HIV

Drugs that interfere with viral replication can slow down HIV disease. Early trials relied on the administration of one drug at a time. While patients' health improved and their T cell count rose, in time HIV mutated enough to render the drugs ineffective. Since 1995, however, doctors have found that rotating patients through three different drugs in very high doses significantly improves the health of AIDS patients. Known as "highly active antiretroviral therapy" (HAART), this therapeutic approach also reduces the amount of HIV circulating in the bloodstream to nearly undetectable levels. People infected with HIV who are treated by HAART are now living longer, healthier lives than ever before.