HIV
Immunodeficiency: immune restoration as logical response
HIV/AIDS is caused by HIV (Human Immuno Deficiency Virus). Transmission of HIV can take place through blood and blood products, sharing of used needles and unprotected (“unsafe”) sex. Usually, AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) is the last stage of chronic HIV infection.
Once it has entered the organism, HIV infects mainly T-helper cells and multiplies rapidly, thus infecting more and more T-helper cells. Initially, the immune system does respond by producing effective neutralizing antibodies but HIV can continue to spread through cell-to-cell contact and thus, circumventing neutralizing antibodies. The end effect is that less and less healthy T-helper cells become available leading to significant immunodeficiencies and finally full-blown AIDS.
Before the area of HAART, the incubation time for AIDS was between several months and fifteen years. Typical symptoms of AIDS are opportunistic infections, severe weight loss (caxechia, or “slim disease”), and malignancies like lymphomas, Kaposi‘ Sarcoma, etc. HIV/AIDS is a chronic infection and is still not curable.
Standard Therapie in HIV/AIDS
Standard treatment is a combination of medications which all suppress HIV replication but at different sites of replication, and the prevention of infection of the T-helper cell itself: HAART (Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy). Therefore, nowadays the development of AIDS can be significantly delayed. The main challenges of HAART are the prevention of building resistance to one or all components of HAART by HIV, and long-term toxicity.
Innovative, Successful Therapy in HIV/AIDS
Dr. Robert Gorter was Medical Director of the Department for AIDS Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco, USA, quite a few years and much of what is known today about the natural progression of HIV into AIDS comes from research of Dr. Gorter and his collaborators. Dr. Gorter was not only interested in studying how HIV affects the immune system and leads to full-blown AIDS but also why some HIV positives never progressed (long-term, non-progressors”). From his research and understanding, Dr. Gorter and his team have developed a protocol to turn HIV-infected individuals often successfully into long-term, non-progressors, which includes dendritic cell vaccinations.
