On Saturday there was a programme on german TV called "50 years of ROck - Love Songs" which included a live appearance by Holly Johnson singing "The Power of Love". Didn't expect him to look this healthy - was looking better than in his prime. And think of Magic Johnson and Jim Hutton - they live with HIV for at least 13-14 years without showing any sign of weight loss etc . I remember seeing an interview with Holly a few months after his infection was made public and he was interviewed standing in the shadow hardly being seen and very frail - seems the medication treatment has made a huge step ahead - on the other hand why didn't Freddie last that long - if you assume he was infected in his New York days (1981/1982) it was only 7-8 years when his illness broke out - sad to see that if he would have lasted a year or so longer there would be new medicals around keeping him alive and we might still have him around - long live the above mentioned!
Regards
Martin
Magic Johnson and Jim Hutton obviously don't have full-blown AIDS, and they're terribly lucky. Look at Joe Fannelli and Paul Prenter, they were part of Freddie's inner circle (amongst others) and they're gone too.
I hope a cure is found for this dreadful disease soon. It's taken too many lives.
I wish Freddie were still around...
Here in my town of Worcester, Massachusetts the University of Massachusetts has started trial tests for an AIDS vaccine.
One day it is hoped that these trials will lead to not only a viable treatment that will make HIV and AIDS a treatable disease (much like Diabetes.)
With all the research that is being done not only in my hometown but around the world, there is new hope that one day a cure will be found!
Give generously in Freddie's name.
Kriz
yea, it's a shame, also the boxer tommy morrison is living a nice life with hiv, it's wierd with all that money he still couldn't hold it off like magic and some others, it was just meant to be.
i know all about this....we were told the other day... im impressing myself, so quiet.
just because a person has HIV, it doesnt mean they have AIDs. A person is considered to have AIDs when they have less then 250 (i think) T-cells in their blood. (The average healthy person has 400 and over.) This means that the body cannot protect itself, and the person immune system starts failing (i sound smart... thats a first)
The average amount of time for a person to start showing symptoms from HIV (in other words, AIDs starts and the immune system is weak) is 10 years from when the person was first infected with HIV. Some people are affected sooner then others (i cant remember the term, i should because it was so simple, but i dont), some are affected slower and some people will never get AIDs (theres a 99.5% chance or something). So thats most of the things i know about AIDs. There was probably more questions that you wanted to know, but i didnt read the whole thing, im too lazy.
cheers!
oh and MArtin (i read the rest of your piece) i dont think Freddie was infected with HIV in 1981/82..he might of been, but he wouldnt have known. AIDs was really "discovered" until 1984, and thats when a test was made and everything. He might of been infected, but he wouldnt have known.
Don't forget that nowadays there are medicines that slow down AIDS/HIV. Those medicines can almost let AIDS disappear from your body, but we are still waiting for the real cure.
I once came across a site saying that Freddie's medication actually made his AIDS worse and killed most living blood cells in his body, don't know whether to believe or not though.
It's an interesting question.
It's certainly good news for the characters you mention and I wich them well.
Regarding Freddie, I fear that even if he had held on for another year the damage already done to the rest of his body probably couldn't have been reversed...