Whereas NASA has its own share of amazing discoveries like the liquid water on Pluto, a medical facility in the United Kingdom may have stumbled on a cure for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
The Sunday Times reports that the British man, 44 years old, is one of the 50 people who are undergoing trial treatments that targets the virus even if when it is already dormant or it has been suppressed. The trial and studies were made by scientists from five UK universities and with the results underway, the man may be the first person fully cured of HIV.
"This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for HIV," said National Institute for Health Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure managing director Mark Samuels, as reported by The Telegraph. "We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV. This is a huge challenge and it's still early days but the progress has been remarkable."
HIV has been one of the most difficult illnesses to deal with and no cure has been discovered yet. It targets the immune system in such a way that it renders it helpless in the face of bacteria, infections, and disease. Currently, the world has treatments to suppress it in order to allow the people who suffer from it the opportunity to live a long life. Unfortunately, this means the virus is still there because the therapy cannot detect the dormant ones and relapse is very much possible.
In the British man's blood, even the dormant HIV cannot be detected. Scientists speculate that it could be the result of the regular medicine or it could may well be the cure. Though the cause is unclear, medical professionals and patients all around the world eagerly await the results of the study seeks to eradicate the virus instead of merely suppressing it.
