Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ogicse!dali.cs.montana.edu!samsung!usc!ucla-cs!mailrus!gatech!dogwood.atl.ga.us!darrell@uunet.UU.NET
From: mailrus!gatech!dogwood.atl.ga.us!darrell@uunet.UU.NET (Darrell Tangman)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: Re: Cure for AIDS
Message-ID: <35945@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 4 Jun 90 17:12:36 GMT
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Organization: National Science Center Foundation
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Approved: ddodell@stjhmc.fidonet.org (David Dodell)
Note:	Copyright 1990 by Daniel R. Greening.  Permission granted for
Note:	non-commercial reproduction.
Archive-number: 2134

A friend of mine is a nurse at the hospital where this procedure was
performed.  I have not seen the CNN reports, but the descriptions I
have seen in sci.med.aids match my friend's descriptions of the procedure
reasonably well.  As I understand it, the procedure was to elevate the
patient's body temperature to an extreme degree while maintaining _very_
careful monitoring of blood chemistry and vital signs and replacing
some blood chemicals that are rapidly depleted during high fevers.  My
friend had met the patient prior to the procedure and has seen him since.
The patient had Kaposi's with alimentary involvement and possibly
pulmonary involvement as well, and now shows apparently complete
remission.  My friend reports that the patient's blood no longer shows
any signs of HIV infection -- I don't know whether my friend was
referring to HIV antibody tests or direct tests for presence of the
virus.  There is concern that HIV infection may remain; there was
specific mention of possible infection in the megablasts in the brain
(and I hope that means more to some of you than it does to me).

To me this all sounds extremely hopeful -- even if it's not a cure,
this procedure seems to offer a reasonable hope of prolonging life
while the search for a better treatment continues.  Certainly the
people at the hospital are quite excited about it.

(Hospital policy requires that all contacts with the press go through
their public relations office.  Since the hospital is having problems
[unrelated to this case] at present, association of my friend's name
with public discussion of the case could be problematical, even in a
setting that is not formally "press."  I would suggest that someone in
Atlanta contact the hospital directly.  I think it's Georgia General,
but I wasn't paying close enough attention to be certain.  I imagine you
could find out by contacting CNN.)

Darrell Tangman -- darrell@dogwood.atl.ga.us