Word: azt
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Many doctors have long suspected that the drug AZT could benefit the estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Americans who are infected with the AIDS virus but who have not yet developed full-blown symptoms. Last week a federal study showed that they were right. "This is the first clear proof that early intervention makes a difference," says Jerome Groopman, a physician with New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston. "It's exciting, and it's a finding of real importance...
...research, conducted by a division of the National Institutes of Health, shows that azidothymidine, or AZT, dramatically slows the multiplication of the AIDS virus in people with mild symptoms of the disease, such as diarrhea, thrush (a fungal infection of the mouth), or a chronic rash. Until now, AZT was thought to be effective only in patients with more advanced cases of AIDS. Currently, the drug is the only medication licensed by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for the disease...
...high cost of AZT -- $7,000 to $8,000 a year -- will make it difficult for any but the wealthy or the well insured to receive the drug. Some state Medicaid programs pay for AIDS treatment only when the disease is far advanced. People who take AZT to stall the onset of AIDS may not be covered. Burroughs Wellcome Co., which manufactures AZT, is now seeking FDA clearance to use the medication in pre-AIDS patients. If the Federal Government permits the number of consumers to go up, presumably the price will come down...
...gloom of AIDS is being eased somewhat by two drugs, AZT and pentamidine. In 1982 less than 30% of gay men diagnosed with AIDS in New York City lived more than 18 months. By 1987, after the introduction of AZT, survival at 18 months jumped to 62.9%. Says Michael Callen, a singer and songwriter who has had the disease for seven years: "We need to change our conception of AIDS. Not everyone dies of AIDS." Today about 70% of all AIDS deaths result from Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. But studies reported in Montreal confirm that pentamidine inhaled directly into the lungs...
Like all AIDS care, other drugs showing promise in the lab will be expensive. At typical dosages, AZT costs each patient about $7,000 a year, and pentamidine up to $1,200. Since more than 1 million people in the U.S. are believed to be infected with the virus, the national AIDS medical bill is expected to soar to between $4.5 billion and $8.5 billion a year by 1991. Moreover, the demand for outpatient services, nursing homes and housing for AIDS patients is expected to overwhelm health care systems in the hardest-hit cities...