AIDS

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

AIDS

Alternative Names:

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
Treatment:

There is no cure for AIDS at this time. However, several treatments are available that can delay the progression of disease for many years and improve the quality of life of those who have developed symptoms.

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Antiviral therapy suppresses the replication of the HIV virus in the body. A combination of several antiretroviral agents, termed Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART), has been highly effective in reducing the number of HIV particles in the blood stream, as measured by a blood test called the viral load. This can help the immune system bounce back for a while and improve T-cell counts.

Although this is not a cure for HIV, and people on HAART with suppressed levels of HIV can still transmit the virus to others through sex or sharing of needles, the treatment shows great promise.

There is good evidence that if the levels of HIV remain suppressed and the CD4 count remains high (above 200), that life and quality of life can be significantly prolonged and improved. However, HIV tends to become resistant in patients who do not take their medications on schedule every day. Also, certain strains of HIV mutate easily and may become resistant to HAART especially quickly.

Genetic tests are now available to determine whether a particular strain is resistant to a particular drug -- these may be useful in determining the best drug combination and adjusting it if it starts to fail.

When HIV becomes resistant to HAART, salvage therapy is required to try to suppress the resistant strain of HIV. Different combinations of medications are used to try to reduce viral load. This is often not successful, unfortunately, and the patient will usually develop AIDS and its complications.

Treatment with HAART is not without complications. HAART is a collection of different medications, each with its own side effect profile. Some common side effects are nausea, headache, weakness, malaise, and fat accumulation on the back and abdomen ("buffalo hump," lipodystrophy). When used long-term, these medications may increase the risk of heart attack by affecting fat metabolism.