Freddie Mercury?

I was having this conversation with friends, there are lots of People today with HIV-AIDS who with drugs can lead a normal life. Seeing as AIDS killed Freddie Mercury within four years of having the disease, how long was it after Freddie Mercury died that these drugs became available? I have always thought that if Freddie had been given these drugs in time would he still be with us?

yeah but who would want him

For the record, Freddie made a decision to stop taking the medications he did have. Might he have lived longer if he kept taking them? Maybe. But it was his choice to end it all. Report It

Yes I would think so, of course back then medical science was not as developed as today.

Merry Christmas

well, i think that the best HIV/AIDS drugs available now are fairly new and more effective compared to the disease management meds available prior to. i don't think that there really were available medications during Freddie's life as most people didn't even know what AIDS was until the 80s. But sure, if he had had access to them then, he'd have a much better chance of longevity, though I don't know if he would have made it another 20 years.

Hi,maybe he would have.yet people still die from aids only they do not mention it.

Freddie died 15 years ago. HIV/AIDS was still quite unknown then and drugs were still in the testing stages. Freddie also was ill for quite a while before he found out what was wrong.
The what ifs won't help, but at least sufferers are surviving longer these days.

Freddie Mercury died on November 24th 1991. While the drugs that started saving lives were around individually at the time, it wasn't until someone came up with the idea of taking them all at the same time in a sort of "cocktail" (and after clinical trials on these drug combinations had been conducted) that they were revealed to the public in September 1995, so Freddie was many years away from getting them.

I feel sorriest for Kenny Everett, who was a good friend of Freddie Mercury's. Kenny died of AIDS in April 1995, just 5 months before the drugs came along that could have saved his life.

They did have them. His aids just progressed so far that it was to late for him. It too him a long time to come out as a gay man, he new he was sick it was jut something he wanted to put behind him and live the rest of his life to its fullest. Those medications drive you down even though they may help you. His lover died from aids! It is a hard thing to get over and live with as well.

I loved freddie,mercury,he was an icon,i was just watching him the other day in concert and the tears just flowed,god rest him,and let his music live on.

Freddie Mercury didnt announce he had AIDS until he was nearly dead. Back then is when AIDS was a huge newfound problem and nobody knew much about it!! I was also wondering are there any lyrics in his songs that give you clues about his illness? or are they just coincedence?

AZT was first approved by the FDA to treat HIV in the US in 1987. Pentamidine for PCP (pneumonia) was approved the next year and there were at least 2 more approved antiretroviral drugs available in the next 2 years. So clearly these drugs were available - even if not readily available in the UK. Freddie was a huge star - he could've had them imported if necessary. He didn't die until 1991 - the drugs had been out for 4 years then. I think he was in denial a bit about everything - this is documented too - even though he was diagnosed since 1987 - he didn't release a statement until he knew for sure he was gonna die...Plus though there were the drugs, the combinations weren't perfected, side effects were a huge problem, cost, compliance with them and resistance to their effects. the same year of freedie's death magic johnson announced he was infected too - and he's still with us...so yeah, the bottom line is we'll never know if the drugs back then would've made a difference but i don't think freddie would've been very compliant with them even if - he seemed to be in denial about a lot..

I'm not sure of the exact year that Mr Mercury died. But I can tell you that most of the modern "miracle" HIV medications that are in frequent use today did not become available until 1996. This was the year that protease inhibitors became available. While there were drugs available prior to this time (AZT being one) they were nowhere near as effective as the drugs that are available today. These as well as other classes of anti-retroviral drugs are used in combination to stop HIV from reproducing successfully in the body. But keep in mind that these drugs despite how well they do work are only a treatment, and not a cure for HIV.

Freddie probably had the virus for a while before he was aware of it. He said he had been tested before, but he wasn't. The virus can go undetected for several months after contracting it. That is why one should have more than one test.

I don't know much about these drugs. I do know though that if there were available at the time, Freddie might have been still around. That's what his ex-girlfriend and life long friend Mary Austin, said at an interview.
A great shame. A great loss!

Well there is medicine now,
but from what I've learned in school it sounds
as if though most people die from AIDS eventually,
the ones who contract HIV, anyway.
So I don't know.
I wish that he was still around.
Freddie Mercury is my hero along with Brian May.
=]

RIP Freddie