step, began in 2004 and involved 3,000 HIV-negative volunteers from diverse backgrounds, between the ages of 18 and 45.

Merck said that 24 of 741 volunteers who got the vaccine became infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids.

Out of a group of 762 volunteers who were given a dummy version of the jab, 21 became infected with HIV.

An independent monitoring panel recommended discontinuing the vaccination of volunteers, saying the trail was headed for failure.

Most of the volunteers were at high risk of HIV infection.

They were repeatedly given advice about how to practise safe sex, according to Merck.

The vaccine contained a common cold virus loaded with copies of three HIV genes.

The hope was that exposure to the genes would prompt an immune response in the body so that cells containing HIV virus would be recognised and destroyed.

"Today is a very sad day for the industry because Merck's vaccine had shown an ability to turn on the immune system, which gave many people optimism it would work," said Sarah Alexander, from the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

Doctors have said a preventative vaccine would be the best way to control the spread of HIV.

[arthur]

Originally Posted by MadRiverTurtle

I find it odd that we haven't had any posts in here. Rather than place this in the politics forum I'm placing it here in hopes that this subforum will grow. A good friend of mine has recently discovered that he is positive. Hopefully some of you out there can help me help him with your stories. Here's to the HIV/AIDS forum! May news better than the one below be posted!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7007734.stm

International drug company Merck has halted trials on an HIV vaccine that was regarded as one of the most promising in the fight against Aids.

Merck stopped testing the vaccine after it was judged to be ineffective.

In trials, the vaccine failed to prevent HIV infections among volunteers who were at risk of catching the virus, including gay men and sex workers.

Merck had previously expressed high hopes for the drug, which it spent 10 years developing.

'Headed for failure'

Merck's international trial, called Step, began in 2004 and involved 3,000 HIV-negative volunteers from diverse backgrounds, between the ages of 18 and 45.

Merck said that 24 of 741 volunteers who got the vaccine became infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids.

Out of a group of 762 volunteers who were given a dummy version of the jab, 21 became infected with HIV.

An independent monitoring panel recommended discontinuing the vaccination of volunteers, saying the trail was headed for failure.

Most of the volunteers were at high risk of HIV infection.

They were repeatedly given advice about how to practise safe sex, according to Merck.

The vaccine contained a common cold virus loaded with copies of three HIV genes.

The hope was that exposure to the genes would prompt an immune response in the body so that cells containing HIV virus would be recognised and destroyed.

"Today is a very sad day for the industry because Merck's vaccine had shown an ability to turn on the immune system, which gave many people optimism it would work," said Sarah Alexander, from the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

Doctors have said a preventative vaccine would be the best way to control the spread of HIV.

Vaccines and HIV do not mix. Here is why...

Basically think of HIV as an untested hybrid, say Grand Daddy Purple x Trainwreck. The possibility for mutation is huge, you might get a 2 ft tall finish in 6 weeks or a 6 ft tall plant that finishes in 10 from the same parents, well HIV is even more all over the place.

HIV is HIV is it not? Yes, but it is like saying cannabis is cannabis, with as many variations. For instance I have a circa 1980's strain of HIV in my system, it is weaker (or would that be friendlier?) than say a strain caught today because of the mutations it makes on it's own as well as the mutations it makes from medication.

So you could make a vaccine that worked on a specific strain of HIV, but it would stop working say if someone had taken a different medication or if someone simply had a different immune system that caused the HIV to mutate. This is the same problem they have with the flu vaccine this year, but HIV has millions of more combinations and to make an effective vaccine for all of them would likely spin your immune system out.

A vaccine to help the immune system deal with what HIV does makes more sense but very complex.

As with anything released by Merk, it is profit based. Look how merk is no longer able to market the HPV vaccine to older women anymore, mainly from health issues as well as lack of proof it will really help.

Better Aids drugs and accessibility are really needed. I now take Atripla once a day, before bed. It has a triple combo and very few side effects cannabis does not get rid of. Problem is this pill cost me over 50 bucks a pop and I loose ADAP (aids drugs assistance program) coverage if I make over 3k a month and then have to spend half my cash on it.

When the GOV wakes up and makes medicine available to everyone at an affordable cost, the disease will slowly die off. When people are bitter over not being able to afford medications and pissed about getting their medical gardens raided, they stop caring if they spread the disease as much. A sad but true fact.

Nobody would get onto Dick Cheney for stockpiling a years worth of medicine but if we do that with our cannabis we break even prop 215 rules.

With huge waiting list for drug assistance for aids patients in this country, it's a bummer to see all this 'Red campaign' stuff to end aids in Africa. Aids would end if we all had treatment accessibility and proper nutrition; two things that benefit from cannabis. HIV unfortunately is going to be around for a while but we can all do something about the toll it takes around us.

Overgrow and share with a patient near you. I also suggest all growers befriend their local HIV groups as their is no better defense in court for cultivation that a group of real patients as your witnesses.

If their is no medical proof of cannabis helping, why do they give us marinol perscriptions? hehe.