So the age old question is why don’t we have a cure for HIV? We don’t have a cure for the common cold. We don’t have a cure for the flu.
HIV is a much trickier virus and so the medications that we use in the sciences come along to make sure that we can slow down HIV so it doesn’t destroy your immune system and it doesn’t reproduce as fast as it’s supposed to. But at the same time we have to know that just slowing it down does not mean you can eradicate it altogether.
As a clinician, I’m optimistic the science is moving, and again we just have to be patient with it because I think there’s going to be a cure eventually along the way. It’s just taking longer than we thought.
Dr. David Malebranche, MD, MPH, a clinician-researcher specializing in HIV, gives the lowdown on all things HIV care and treatment in the latest installment of the #AskTheHIVDoc video series.
