1 mins
Possible Dangers of AZT
HIV anti-body positive people who show no symptoms of AIDS and take AZT or RETROV are "courting serious danger" according to the noted AIDS specialist, Dr. Paul Volberding, of San Francisco's General Hospital AIDS Unit.
Dr. Volberding, who was recently interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle and New York Native, maintains there is no evidence that AZT can help infected people who show no symptoms of the disease, and that there is a danger of overwhelming toxicity from the drug, as well as the possibility that patients who use it while their immune systems are still functioning, before they really need it, can become resistant to the drug's helpful effects.
He said that "AZT is the most potent drug we are likely to see in the next number of months. All of the information on AZT is in treatment of people with AIDS and ARC. There is no evidence for or against the long-term toxicity in asymptomatics. We hope that the side-effects would be less severe. We hope that other drugs will prove to be active. I support pressure to get other drugs tested. There is an obvious need to develop better drugs".