New Optimism On Treatment

We have heard from New York physicians treating persons with AIDS and ARC that they are having far fewer deaths this year than last, and fewer serious complications requiring hospitalization, even though they have more patients. And in San Francisco, median survival time after an AIDS diagnosis increased unexpectedly, from ten months to 14, after staying the same for five years. Meanwhile, the most comprehensive study yet of AIDS outcome found long-term survival much better than expected, and found that the evidence does not show that AIDS is always fatal.

Many physicians now see a reasonable chance that AIDS could become usually a manageable disease within the next year or two. No cure is on the horizon at this time, but the hope is that most people could become healthy and remain that way indefinitely, even without a cure.

We are preparing a review of this information, probably for the next issue of AIDS Treatment News.