(PhysOrg.com) -- During the last two decades, scientists and
doctors have developed a potent mix of medications that nearly
stops HIV in its tracks for most patients. This combination
antiretroviral therapy, or cART, can knock down levels of the
virus in the body to a thousandth or less of what it would
otherwise be. That means more years of a healthy life for many
HIV patients. But that success does not extend fully to the
brain, where an assault triggered by the virus continues despite
treatment. About half of patients infected by HIV experience
symptoms, such as difficulty thinking or concentrating, as a
result of the effects of the virus on the brain. So far, nearly
a dozen studies in people have failed to identify a drug useful
for treating the condition, which is known as HIV-associated
neurocognitive disorder. At the University of Rochester Medical
Center, neurologist Harris A. Handy Gelbard, M.D., Ph.D., leads
a team of scientists intent on developing the worlds first
treatment designed specifically t