Evolutionary Analysis (5th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-32161-667-7
ISBN 13: 978-0-32161-667-8

Chapter 1 - A Case for Evolutionary Thinking: Understanding HIV - Questions - Page 32: 10

Answer

The combination use of at least three drugs, as is common in HAART, has become the common treatment form for HIV patients and has also shown slight reduction of viral load in late stage HIV patients. Due to the reduced likelihood that the individual mutation strains develop resistance against three different drug types, the treatment shows increased force. However, so far no treatment is able to cure HIV, as it only suppresses the replication rate but is unable to attack the virus effectively in infected patients. Maybe HAART treatments will evolve in a way that they would be able to cure very early stage HIV infections, but the treatment itself is aimed at reducing, not curing. The targeting of proteins associated with the body is always a tricky business, as it is hard to differentiate between healthy cells and infected cells. Furthermore, the protein serves a non- viral function that would be blocked up as well, causing several other issues. And so far no believable research has shown a true cure of patients treated with CCR5 blockers.

Work Step by Step

The combination use of at least three drugs, as is common in HAART, has become the common treatment form for HIV patients and has also shown slight reduction of viral load in late stage HIV patients. Due to the reduced likelihood that the individual mutation strains develop resistance against three different drug types, the treatment shows increased force. However, so far no treatment is able to cure HIV, as it only suppresses the replication rate but is unable to attack the virus effectively in infected patients. Maybe HAART treatments will evolve in a way that they would be able to cure very early stage HIV infections, but the treatment itself is aimed at reducing, not curing. The targeting of proteins associated with the body is always a tricky business, as it is hard to differentiate between healthy cells and infected cells. Furthermore, the protein serves a non- viral function that would be blocked up as well, causing several other issues. And so far no believable research has shown a true cure of patients treated with CCR5 blockers.
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