There has been a story recently in the news that you perhaps overlooked because it wasn’t made a big deal of. There were some very important findings lately, though, that everyone should hear about. There were two studies done recently on the drug Truvada, and antiviral. This drug was given to several hundred individuals that were at a high risk for getting an HIV infection. This drug proved to be 100% effective in HIV prevention in this study! It also was able to reduce the infection by a whopping 86% in other individuals.
Now, let’s take a step back for a minute and take this information in. Twenty to thirty years ago, can you remember where HIV treatments were then? This news is a huge step forward in the fight against HIV!
I am sure that everyone understands that this pill is no magic bullet. Not only that, but there are quite a few known side effects from this drug such as dizziness, headache, nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, depression, trouble sleeping, and joint pain. Overall, though, these findings are very promising since they are able to bring us a little closer to not just controlling this horrible disease, but to eventually being able to eradicate it all around the world.
Now, you may be wondering why we are talking about HIV on a page about animal welfare. Well, the answer is a pretty simple one. Like many other medications, this one would not be available if it weren’t for research that was animal based. Oftentimes this fact is glossed over, but it is a vital piece of information when new breakthroughs happen. With that piece of knowledge, while we celebrate this drug and all of the other advance in medicine, it is also important to know and appreciate the positive role that the animal based research played, and continues to play, in our lives to improve the health of both humans and animals.