PD-1 and Me!

CBC's article on HIV advancement has piqued my interest in its other applications.

First of all, the article is simplified, but I'm going to run under the premise that it can be taken literally and logically. Second, if you're too lazy to read the really short article: Harvard, the US National Institute of Health and the University of Montreal (I had no idea they had such a facility!) have all found that a protein called PD-1 is over-produced in HIV patients. The more PD-1 in the system, the less active the white T cells are (those are essentially your immune system).

That aside, now to get to the "me" aspect. For absolutely anyone who knows anything about my health record and nothing about my sexual record, I probably have the HIV (I don't). When I get knocked down, I go down hard. Frighteningly so (remember the CDC incident?). I don't just get sick, I go to the hospital (although I loathe almost all doctors and hospitals; no offense to all the MDs in the house!). The idea of a PD-1 suppressant sounds as delicious as candy. If I could get my T cells to do their job more often I'd have half as many medical mysteries as I do now (probably wouldn't assist in the cerebral or hormonal inflictions, though). I think my T cells are just slow swimmers, so to speak. They are the couch potatoes of my system.

If PD-1 is the cause of lazy immune systems, I want mine suppressed.