A lifesaving cocktail.The anti-HIV drug "cocktail" had begun changing the face of the AIDS epidemic a year after the introduction of protease inhibitors Protease Inhibitors Definition A protease inhibitor is a type of drug that cripples the enzyme protease. An enzyme is a substance that triggers chemical reactions in the body. , The Advocate reported in late 1996. With the introduction of saquinavir saquinavir /sa·quin·a·vir/ (sah-kwin´ah-vir) an HIV protease inhibitor that causes formation of immature, noninfectious viral particles; used as the base or the mesylate salt in treatment of HIV infection and AIDS. in December 1995 and two other drugs the following spring, patients were now seeing HIV viral loads HIV viral load AIDS A measure of the amount of HIV RNA in blood, expressed as number of copies/mL of plasma. See AIDS, HIV. drop to undetectable levels--and they were reengaging with the future. "A year ago AIDS was always touted in the press as an inevitably fatal disease, and today that is totally without merit," said R. Scott Hitt, head of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) was a commission formed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1995 to provide recommendations on the U.S. government's response to the AIDS epidemic. President George W. Bush and Secretary Tommy G. . But the silver lining came with a number of dark clouds. The new drugs were expensive and had side effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. that forced some patients off the therapy. "Other people discover, to their dismay, that the drugs simply aren't effective for them. Even for the people who respond well, the treatments require a commitment, possibly life-long to a complicated regimen," explained Advocate writer John Gallagher. |
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