Researchers have been looking for a cure for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) for more than 30 years. A team from the University of California, Los Angeles may have found the answer in the form of a new stem cell treatment.
The research team was led by Dr. Scott Kitchen, an associate professor of haematology and oncology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. Dr Kitchen has been looking closely at immune system abnormalities and HIV for many years. He recently received a grant of $1.7 million which will help him continue his research into HIV and perfect his new stem cell treatment.
The new treatment uses stem cell-treated immune cells to identify HIV in the body and eliminate it. It harnesses the unique capacity of stem cells to regenerate and grow new cells repeatedly. This allows the stem cell-treated immune cells to continue destroying any HIV infection over a longer period.
AID/HIV remains one of the deadliest infectious diseases in the world. The human body’s T-cells cannot identify the virus, which allows it to go unchecked in the body. Dr. Kitchen’s new stem-cell treated T-cells are capable of identifying HIV and killing it.
Although doctors have known about AIDS/HIV for three decades, it has proven to be a very difficult disease to cure. Currently, antiretroviral medications can be used to slow the progression of HIV and stop it from becoming Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which is a life threatening condition. It is estimated that 35 million people have died from HIV/AIDS globally.
This new stem cell treatment may lead to a cure for HIV that saves millions of lives.
Source: This Doctor’s Revolutionary Stem Cell Treatments Could Eradicate HIV
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