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LJ07
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Elite Controller Group
#260596 - 01/25/12 06:57 PM
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Hey guys,
Can anyone here share any info on Elite/Natural Controller Group? How would you be classified? Also, are there any among the members?
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Hi!
Basically, an elite controller is someone, probably through some genetic difference, who does not progress to AIDS after being infected with HIV. Their body can somehow manage the disease, without meds, and not allow the virus to destroy their immune and other systems. They test positive for the virus, but their viral load is undetectable and stays that way naturally. Their T-cell count (CD4's) stay in the normal or near-normal range. It's like they are on ARV/HAART, but they are not. It's probably some genetic anomaly that protects them form the virus, but does not make them immune from initial infection. These individuals are very interesting to doctors and research is being done to try to find out what the answer is that protects them from this rotten guest.
It's a pretty small percentage of us that fall into this category. For most of us, this virus would continue to grow, replicate and trash our immune and other systems, if it were not for the great ARV regimens we now have.
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LJ07
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This is very interesting! Do you know if they are also less likely to infect someone?
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I do not know about that - I have not read anything in the literature talking about them specifically, but I have read some studies coming out now that say that people that have an undetectable viral load because of an effective HAART regimen are 96% less likely to infect a partner, in heterosexual, unprotected, vaginal sex. I am not sure if the same would apply for elite controllers. It depends if the virus is being actively shed in their reproductive tract or not. Just because it is not being picked up in the blood, does not mean that it is not thrashing about somewhere else. The ARV meds should be keeping it suppressed throughout the entire body - I do not know if the elite controllers' bodies are doing it that well or not. Probably a topic for a study, I would imagine!
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AIDS2HIV
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Legend
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Quote:
This is very interesting! Do you know if they are also less likely to infect someone?
elite controlling is specific to the individual.... the virus is the same, their bodily response is what is different.. so yes, they can still infect.
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riverprincess
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My hubby is in the Elite Controllers status. He gives up mega tubes of blood every year. Been pos for approx 20 years like myself but has never had to be on meds, not like myself. We even had him re-tested once to make sure he was actually positive.
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LJ07
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WOW RP... What are the chances?!?! I asked initially because of an ad I saw asking for these individuals to volunteer for a new study. I didn't know that this was a possibility. So I figure early on the meds weren't necessarily effective... is that why he never went on them?
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riverprincess
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You know we never really thought about it cause it was never mentioned . I'll ask next time I see our dr. But I can tell you that there are only about 1,500 folks in this county that fit that catagory as to date. And when they give blood , they give BIG MEGA TUBES. Now hubby was always a hard stick due to 30 yrs of shooting up and the first time he came home from giving blood I asked, " Ok, how many sticks did it take."
(Use to be a game we played in our get high games. I was the one that had to " hit " him and we'd see how many trys it took,) And so when he rolled his sleeves up he must of had 10 bandaids on both arms. lol Told him I was going to prop him in the front yard with a hose in his mouth and turn him into a human sprinkler. lol lol It's gotten better these past couple of years .lol
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AshnBham
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Many do not know about HIV Elite Controllers also known as Long Term Nonprogressors and Viremic Controllers. I’m a Viremic Controller because depending on the time of year or body stresses my immune system is not as an efficient HIV killer as many of my peer LTNPs. My viral load will go from naturally undetectable to a max of 300 of those invaders. Still my system keeps this infection under control naturally so I will most likely never have to go on medications to prevent disease progression. I’ve been tested and I do have some of the mutations on my CD4 that make it very difficult for the virus to attach and enter my cells and I have traits that allow my body to seek out and kill the virus. Yet there are some with such amazing immune abilities that they control this internal warfare so well that researchers literally have a very difficult time even finding the virus in their systems even when they are running advanced tests than the normal screens. Like most of the ECs/LTNPs I partake in local and national studies to help find a cure or better therapies for those with HIV. The cure could be already found with our human genome. For more information about HIV Elite Controller issues and studies you may wish to visit this following online site and or join the Zephyr Foundation’s Facebook site: http://www.zephyrfoundation.org/
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riverprincess
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See posting by Riverprincess
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Very interesting, thanks for sharing!
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