MH17: Dr. Gupta on HIV researchers and activists killed in the crash
World renowned HIV researcher Joep Lange and dozens of other passengers on Flight 17 were heading to an international AIDS conference in Australia. Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the impact that their deaths will have on the global health community.
Ryan Lewis on his mother's battle with HIV
Ryan Lewis is 26-years-old and known for making hit songs with Macklemore like "Thrift Shop" and "Can't Stop Us." But at the age of six, he learned that his mother was sick. Julie Lewis was infected with HIV through a blood transfusion during the birth of her first child. That was 30-years ago. As a tribute to her survival, Ryan and Julie Lewis are raising money to help bring quality health care to those in desperate need. Anderson spoke with Jthem about the 30/30 Project.
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Ryan Lewis talks about the 30/30 Project
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You might know Ryan Lewis for his work with Macklemore on hit songs like "Thrift Shop" and "Can't Hold Us." In addition to being an award winning musician, Lewis is busy working to bring quality and affordable healthcare to those who need it most.
It is an issue close to his heart. Ryan Lewis' mother Julie was infected with HIV through a blood transfusion while giving birth 30 years ago. The 30/30 Project is marking her three decades of survival by raising money to build health centers around the world that will provide care for at least the next 30 years.
Anderson Cooper spoke with Ryan and Julie Lewis about the impact HIV has had on their family.
NBA legend on HIV/AIDS, gay son
Earvin “Magic” Johnson described himself as "the blessing and the curse of HIV" in an interview with Anderson Cooper and also opened up about his gay son who came out publicly a few months ago.
"I'm the blessing because people were talking about it, they ran out and got tested at that time. Then I'm the curse because…people now say, oh well, HIV is nothing because if I get it I can be like Magic. He's doing good, and I can do the same thing he's doing or take the same medicine he's taking and I'll be okay," Johnson said. "But what they don't understand, in 22 years, millions of people have died."
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HIV helps young patient fight cancer
Doctors used a disabled form of HIV to reprogram a child's immune system to kill her cancer. Emma Whitehead had been battling leukemia for two years and has now been in remission for seven months thanks to the groundbreaking medical treatment.
"Different to using chemotherapy to achieve those goals, you take out some of the body's immune cells and you basically reprogram them. You put some genetic material into them that teaches the cells to attack that cancer," says Dr. Sanjay Gupta. "They're using a sort of deadened form of the HIV virus to transport that genetic material into cells."
The experimental procedure was developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, and they've tested it on 12 patients so far with varying results. The $20,000 price tag is cheaper than a bone marrow transplant.
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