Aids and HIV have not been around for a very long time and yet, few diseases have ever had such a profound affect that this one has had. It has taken the lives of millions of people and has gained the attention of virtually every nation in the world. In addition, although it is often at the forefront of charity and fundraisers, there is still no cure. Doctors and researcher are still fighting to create a society without AIDS.

Despite the combined efforts of some of the leading doctors and scientists, the disease is still rampant and baffling. All over the globe teams of scientists are actually dedicating their time and resources to finding an HIV reservoirs control which they hope will eventually lead them to their ultimate goal, an HIV reservoirs cure. What is it about this particular disease that makes it so difficult to cure?

Doctors and researchers are finding that this disease has a number of qualities that make it particularly difficult to treat. One of these things is the diseases' ability to change and become resilient to the drugs being used to fight it. Another factor that makes the disease almost impossible to eradicate, is the fact that the disease establishes reservoirs. At this point, the goal of doctors is to provide patients with a variety of drugs that act as an HIV reservoirs control.

To date, one of the most common strategies to combat the disease is the use of a cocktail of drugs. Doctors have found that they have to attack the disease when it is not dormant, and they use various drugs that attack the disease in a number of different ways. Although they cannot cure the individual, doctors have found that they can keep the HIV from rapidly reproducing and damaging the immune system, which leaves the patient susceptible to many other conditions. The drug cocktail administered to patients permits the doctors to help neutralize the disease and contain it. By doing this, the infected person may, in many cases, lead an almost normal life span.

Researchers and doctors also know that if they only use one kind of drug, there is a very good chance that the HIV would become impervious to the drug, and it would no longer be effective. By using two drugs in combination it usually takes the disease longer to become resistant or in the worst-case scenario, from mutating.

When a patient is first given treatment they are often required to take a number of different drugs, one of these is usually what is known as a booster. This particular drug enhances or boosts the effectiveness of the other drugs and allows the patient to take the other drugs in a reduced quantity. The major advantage of this is that many of the drugs that HIV patients have to take have very serious side effects.

When doctors recognize that a patient is no longer responding to the first medicines that they were prescribed, they will often mix up the cocktail and resume treatment. When a patient undergoes treatment, they must understand that they will have to take special drugs for the rest of their life. If they stop taking the drugs, the disease will take over and will destroy their immune system.

What many people do not realize is that although the disease can be slowed, or controlled, it cannot be totally eradicated from the body. One of the main reasons for this is that the HIV is constantly changing and mutating, and it is different from person to person.

The other major reason is the reservoirs. HIV is able to hide from drugs and immune surveillance in different organs and regions of the body. In one person the latent form of the disease may be hiding mainly in the brain while in another individual it may be mainly in the gut. Doctors are not yet able to determine and identify all the places where the disease can hide. They are often not able to find the HIV when it is in a dormant state. This means that the disease may have hidden locations in a person lasting for decades.

The ability of the disease to hide and remain dormant makes some people wonder if the disease can ever truly be "cured". Some believe that, like the common cold, the disease will always be around, but that man will eventually be able to control and manage it. That, in due course, it will no longer be the life threatening disease that it is today.