There are so many factors that it's hard to know why Magic Johnson hasn't gotten sick yet but one possibility is genetics. Normal people have two
copies of a gene that codes for a surface protein that AIDS uses to gain entry into a cell. People lacking both copies of this gene can not be
infected with AIDS. People lacking one copy can be infected but the disease progresses much more slowly typically taking several decades to become
full-blown AIDS. Magic Johnson might just be one of these people who happens to possess only one copy of this gene.
There are a number of people who have the virus apparently entirely removed from their body through the use of anti-viral cocktails; and with some of
those people if they discontinue the antivirals the virus does not return indicating that the virus has truly been removed from their system.
However, the shared surface protein coded in AIDS and CD4 cells doesn't just serve to mask the virus from the hosts immune system, it elicits an
immune response against the bodies own CD4 cells. That auto-immune response can cause a patient to go on to develop full-blown AIDS even in the
complete absence of any detectable virus. A handful of these patients have been treated to stop the auto-immune response, then given a bone marrow
transplant, and recovered.
The way the virus destroys the CD4 count is to keep causing them to be reproduced and killed until the stem cells they come from reach their Hayflick
limit and fail to reproduce further. Although these stem cells do contain some telomerese, it is not sufficient to replace shortened telomeres as
fast as the cells are caused to divide in an AIDS patient so the Hayflick limit is eventually reached.
The bone marrow transplant addressed this by providing a fresh set of stem cells with normal length telomeres and reproductive capacity after the
auto-immune issues was addresses.
To the best of my knowledge this has been done on seven patients and they have all recovered, but that was some time ago that I read about this.
I sure wouldn't recommend that anyone counts on the luck that a very small percentage of people have, either with exceptional response to antivirals
or exceptional genetics. Those people are the rare exception.
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 Originally posted by HondaCivic
Dont you find it interesting how Magic Johnson isnt dead yet after having HIV for over 18 years?? I mean i hear of people dying in less than a couple
years and yet this man has done almost the impossible and lived for over 18 years.. and this guy is STILL NORMAL and functioning the same..
has the government found the cure for aids??? are they hiding it from us?? man i find this very confusing....
whats your insight on this? 
I think the simple answer is that maybe he never had it. People, especially the famous, claim things in the press all the time. That doesn't mean
they're telling the truth.
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Actually, as long as you have the money (As mr. Johnson does), you can expect to live an almost normal life.
Also, HIV isn't expected to shorten your life period by a significant amount today, due to the anti-viral cocktails you can get.
Of course, this should'nt let people act carelessly when it comes to diseases anyway.
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