As the 11th International AIDS Conference convenes in Vancouver, British Columbia, scientists report that they now understand better how HIV causes AIDS. Recently approved drug therapies, combining old anti-viral drugs and the new protease (pro-TEE-ase) inhibitors, have been successful in reducing the amount of virus in the blood. The health of people with the AIDS virus has improved -- they gain weight, some skin rashes disappear and their energy returns. A source says the new treatments may not be a cure...but they're the next best thing. NPR's Joe Neel reports.
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