About AIDS

There's lots of optimism about HIV treatment today, and rightly so. But the truth is that the present treatments eventually fail for about half of the poz people who use them. The primary cause: drug resistant HIV.

Although not yet ideal, the available medications are powerful and sophisticated, but HIV is a slippery critter to keep pinned down. Given the opportunity, the virus develops the ability to "get past" a patient's drug combination, i.e., become resistant. Then, the new viruses it produces will also be drug-resistant, and a given treatment will no longer be effective at controlling the level of HIV in the person's body. The result: advancing disease and possibly death. Thus, one of the keys to surviving HIV infection is to avoid drug resistance, insofar as it is possible.

On Wednesday, July 14, Dr. David Wright will present a talk on HIV resistance for AIDS Services of Austin's July Dining With the Doctor program. Dr. Wright is one of Austin's most experienced HIV physicians. In 1994, ASA honored him as Health Care Provider of the Year, and in 2002 he was named Family Physician of the Year by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Boehringer Ingelheim pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences, this free event will include dinner and valuable door prizes.

The evening will begin at 6pm at ASA, 7215 Cameron, just north of St. Johns. Simultaneous Spanish translation will be provided.