6 ms·

Unless you have a horrible incurable disease, you have absolutely no right to comment like this. You have no idea what it is like to live like that. People with

by feelix 9y ago

Unless you have a horrible incurable disease, you have absolutely no right to comment like this. You have no idea what it is like to live like that. People with such diseases are often on the verge of suicide anyway - you are unlikely to be able to put yourself in their position sufficiently to be able to judge their choices.

daveFNbuck 9y ago
People who use standard treatment options for HIV lead normal lives. This is a kid throwing a tantrum because he doesn't want to eat his vegetables. Maybe I can't really understand why he's throwing his tantrum, but I can certainly judge it. What he did wasn't smart, regardless of his emotional state.
- feelix 9y ago
  You can't fairly compare a deadly chronic disease to "not wanting to eat his vegetables'. By calling it "his emotional state" you are, again, disregarding the disease and the effects of it on many aspects of his life. It's not his "emotional state" as you call it, it's a chronic deadly and debilitating disease which is afflicting him. You are being dismissive and disregarding something which you appear to know nothing about. See my comment above. You have no right to pass judgement.
  - daveFNbuck 9y ago
    It is not a deadly disease if he follows the standard course of treatment. I'm not comparing HIV to not eating vegetables. I'm comparing his refusal to take antiretroviral drugs to not wanting to eat his vegetables. Do we have to throw all knowledge out the window and say anything someone with a harsh life does is smart? What about having HIV makes it a good idea to eschew effective treatment for 2 years and then inject untested bullshit?
  - imtringued 9y ago
    Sometimes the best advice appears to be dismissive and disregarding and has no right to pass judgement. The people here recommending non experimental HIV treatment aren't saying so to hurt him. They are saying it because they don't want him to hurt himself needlessly.
jdietrich 9y ago
Someone with HIV who takes their antiretroviral therapy as prescribed has the same life expectancy as someone who doesn't have the virus. Most people only need to take one pill a day. The side-effect profile is extremely good - some people get diarrhoea or nausea during the early stages of treatment, but most people experience no significant long-term side-effects. The vast majority of people will have an undetectable viral load within a few months of starting treatment, meaning that they have effectively no chance of passing on the infection. As chronic diseases go, HIV really isn't particularly unpleasant. The majority of people aged over 60 are suffering from something far worse - hypertension, arthritis, diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, COPD etc. The gentleman mentioned in the article is behaving in an incredibly reckless fashion. He has rejected a safe and effective treatment in favour of something completely untested, for no obvious benefit. He is clearly suffering, but I think his problems are primarily psychological rather than biomedical.
- feelix 9y ago
  What you think you know about the experience of having a disease like HIV from passive conjecturing is nowhere what it is like actually having it, including "biomedical" symptoms. I'm not here to try to educate you on all of the nuances of it in a comment, but suffice to say that you would not be so cavalier if you found yourself infected with HIV.

by feelix 9y ago

daveFNbuck 9y ago

People who use standard treatment options for HIV lead normal lives. This is a kid throwing a tantrum because he doesn't want to eat his vegetables. Maybe I can't really understand why he's throwing his tantrum, but I can certainly judge it. What he did wasn't smart, regardless of his emotional state.

feelix 9y ago
You can't fairly compare a deadly chronic disease to "not wanting to eat his vegetables'. By calling it "his emotional state" you are, again, disregarding the disease and the effects of it on many aspects of his life. It's not his "emotional state" as you call it, it's a chronic deadly and debilitating disease which is afflicting him. You are being dismissive and disregarding something which you appear to know nothing about. See my comment above. You have no right to pass judgement.
- daveFNbuck 9y ago
  It is not a deadly disease if he follows the standard course of treatment. I'm not comparing HIV to not eating vegetables. I'm comparing his refusal to take antiretroviral drugs to not wanting to eat his vegetables. Do we have to throw all knowledge out the window and say anything someone with a harsh life does is smart? What about having HIV makes it a good idea to eschew effective treatment for 2 years and then inject untested bullshit?
- imtringued 9y ago
  Sometimes the best advice appears to be dismissive and disregarding and has no right to pass judgement. The people here recommending non experimental HIV treatment aren't saying so to hurt him. They are saying it because they don't want him to hurt himself needlessly.

jdietrich 9y ago

Someone with HIV who takes their antiretroviral therapy as prescribed has the same life expectancy as someone who doesn't have the virus. Most people only need to take one pill a day. The side-effect profile is extremely good - some people get diarrhoea or nausea during the early stages of treatment, but most people experience no significant long-term side-effects. The vast majority of people will have an undetectable viral load within a few months of starting treatment, meaning that they have effectively no chance of passing on the infection. As chronic diseases go, HIV really isn't particularly unpleasant. The majority of people aged over 60 are suffering from something far worse - hypertension, arthritis, diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, COPD etc. The gentleman mentioned in the article is behaving in an incredibly reckless fashion. He has rejected a safe and effective treatment in favour of something completely untested, for no obvious benefit. He is clearly suffering, but I think his problems are primarily psychological rather than biomedical.

feelix 9y ago
What you think you know about the experience of having a disease like HIV from passive conjecturing is nowhere what it is like actually having it, including "biomedical" symptoms. I'm not here to try to educate you on all of the nuances of it in a comment, but suffice to say that you would not be so cavalier if you found yourself infected with HIV.