Lived as HIV+ for 29 years!!!

IDK much about HIV and how long people have been living, but if this is face value, Magic must be shaken up, that is if he has not accepted death yet...

It's not like Alexis has a lot of money like Magic does to get the best meds either

I wondered about this also. There is a trans woman, Sabel Samone-Loreca, who was diagnosed in 1987, I think it was, and apparently she was homeless and getting Medicaid at the time, but she is still alive.

i have 2 friends who have had hiv about the same amount of time. one is almost 70 years old and still doing well. the other is close to 50 and also doing well, though he has had more ups & downs with it. there is also a man i'm aware of who is one of the first hiv cases on record in the u.s. who became hiv positive in the 1970's and he is still alive, in southern california. some people did indeed survive the first and second waves of hiv, though that would clearly not be most of them. today in 2016, if you become hiv positive, at least in the u.s., there is no reason why you have to die as a result of it, if you take the medications. from what i have heard, alexis arquette chose at some point to not continue doing so.

Larry Gaylord: "a billion people come in on a day off, and they don't flip out!"

I have a friend who's had it for about 5 years. It's surprisingly manageable. Obviously more so now than when Anthony Perkins was alive.

The OP was speaking about how people who are poor are able to afford treatments. I wondered that too. If they don't have money and private insurance, I assume state Medicaid pays for it. One of the things, however, is where I live you have to be disabled for at least a year to qualify for Medicaid. I would think by that point they would have full-blown AIDS if they had to wait a year.

It all depends on health insurance. My friend is poor. In fact, he's homeless. Money helps, but it also depends on health insurance. Because my friend is young, and he's been homeless and on his own since he was 13, he's got incredible health insurance. His HIV pills cost about $1500 a bottle. They were, at the time, new and he was a test patient. I haven't spoken to him in quite a few years, but last I knew, his HIV was stable.

It's not only medical treatments, but also what your immune system is like. I don't believe AIDS and HIV themselves kill people, it's the weakened immune systems and susceptibility/vulnerability from compromised immune systems, and resulting illnesses that end up killing them. The flu can be deadly for someone with HIV or AIDS.

Alexis may not have had much financially but his family has members that are financially very well off. The siblings would have been financially able to afford the meds without issue, even if they are not the wealthiest in the industry.

HIV is a virus that primarily attacks cells of the immune system. AIDS is a syndrome defined by various opportunistic infections or certain low blood markers that result from having an immune system weakened by HIV.

If you are infected with the virus and are either unlucky or manage it poorly, you can develop AIDS. It is, however, possible to be HIV+ and never have AIDS.

Magic Johnson as compared to Freddie Mercury might not be a fair comparison. Johnson, who was an athlete may have been in better health and/or took better care of his health. Just like with any disease genetics, overall health, where you live, lifestyle choice (drugs, alcohol, smoking) can all have an effect on health issues.

Johnson and Mercury surely did not live parallel lives. How long was one infected before starting treatment as compared to the other? Did they take the same meds, remember when they were diagnosed it was still in the toddler years of the disease and different doctors may have preferred different methods of treatment.

I am not certain what you mean by "confidentially cured." Magic Johnson is HIV+, he might have low to undetectable levels but he is still HIV+.