AIDS Cocktail Changed HIV Treatment

In the 1990s, researchers found that AIDS deaths dropped not because of one miracle drug, but because several HIV drugs worked better when used together. This treatment, called the "AIDS cocktail" or combination antiretroviral therapy, attacked different stages of the virus’s life cycle at the same time. By combining drugs, doctors could reduce HIV to undetectable levels and stop the virus from multiplying fast enough to destroy the immune system. The discovery transformed HIV from a near-certain death sentence into a condition many people could manage long-term.

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