Just because your CD4 is over 500 does NOT mean you're healthy!

[Guest guest]

I would argue that a healthy immune system is NOT just a CD4 count

that is over 500. I guarantee you that I'm healthier with a CD4

count under 200 than someone that is 200lbs. overweight

with a CD4 count over 500. Someone that is 200lbs. overweight is

NOT healthy.

I would also argue that CD4 cells are not the only white blood cells

that contribute to a healthy immune system.

Does HIV usually cause the White Blood Cell count to

be below normal? What about the Lymphocytes and

Neutrophils percentage? In fact, Neutrophils are the

first immune cells to arrive at a site of infection,

through a process known as chemotaxis. With a

half-life of four to ten hours when not activated and

immediate death upon ingesting a pathogen, they are

plentiful and responsible for the bulk of an immune

response.

It would seem that since Lymphocytes and Neutrophils

are a type of white blood cell they would be very

important in one's health and ability to fight

disease. If these are in fact in normal ranges and if

the White Blood Cell count is in normal range, how

much do these things trump the CD4 cell count? Also, I

didn't mention the other white blood cells, Monocyte,

Eosinophil, Basophil.

J.T.

[Guest guest]

I have not been on meds since December 2004 and have been undetectable with cd4 between 700-900. I am in a study at the NIH and they found by doing an HLA typing that I have a natural protein on my white blood cells that helps my body fight the HIV. There is no explanation as to why I was very ill prior to December 2004 and on/off meds for about 2 years. All I know is I have never felt better and I have gained 20 pounds since being off meds as well.JimSan DiegoDon Bliss <donaldcbliss@...> wrote: jason -

: i replied to your email but it came back as undeliverable, so i am responding here: hmmm ... one friend who is long-distance and not good about keeping in touch was on a treatment interruption, but by now he is probably back on meds. he was doing fine the lasti talked with him, though. all the rest of my friends who are hiv+ (at least the ones who are out to me about it) are on meds. i have been on meds for several years. didn't you get my email in which i talked all about that? i am doing well, with few side effects, and i believe part of the reason is because i take supplements. <malebeyo > wrote: How are your friends doing that are not on meds?Are you on meds yet and how are you doing? Just because your CD4 is over 500 does NOT mean you're healthy! i completely agree. there are lots of factors that go into determining a person's overall state of health. but you are in a dangerous place with your percentage so low (11%). any well-informed person will tell you that the percentage is just as important, if not more important, than overall cd4's. i have known people who had 600 - 800 cd4's and were a lot sicker - by their own measurements - than

other friends with less than 100. stay well! don "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." - Wilde www.donaldcbliss.com Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Search. "Be kind, for

everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Plato www.donaldcbliss.com

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