HIV treatment should start earlier: Experts

Patients should start taking drugs for the AIDS virus earlier to have the best chance of survival, researchers said Thursday.

An analysis of more than 45,000 people with HIV in Europe and North America found they were 28 percent more likely to develop full-blown AIDS or die if they deferred treatment until the point currently recommended in many countries.

HIV/AIDS: What you need to know

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is no stranger to gay communities, and it is no stranger to Oklahomans: as of December 2007, there were approximately 4,521 Oklahomans living with HIV/AIDS, with more than 80% of them representing men. With tremendous advances in the our understanding of this disease process and with new treatments being developed at a rapid pace, HIV, if caught early, treated properly and monitored closely, can be considered more of a manageable chronic disease than the death sentence it once was. That is not to downplay the significance of HIV/AIDS—it is still a life-altering disease with a great social stigma and requires constant attention to medication regimens, doctor’s visits and overall fitness on the part of the affected individual to maintain optimal health.

Hope for shot? Structure of HIV protein unveiled

In a breakthrough which may pave the way for a vaccine against AIDS, scientists have provided what they claim is the first-ever glimpse of the structure of a key protein, gp120, found on surface of a subgroup of HIV-1.

In addition, the scientists from California Institute of Technology demonstrated that a particular antibody to gp120 makes contact not only with the protein, but with CD4 receptor that gp120 uses to gain entrance into the body's T cells.