Manns Medium

For so long so many have had to live with the threat of AIDS and helplessly watch a friend or family member die because of this disease.   Now there may be an answer to this problem and instead of everyone pulling together, the report by Kate Kelland of Reuters News Service titled Special Report: An end to AIDS? seems to suggest the opposite.   In the article she reports that “f or his doctors, Timothy Ray Brown was a shot in the dark. An HIV-positive American who was cured by a unique type of bone marrow transplant, the man known as "the Berlin patient" has become an icon of what scientists hope could be the next phase of the AIDS pandemic: its end ” but leave it to those who did not come up with this idea to find nothing but negativity . ”   F rancoise Barre Sinoussi won a Nobel Prize for her work in identifying Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and was even quoted as saying that “we have to think about the long term, including a strategy to find a cure."   ...

We are often times inundated with nothing but what people does wrong and seldom hear of the small but significant victories.  This is one which sad to say, were not found in this nation’s news venues. According to an unknown author in an article titled US stem cell research funding ban lifted by court, retrieved from www.bbc.co.uk , “The US Court of Appeals in Washington ruled 2-1 on Friday that a 1996 US law against federal funding of embryo destruction was "ambiguous", and "did not prohibit funding a research project in which an ESC (embryonic stem cell) will be used".  This clears the way for more research into cures for such things as “treatments of spinal cord injuries and diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's”, while the opposition deserves nothing less than to be heard and their views respected, it should come as no surprise that in this case the majority did rule. Not every battle joined can be a “mission accomplished” but each and every ...

Associated Press Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione’s article titled Gene therapy raises hope for a future AIDS cure gives those who suffer with AIDS a little ray of hope.   It covers the story for several angles and provides the reader with a full picture of the recent discovery. What is also does is make many feel like celebrating the fact that we do have the capacity to create something that benefits the world as a whole and should make us feel better about the importance of science in our school curriculums.   It reports that “the concept was based on the astonishing case of an AIDS patient who seems to be cured after getting blood cells from a donor with natural immunity to HIV nearly four years ago in Berlin” where “scientists used genetic engineering in six patients to develop blood cells that are resistant to HIV .”   It is quite understandable why “the results announced Monday at a conference in Boston left experts cautiously excited.”   No one wants to cl...

There are certain things that may be able to count on during the winter time and one of them is the common cold.   It’s this anticipation of the influenza season that drugs stores all around the nation stock up on over-the-counter cold remedies and people flock to their local store to stock up especially if they have school age children.   This may no longer be an option. For some time now, my five and two year old have been struggling with what would be considered as the normal cold and flu but regardless of what medicine we gave them, it appeared to have very little if any affect.   They would get better but as soon as the temperature dropped or the wind blew from any direction, they would be sick again.   The numerous doctor visits made us feel even less of a parent because following the doctor orders to the letter did not return our children to the once happy-go-lucky troublemakers of the past.   We finally got tired of this consistent circle and decided to...