Friday, November 14, 2008
While browsing last Friday’s edition of the New York Times I stumbled across the article, “AIDS Patient Is Reported Cured in Berlin With a Rare Treatment.” The idea of a cure for the much feared AIDS virus seemed too good to be true, so I decided to give it a closer look.
The article can best be related to one of those sleep aid drug commercials; you know, the ones where they spend one minute talking about the benefits of the drug and another five listing off all the negative side effects.
The article, which uses a summary lead, begins by describing how a 42-year-old American man living in Germany was cured by receiving a transplant of AIDS-resistant blood stem cells. At first, the treatment sounds like a dream come true; that is, until you read paragraphs two-six which list the drawbacks and complications.
Although the patient discussed in the article has been free of the AIDS virus for 20 months, the new treatment will be of little to no help in treating the millions of people suffering from AIDS in Africa. Not only is the “cure” unsuitable for treating the masses, but it is also extremely risky. In order to perform the procedure doctors must use drugs to essentially wipe out the patient’s immune system, the process of which carries a notorious 10-30% mortality rate in AIDS patients. There is also an “extremely small” chance of finding a compatible stem cell donor.
All in all, I found the title of the article to be a bit misleading. Although it is true that a man has been cured of AIDS, it is unlikely that that cure will be able to be applied to the millions of people who are infected with the virus.
A possible outline for the writer of this article would be the following:
1. Tell the story of the cured man in Berlin
2. Make readers aware of the treatment's risks and limitations
3. Highlight the recent strides that have been made in AIDS research
4. Explain promising studies and possible cures
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