

What does the graphical representation of y = a x, look like? Virologists and mathematicians have collaborated to describe viral dynamics and calculate the half life of virus in the blood stream in the presence and absence of various drugs.

If you plot duration of treatment on the x-axis and viral load on the y-axis, you can study how the amount of virus in the bloodstream diminishes over time.īy inspecting this graph, it appears that the overall amount of virus in the blood stream exhibits approximate exponential decay during drug treatment. The following hypothetical data models the typical course of infection for a patient taking a regimen of antiviral drugs for one year. Upon treatment, the amount of virus in the bloodstream of infected patients falls rapidly then plateaus to levels that are difficult to detect with standard laboratory techniques. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can now be controlled using a combination of powerful antiviral drugs. If we graph this data with age on the x-axis and cancer incidence per 100,000 people on the y-axis, you can see that cancer incidence appears to increase exponentially until age 75. Notice that the incidence of cancer nearly doubles every ten years between the ages of 20 and 75. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute 2004. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999-2001 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report Version.
