What Does "AIDS" Mean?
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome:
- Acquired means you can get infected
with it.
- Immune Deficiency means a weakness
in the body's system that fights diseases.
- Syndrome means a group of health problems
that make up a disease.
AIDS is caused by a virus called HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency
Virus. If you get infected with HIV, your body will try to fight the
infection. It will make "antibodies," special molecules that are supposed
to fight HIV.
When you get a blood test for HIV, the test looks for
these antibodies. If you have them in your blood, it means
that you have HIV infection. People who have the HIV antibodies
are called "HIV-Positive."
Being HIV-positive, or having HIV disease, is not the
same as having AIDS. Many people are HIV-positive but don't
get sick for many years. As HIV disease continues, it slowly
wears down the immune system. Viruses, parasites, fungi
and bacteria that usually don't cause any problems can make you
very sick if your immune system is damaged. These are called "opportunistic
infections."
How Do You Get AIDS?
You don't actually "get" AIDS. You might get infected with HIV, and later
you might develop AIDS.
You can get infected with HIV from anyone who's infected,
even if they don't look sick, and even if they haven't tested HIV-positive
yet. The blood, vaginal fluid, semen, and breast
milk of people infected with HIV has enough of the virus
in it to infect other people.
Most people get the HIV virus by: having unprotected
sex with an infected person, sharing a needle
(shooting drugs) with someone who's infected or being born
when their mother is infected, or drinking the breast
milk of an infected woman.
Getting a transfusion of infected blood used to be a way people got AIDS, but now the blood supply is screened very carefully and the risk is extremely low.
There are no documented cases of HIV being transmitted by tears or saliva, but it is possible to be infected with HIV through oral sex or in rare cases through deep kissing, especially if you have open sores in your mouth or bleeding gums.
What Happens if I'm HIV Positive?
You might not know if you get infected by HIV. Some people get
fever, headache, sore muscles and joints, stomach ache, swollen lymph
glands, or a skin rash for one or two weeks. Most people think it's
the flu. Some people have no symptoms.
The virus will multiply in your body for a few weeks or
even months before your immune system responds. During
this time, you won't test positive for HIV, but you can infect other
people.
When your immune system responds, it starts to make antibodies.
When this happens, you will
test positive for HIV.
After the first flu-like symptoms, some people with HIV
stay healthy for ten years or longer.
But during this time, HIV is damaging your immune system.
One way to measure the damage to your immune system is
to count your CD4+ cells. These cells, also called "T-helper" cells,
are an important part of the immune system. Healthy people
have between 500 and 1,500 CD4+ cells in a milliliter of blood.
Without treatment, your CD4+ cell count will most likely go down. You might start having signs of HIV disease like fevers, night sweats, diarrhea, or swollen lymph nodes. If you have HIV disease, these problems will last more than a few days, and probably continue for several weeks.
How Do I Know if I Have AIDS?
HIV disease becomes AIDS when your immune system is seriously damaged.
If you have less than 200 CD4+ cells or if
your CD4+ percentage is less than 14%, you have AIDS.
If you get an opportunistic infection, you have AIDS. There is an
"official" list of opportunistic infections, put out by the Centers
for Disease Control (CDC). The most common ones are:
- PCP (Pneumocystis pneumonia), a lung infection
- KS (Kaposi's sarcoma), a skin cancer
- CMV (Cytomegalovirus), an infection that usually affects
the eyes
- Candida, a fungal infection that can cause
thrush (a white film in your mouth) or infections in your throat
or vagina
AIDS-related diseases also include serious weight loss, brain tumors,
and other health problems. Without treatment, these opportunistic
infections can be fatal.
AIDS is different in every infected person. Some people die soon after getting infected, while others live fairly normal lives for many years, even after they "officially" have AIDS. A few HIV-positive people stay healthy for many years even without taking anti-HIV medications.
Is There a Cure for AIDS?
There is no cure for AIDS. There are drugs that can slow down
the HIV virus, and slow down the damage to your immune system. But
there is no way to get all the HIV out of your body.
There are other drugs that you can take to prevent or to treat
opportunistic infections (OIs). In most cases, these drugs work
very well. The newer, stronger anti-HIV drugs have also
helped reduce the rates of most OIs. A few OIs, however,
are still very difficult to treat.
Post exposure Prophylaxis is becoming increasingly common. This
involves taking large amounts of anti-viral medications if you think
that you might have been exposed to HIV. This must be commenced
within days of exposure. Check out our PEP information
page for more.
Take control now, and don't take the chance of contracting
HIV. You can conveniently buy
condoms online in the UK, Ireland and across Europe from A1Lovers.com,
free delivery on every order.
|
