Mr. Taekama |
[The Use of AZT as Medication for Patients with HIV/AIDS | Observing and researching the ethical and social views on the controversial issue of using AZT as a medication for the patients that have HIV and/or AIDS |
History of AZT as a treatment for HIV * AZT was first discovered (first synthesized) by Jerome P. Horwitz, Who works for the Michigan Cancer Foundation in Detroit. * AZT was discovered in the early 1960’s when the ‘war on cancer’ first began. Doctors would just pick random drugs off the shelves to see if they would work, and eliminate the cancer cells. * AZT was approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) as a drug to help combat AIDS and HIV in 1987. * Right after the drug was releases, deaths resulting from AIDS skyrocketed because the dosage that was being given to the patients was believed to be too high. Thus the dosage was changed from 1200mg to 300mg. * The great debate about AZT’s being effective or not began in 1993, with some saying that AZT saves the lives of HIV patients and others saying that it’s a useless drug. * In 1996 it was discovered that when a pregnant mother that has HIV takes AZT, it reduces the chances of the HIV being transmitted from the mother to child. * In the Late 1990’s Scientists Discovered that AZT is most affective when it is given with another antiretroviral drug. This kind of therapy is known as HAART therapy. * Today since there are many opposing views, regarding AZT. Many people just prefer to not to take the drug rather than deal with the drug’s possible side effects.
How AZT Works as a Treatment for HIV AZT is a drug that is used to slow the development of AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) in people who are infected by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). AZT is a part of a group of drugs called antiretrovirals that were originally being used as treatment for cancer in the 1960’s. Aids is a disease that