What do I do if I have HIV?

Thanks to new treatments, many people with HIV are living longer, healthier lives. It is very important to make sure you have a doctor who knows how to treat HIV. A healthcare professional or trained HIV counsellor can provide counselling and help you to find an appropriate doctor. Though it is not possible to comletely eliminate HIV from the body, the goal of treatment is to keep the virus from reproducing. This is important because many studies have shown that people with high levels of virus in the blood (the viral load) will progress more rapidly to AIDS. The goal is achieve a viral load test that shows undetectable levels of HIV (the virus never goes away, just goes to very low levels). When the virus is not reproducing quickly, it is less likely to kill CD4 cells. As the CD4 cell count increases, the immune system regains strength.When to start treatmentThe International AIDS Society–USA is an organization that specializes in keeping physicians informed about the latest research in HIV/AIDS. It recommends that patients start taking antiviral medications (anti-retrovirals) before the CD4 count falls below 350 cells per cubic milliliter of blood. The exact timing of treatment depends on many factors, and doctors and patients should discuss the risks and benefits before starting therapy

In addition, you can do the following to stay healthy

• Follow your doctor’s instructions.

• Keep your appointments.

• If you doctor prescribes medicine for you, take it exactly as prescribed.

• Get immunizations to prevent infections such as pneumonia and flu (after consultation with your physician).

• Eat healthy foods and use safe drinking water.Exercise regularly to stay strong and fit.

• Get enough sleep and rest.

 

What is HIV antiretroviral treatment?

This is the main type of treatment for HIV or AIDS. It is not a cure, but it can stop people from becoming ill for many years. The treatment consists of drugs that have to be taken every day for the rest of someone's life. To understand more about treatment you need to have some knowledge of HIV and AIDS.

HIV is a virus and like other viruses when it is in a cell in the body it produces new copies of itself. With these new copies, HIV can go and infect other previously healthy cells. It is easy for HIV to spread quickly through the billions of cells in the body if it is not stopped from reproducing itself. Antiretroviral treatment for HIV infection consists of drugs which work against HIV infection itself by slowing down the reproduction of HIV in the body. The drugs are often referred to as:antiretroviralsanti-HIV drugsor HIV antiviral drugs

 

What is Combination Therapy, what is HAART?

For antiretroviral treatment to be effective for a long time, it has been found that you need to take more than one antiretroviral drug at a time. This is what is known as combination therapy. The term Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) is used to describe a combination of three or more anti-HIV drugs.The general recommendation is to use a minimum of two antiretroviral drugs. If one drug is taken on its own, it has been found that, over a period of time, the drug stops working. HIV reacts to the drug in the person's body and changes, so that the virus is no longer affected by the drug. The virus then starts to reproduce itself the same way as before. This is known as the virus becoming resistant to the drug. If two or more antiretrovirals are taken together it vastly reduces the rate at which resistance develops.The Treatment of Opportunistic InfectionsWhen a person's immune system is damaged by HIV, then certain infections or cancers will develop which the body would normally "fight off" quite easily. These are known as Opportunistic Infections. Treatment for Opportunistic Infections is usually provided when antiretrovirals are not available, or when the antiretrovirals drugs are no longer effective as the person is resistant to them.