If leukemia causes white blood cells to over reproduce and aids causes them to die why don't they cure each

other?

If only it was that simple!!!;

Hmm...pardon me for being a bit of a sore loser, but I'm *still* trying to figure out how a dumb *ONE LINER* gets three times as many votes as other more thought-out (and higher rated!) answers....the mind boggles at how Cliques and Popularity ruin Yahoo Answers. Report It

Wow, what a great question. There are lots of different types of leukemia, just as there are different types of white blood cells (monocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils etc.). AIDS affects lymphocytes primarily, and a specific subgroup of lymphocytes at that.

A) Because Leukemia is a class of cancers, so the white blood cells that are over-produced are in fact cancerous and unhealthy...they don't actually work right with the rest of the human body, because, well duh, they are *cancer cells*. And...

B) an HIV/AIDS infection is caused by a specific class of virus that infects a very *narrow* set of immune cells, and basically, as a retrovirus what it does is, it *hacks* the DNA of these immune cells so that they no longer work right with the rest of the human body. Instead of doing their normal job, these hacked immune cells instead act as tiny factories that (1) produce more viruses, and (2) provide cover and countermeasures for the viruses so that the rest of the non-infected immune system doesn't effectively work against the virus.

In short, really plain English: Two wrongs don't make a right. What you propose wouldn't create a fixed immune system, it would instead create an immune system that is merely *broken* two different ways. It's kind of like asking the question: "I sprained my ankle and have a Limp now....would getting my other leg broken *fix the Limp*?" Which is to say, it *might*, but not in a way that lets you still *walk*.

Likewise, giving someone with AIDS, leukemia, might "fix them", but not in a way that lets them still LIVE.

Hope this helps, even if it is really obvious and total overkill here. ^_^ Somebody has to do it.....

We'd like to make that experiment. Would you like to volunteer???

Leukemia is a type of cancer. Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All cancers begin in cells, which make up blood and other tissues. Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. Leukemia is cancer that begins in blood cells. Blood cells form in the bone marrow. Bone marrow is the soft material in the center of most bones. Immature blood cells are called stem cells and blasts. Most blood cells mature in the bone marrow and then move into the blood vessels. Blood that flows through the blood vessels and heart is called the peripheral blood. The bone marrow makes different types of blood cells. Each type has a special function. White blood cells help fight infection. Red blood cells carry oxygen to tissues throughout the body.Platelets help form blood clots that control bleeding. In people with leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells. The abnormal cells are leukemia cells. At first, leukemia cells function almost normally. In time, they may crowd out normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This makes it hard for blood to do its work.
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome: 鈥淎cquired鈥?means you can get infected with it; 鈥淚mmune Deficiency" means a weakness in the body's system that fight diseases. 鈥淪yndrome鈥?means a group of health problems that make up a disease. AIDS is caused by a virus called HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. If you get infected with HIV, your body will try to fight the infection. It will make "antibodies," special molecules to fight HIV. HIV is a virus that needs our genetic material to make more copies of itself...in other words to replicate. The virus likes one particular cell in our immune system called a CD4 cell or t-cell. When it uses that cell's genetic material it damages the T-cell to the point where it can no longer do its job in our immune system. The more of these t-cells that are damaged, the weaker your immune system becomes. Eventually, your immune system will become so weak that it will not be able to protect you from other illnesses and infections, thus you become sick. Simply put, HIV doesn't make you sick. It weakens your immune system, allowing other illnesses and infections to make you sick.
So, you see, by this brief description you will understand why they are not able to "cure" each other!
Hope this is of interest
matador 89

I have thought about that myself, but it wouldn't work because you would still be injecting that person with a disease, and even if it did help cure that one disease, you would still have to worry about how to cure them from the other one.

This idea is similar to the basis for much of the current stem cell research and genetic engineering. Researchers are trying to isolate genes that cause specific symptoms so that cells or tissues can be grown to produce desired medical effects. Potential treatments are a long way in the future, but the idea is similar to what you are thinking.