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LEGEND:
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Cures for HIV |
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Is there a cure for HIV?
No. Many researchers continue to work to find a vaccine that will prevent HIV infection and treatments that may one day cure HIV. There are however, medications that can help many people infected with HIV live with the disease and dramatically prolong their lives. It is important that individuals get tested for HIV and know that they are infected early in order for medical care and treatment to have the greatest effect.
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Are cures that I read about on the Internet legitimate?
No. Some people have made claims to discovering a cure for HIV and attempted to sell these cures to people living with HIV. None of these claims have been evaluated as safe or documented as legitimate treatments and are routinely prosecuted as fraud. More alarming is that many of these bogus “cures” can do additional physical and mental harm to people living with HIV and prevent them from seeking proven treatments and support that can extend their lives.
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Has Irving “Magic” Johnson been cured of HIV?
No. Magic Johnson announced he was infected with HIV in 1991. Like many Americans living with HIV, Magic Johnson takes medication each day to reduce the amount of HIV in his body. For some of these people, the medication works so well that HIV is “undetectable” in a blood test. This does not mean that they no longer have HIV; it just means that the blood test cannot detect HIV because it has moved to other parts of the body like the lymph nodes. This reduction in the amount of HIV in the body is good news and can keep people living with HIV from getting sick. If Mr. Johnson stopped taking his medication however, it is likely that he would see the levels of HIV in his body rise and his health would eventually be at risk.
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