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B-Scott wrote:One of the problems with that 1991 Laker team was of course there was no Kareem, Michael Cooper and Worthy had sprained his ankle in the WCF in the Portland series. Worthy still played solid the 1st couple of games, but you can clearly tell he was limping Game 1 at Chicago. His athletic ability was limited. And Magic was still great, but not the Magic of 1987.

Even with that, i thought they had chances to win Games 3 and 5. Especially Game 3 in which they were up by 15 in the 3rd quarter and had full control of the game. Had they won that game they go up 2-1 and it's a completely different series from a mental standpoint.

Back in 1992 i thought if the Lakers could get a PG who could take pressure off Magic having to bring the ball up the floor it would make it easier for him to go straight to the post. Without dribbling up he floor then posting up. That summer they acquired Sedalle Threat who was going to be the player to allow Magic to go to the post more without having to handle so much. Especially against a team like the Bulls and Pippen. They also drafted Anthony Peeler who brought Athletic ability to that 1992 team.

With the additions of Threat and Peeler and a healthy Worthy could that 1992 Laker team challenge the Bulls. Lakers were 44-38 that season without Magic and Sedalle had a very good season.

Bucs80 wrote:Getting HIV dosen't affect you until 10-15 years.

Especially for Magic Johnson who is an Athlete/NBA player and keeps his himself in tip-top condition.

"Becoming infected with HIV and becoming sick from AIDS are two different events. For most people, it takes many years from the time someone is infected with HIV to the time that they develop symptoms of AIDS. Some people get sick sooner and others stay well longer, especially with treatment. However, there is almost always a significant period of time after infection when an HIV-positive individual will have no symptoms at all -- often 10 years or more. "

There are four main stages in the progression of an HIV infected person developing AIDS. The period following the initial HIV infection is called the window period. It is called this because this period reflects the window of time between infection with the virus and when HIV antibodies develop in the bloodstream. An HIV test that looks for antibodies taken during this time can result in a false negative, though antibodies usually appear within six months of the initial infection.

Seroconversion refers to the period of time during which your body is busy producing HIV antibodies, trying to protect itself against the virus. This is the period after the initial infection when many people experience flu-like symptoms and swollen lymph nodes – this is a highly infectious stage.

After most people seroconvert, they usually experience a symptom-free period or asymptomatic period. This stage can last anywhere from 6 months to over 10 years, varying from person to person. Although the person with HIV is experiencing no symptoms, the virus is still replicating inside the body and weakening the immune system.

tsherkin wrote:Yeah, WTH?

Most people who contract HIV are dead before they reach 15 years post-infection, Bucs80.

That's one of the most staggeringly ignorant statements I have ever read on these forums, and that's saying something.

WASHINGTON, July 25: Cocktails of HIV drugs help patients live an average of 13 years longer — if they are lucky enough to get them, researchers reported.

A person who started taking the drugs at the age of 20 could, on average, expect to live another 43 years, said the researchers in the report published in the Lancet medical journal on Thursday.

They looked at several studies of patients living in the United States, Canada and several European countries who received drug combinations known as ‘highly active antiretroviral therapy or Haart’.

Robert Hogg of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, Canada and colleagues looked at 43,000 patients in 14 different studies.

[/b]“Between 1996-99 and 2003-05, there was a gain in life expectancy for those at age 20 years of about 13 years;[/b] similar gains in life expectancy in those aged 35 years were also seen,” they wrote.

“A person starting combination therapy can expect to live about 43 years at 20 years of age, about two-thirds as long as the general population in these countries.”

Average life expectancy for a 20-year-old without HIV in those countries would be 80, they said.

Patients treated later on in their infections and those infected via injected drug use did not live as long as those treated early, the researchers found.

The AIDS virus infects an estimated 33 million people globally and has killed about 25 million since the pandemic started in the 1980s.

Near-normal life

There is no vaccine and no cure but the drugs can suppress the virus and allow patients to lead a near-normal life.

Without treatment, the virus destroys the immune system, leaving patients susceptible to infections and cancer.

More than 20 drugs are now on the market and can be combined in various ways to control the virus, although it usually mutates eventually and patients must switch to different regimens to keep it under control.

Drug companies have come up with combination pills to make it easier to stay on therapy.

Nearly 3 million people in the developing world now get HIV drugs – about 70 per cent of those who need them, according to the United Nations. There are several pharmaceutical companies manufacturing these drugs.

HIV is passed through sex, blood, injected drug use and from mother to child at birth or through breast milk.

In a second study in Lancet, Robert Bollinger of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and an international team of colleagues found that giving the HIV drug nevirapine daily to breastfed infants up to six weeks of age could protect them.

—Reuters

Dentor wrote:We're getting to the point where AIDS is like a bad back, you always have it, and it acts up every once in a while.