European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 3, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The Long and risky Road to treatment by Lawrence Altman new York times Rock Hudson pilgrimage to Paris for treatment of acquired immune deficiency syn drome underscores the difficulties and frustrations confronting patients and doctors in their efforts to combat the that drive for a drug against the deadly viral disease is extremely just a handful of drugs Are known to be effective against any viruses and almost All were Dis covered by the development of any new drug is a tedious process that progresses in incremental it was widely reported that Hudson had been treated with an experimental French drug called but he denied through a spokesman that he had received the the hpa23 drug does shows some signs of thwart ing the spread of the aids virus in the blood at least while it is being scientists have also identified several other com pounds that seem to Stop the aids virus in test tube expert yet All these substances have important toxic effects and the French doctors have said they have had to Stop prescribing hpa23 to some patients because of damage to the blood system or there is no scientific evidence that any can permanently Stop aids in according to James an assistant Secretary for the aids virus has already infected an estimated 1 million no apparent Barrier exists to prevent it from infecting tens of millions More in the com ing such a Specter has spurred scientists to search for still other compounds in the Hope that or a combination of a will be a cure for aids or prevent its ravaging effects that paralyse the body immune sys some experts Are criticizing the Lack of Federal Lead coordination and financing to gather the scientific evidence to identify potential cures for if the human experiments that Are needed to determine if a drug is Safe and effective Are not conducted properly under rigid scientific sick people May become sicker and any Hopes that Are raised May turn out to be results of tests carried out in a haphazard manner on thousands of aids victims could be Henry has charged that a Lack of funds has kept american aids researchers on the watching scientists make research advances in other As a movie Hudson is the Best known american to acknowledge publicly that he has Many of its victims and others have expressed Hope that Hudson personal tragedy will bring about a greater Public aware Ness of the seriousness of the aids epidemic and Spur the government to play a greater role in researching and treating this invariably fatal disease that was first recognized in since scientists in several countries have pointed with justifiable Pride to the significant advances they have made in rapid succession to unravel a few of the myriad mysteries of this enormously Complex the key step learning that a member of the retrovirus family causes aids was made in 1983 by French researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and a year aids cases cumulative totals in thousands 225 200 175 150 125 100 75 50 25 0 later by scientists at the National institutes of health in that discovery led to the development of a blood test to prevent patients from receiving transfusions of blood tainted with it also gave researchers their first Laboratory tool to begin to identify ant aids drugs and a potential doctors have been frustrated by not hav ing anything of proven value beyond education to offer in the treatment or prevention of that if not was accentuated by Hudson Well publicized trip to report edly for treatment with which is not yet Avail Able in the United states even on an experimental some american researchers were angered to learn that a prominent american went to Paris for treatment of because they believe that More experimental drugs exist in the than in 1981 82 83 estimate estimates Chicago Tribune Chart source centers for disease control and National institutes of health the food and drug administration has Given approval for the testing of at least nine experimental drugs against americans have a lot More than the French have in every respect Many More Biolo virologists and other scientists working on said William Haseltine of har Vard medical school and the Dana Farber cancer Institute in he asserted that a lot of very Good Talent is not being coordinated and used to the Best of our ability largely because the aids problem is not being recognized for the serious epidemic that it drug development is a complicated process that requires sophisticated techniques in Sta toxicology and other disciplines As Well As willing volunteers and re the human elements of the equation Are physicians receive Calls and letters every Day from aids patients who desperately seek experimental some american and european physicians Are carrying out spotty trials that Are unlikely to Lead to cures and the whole experience goes Down the tube As an anecdote that nobody can proceed Haseltine what we get from France now is the Crummies kind of anecdotal stories they dont do the scientifically controlled trials that Are necessary to provide the Evi Dence about a drugs safety and Haseltine said it is really a crime that the data from the spotty trials is not being collected and Analysed by a Central he said that in his experience cancer patients willingly tolerated suffering on the Chance that if they did not help they might help somebody under those circumstances they Are willing to try really drastic drugs which have the Chance of killing them in a month instead of letting them die five Haseltine if somebody is going to he might resign himself to but he might be very bitter if he realizes that his experience int going to help the next Man Down the the Effort to cure aids differs from the at tack against most other infectious one reason is according to the Best available some one who has aids can spread it for a some doctors Are beginning to think that Early treat ment of aids with drugs when they Are developed May be needed to prevent beginning infections from developing into potentially fatal doctors do not usually recommend such treatment among asymptomatic individuals with other any drugs used to treat aids May have to be combined with chemotherapy against cancer because aids patients Are also unusually prone to malignancies such As Kaposi Sarcoma and in testimony before a congressional Martin an infectious disease specialist at the Massachusetts general Hospital in called for the government to finance a crash program of scientifically controlled trials of several drugs at several medical centers under the direction of the National institutes of Hirsch recommended an attack similar to the one mounted in the 1970s that led to therapies against differ ent types of herpes infections with drugs that were unknown 15 years with respect to it is highly unlikely that the current Patchwork of preliminary trials in differ ent institutions will provide definitive Hirsch my fear is that two years from now we will have Many More drugs but Little More interpretable there is an orderly progression to developing new even after tests have shown no significant damage to thousands of no one can predict what will happen when a new substance is tested on a human for the first in dealing with experimental patients who Are willing to take them must recognize the potential for it is not axiomatic that a sick individual who takes an experimental substance will be better off because of that Samuel an associate director at the National cancer sometimes the research Steps Are made easier when scientists seek a new use for an old drug because they can rely on the data collected in treating Over the in his research on Broder is testing which resembles the French experimental drug because doctors have used Sura min for decades in the treatment of two parasitic the Fra was Quick to approve new Broder Broder said his team had developed a extremely sensitive testing system with which scientists can screen Large numbers of compounds and determine in about a weeks time if a particular agent shows Potency against the aids if you get any inkling of then you can go on to determine if a slight chemical modification of that agent gives an even greater he san Francisco Gays during a Vigil held for victims of the disease up photo new focus on an incurable disease by Delthia Ricks United press International news of Rock Hudson yearlong Bat the with aids has focused nationwide alien Tion on the incurable disease now reacting into the heterosexual Gay rights activists say Hudson atos diagnosis could become the necessary springboard to badly needed increases in research and education funds that would Speed scientific efforts toward a cure Aid spread the word on prevention tips until an effective ment is 1 i Hudson Battle with acquired immune deficiency syndrome could prove to be somewhat analogous t what president Reagan is doing for Colon Saij Ron Najman of the National Gay task Force in Wash if the prominent do contract aids it May further Public understanding of the he the phone was ringing off the said Nate Sebas director of the aids foundation in very few people asked for information about Rock they wanted to know about aids if there is a test for what the symptoms we have been fighting this for a Long trying to make the Public aware this is not a Gay weve gotten a lot of Calls about a lot of concerned Hetero sexual people were calling because a real person named Rock Hudson has i Hope Hudson Case will make More people in the country realize that anyone of any Caliper can contract the said Mark publisher of the Phila Delphia Gay news Holly a Public affairs coordinator for the san Francisco aids said Hudson diagnosis has raised much concern in a City known for its Large Gay we look at it from primarily two different she its a tragedy for any person who has been diagnosed As having its a catastrophic ill Ness and its very sad to hear that Hudson diagnosis has been but on the other perhaps because a major celebrity has aids it can help in providing information to the general Public about risk reduction and in information is the Best defense against immune system breakdown a healthy person cell Helper cell suppressor cell virus an aids victim White blood cells called cell lymphocytes help the body fight infection by producing antibodies to fight foreign there Are also cell produced by the thymus called Helper they assist b cells in attacking i a second the Calls off the in a healthy there Are roughly two helpers for every aids victims lose their ability to fight off infection because of a reduction in the num Ber of Helper a further setback occurs when the ratio Between suppressor and Helper is with about three suppressors for every Page 14 cd Taeo Tribune graphic source Chicago Tribune report education about prevention is our vaccine for aids there is no medical vaccine nor a medi Cal so were looking at the potential in a human this gentleman is suffer ing and our hearts go out to Neil chairman of the los Angeles City county aids task said people try to deny that there at risk for but he thinks Hudson diag Nosis will focus new attention on the vulnerability of All women and children to the immune system Dis for the general this May be the closest con tact Treyve had with added a spokesman for an aids educational As terrible As it is for him Hudson and everyone around this will emphasize the vulnerability of everyone to Jim a 35yearold new York aids As horrible As Hudson Case it is the break aids victims have been waiting Sharp but he has had aids for a Why  he have helped ear Lier Why did he have to hide and sneak off to Paris he could have done the majority of aids cases in the and abroad have been confirmed in homosexual intravenous drug users and recipients of blood researchers at the centers for disease control in Atlanta the virus believed to cause the disease is thought to be spread by sexual use of contaminated blood products or contaminated a few infants and children have contracted the syn drome from blood and heterosexual partners of victims have also shown symptoms of the health officials have become concerned that female prostitutes May become carriers of the virus and spread aids further to blood collection agencies have begun testing donated units for the virus and destroying contaminated and people considered at risk Are being advised to limit their sexual what is aids the often fatal illness is acquired immune deficiency it was first recognized in 1981 and discovered among the homosexual it Breaks Down the body immune system its defences against How is aids caused aids is believed to be triggered by a virus that spreads through sexual use of contaminated Needles and blood or blood victims develop one or several life threatening the principal ones being Kaposi Sarco a soft tissue and pneuma Cystis Carinio a lung infection caused by a what Are the symptoms there May be none for Many years after expo sure to the when the disease starts producing the victim May at first experience weight swollen glands and Blue or Brown spots on the what Are the chances for survival James a director of the centers for disease says the survival rate among those with pneuma Cystis Carinio pneumonia has been close to while those with Kaposi Sarcoma have survived for As Long As three years and Are doing quite the mortality rate is about 50 what is the magnitude of the epidemic As of july cd said it had received reports of of which have been known to result in cd said the cases initially seemed to double Ever six but More recently seems to be doubling every 12 what is the status of the fight against aids after discovery of the tests were devel oped to screen blood major blood collectors including the red Cross began using the test to detect contaminated blood so it could be de researchers Are working on a vaccine and several treatments Are being though none have been shown especially treatment consists of a continuing Battle to rid patients of infections brought on by the Reagan administration announced this month that it plans to boost by 50 percent aids research but health officials told Congress the additional million is inadequate and would hardly begin to halt the the stars and stripes August 1985 the stars and stripes Page 15