I just watched the most amazing video where a very sick little 6-year-old girl, referred to only as Emma, undergoes an experimental treatment to cure her leukemia. Now in my lifetime there have been two diseases that just the mention of send chills up my spine: cancer and HIV. Never in a million years would it have occurred to me that one could be used to treat the other, but that is exactly what was done in the case of Emma. She was expected to die and had no other alternative when she received a treatment that took her T cells and infected them with an altered form of HIV in order to cure her cancer. It sounds absolutely nuts doesn't it?
Read more ¿Qué más?: 5 Ways to lower your breast cancer risk right NOW
I'm not a scientist so I certainly can't tell you how it was done, but somehow the modified HIV was rendered incapable of causing the horrors we associate with it, but still capable of attacking and destroying tumor cells. Emma was given this treatment and did not react well to it at first, but then just when it looked like she wasn't going to make it something miraculous happened. You have to watch the video to see and believe it.
Now, I realize that this treatment is still extremely experimental and has not proven to be successful for everyone and is a long way away from being available to the general public, but I find it beyond exciting that the possibility of a cure for cancer is out there.
I'm really impressed by the minds and dedication of those who spend their lives trying to discover cures for our most dreaded diseases. For now, I'm happy that at least one little girl has been helped.
Image via YouTube
