Category: HIV & AIDS

What is AIDS?

• AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and it is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS symptoms may not show for years after a person is infected with HIV, but once it does, the immune system of the body is destroyed. This means that even a mild cold or flu can kill someone with AIDS because the body cannot fight back.

How HIV is Spread

• HIV cannot be caught like a cold. The virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk. Tears and saliva cannot transmit HIV since the virus is at too low of a concentration. Common sources of HIV spread include sexual contact with those infected and sharing needles. A baby can acquire the virus from an infected mother during birth or from breast-feeding.

The HIV Virus Outside of the Body

• Viruses are delicate and without a host, they will quickly die. HIV can only last for a few hours at the most outside of a host. Laboratory studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that even super-concentrated amounts of HIV will die within hours on a surface.

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Introduction

• According to the international AIDS charity AVERT, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) kills an estimated 25 million people throughout the world every year. This devastating disease kills its host by attacking the immune system. Once HIV, the AIDS virus, compromises the immune system, the body has no defense system against other deadly diseases. The amount of time that an individual lives with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) varies depending on a host of factors.

Medical Treatment

• One major circumstance that affects the lifespan of someone with AIDS is whether or not he receives antiretroviral treatment. Antiretroviral medications don’t kill HIV, but they do slow down its progress. Many patients take more than one antiretroviral at a time, a drug regimen called combination therapy. Those who respond well to treatment can expect to live many years longer than people with HIV who receive no treatment. Today, many people in treatment around the world have lived as long as two decades since their diagnosis. Unfortunately, in less privileged nations, those unable to afford treatment may survive only a few months or less.

Opportunistic Infections

• Another factor that can influence how long a patient lives with AIDS is the type of infections that he contracts. Once HIV infection progresses to AIDS, the body no longer has enough immune cells to successfully fight off other infectious agents that invade the body. These infections, called opportunistic infections, can include taxoplasmosis, pneumonia, tuberculosis as well as many others. These opportunistic infections, not HIV itself, can eventually kill an AIDS patient. How many of these infections an AIDS patient succumbs to, and the success of treating these diseases affect how long the patient will live.

Age

• Age can also factor into the life expectancy of a person with AIDS. As the body ages, it naturally becomes weaker and more fragile. A patient in his late 20s has a much better chance of surviving opportunistic infections than a patient in his late 60s. This is because the body contracts the disease in a much younger, healthier state.

Lifestyle

• Lifestyle may play a role in how long a person will survive with AIDS. Exercise, eating a healthy diet and avoiding substances such as alcohol and tobacco help keep the body healthy. The healthier a body remains, the better advantage it will have when fighting off opportunistic infections.

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Introduction

• According to the international AIDS charity Avert, approximately 25 million people throughout the world have died from AIDS since 1981. Another 2.7 million people continue to get infected with the HIV virus (the virus that causes AIDS) each year. After infection, the amount of time it takes to progress to full blown AIDS varies depending on the individual and the methods of treatment. AIDS progression can usually be tracked through stages.

Stage I: Primary Infection

• The first stage of progression is primary infection. This is the time period in which the HIV virus has just entered the bloodstream, makes its home in the lymph nodes, and is beginning to hijack the cells to reproduce itself. This phase lasts from initial infection until the first antibodies are produced. From this point all the way through an AIDS diagnosis, the infected person is highly contagious through blood or sexual fluids. A person usually only stays in this stage for one or two weeks.

Stage II: Seroconversion

• Seroconversion is the stage in which the immune system cells start developing specialized proteins called antibodies to help fight the HIV infection. This stage can take anywhere from three to six months of which the first three months is commonly referred to as the “window period”. This is the time in which antibodies are being produced, but they may not be in a high enough number for an HIV antibody test to pick them up. This can result in a false negative. This is why many medical professionals recommend being retested three months after your first test to make sure that there were enough antibodies present to give an accurate result.

Stage III: Asymptomatic Stage

• The asymptomatic stage occurs from six months after infection as long as ten or more years, or as short as a few months, depending on treatment and how active the virus is. During this time there are no symptoms of sickness, and the only way to tell if the person is HIV positive is through testing. The lymph nodes may also be slightly enlarged. Although no symptoms are present, the virus is still quite active in replicating and destroying the immune system. CD4 testing is recommended, as well as occasional viral load testing to monitor the progress of the disease.

Stage IV: Symptomatic Stage

• At the symptomatic stage, the immune system has been compromised enough for the first symptoms of AIDS to start showing through. These include mouth sores, rashes, night sweats, and weight loss. This stage occurs anywhere from five to seven years after initial infection, but can take less or more time depending on the individual and treatment methods.

Stage V: Late Stage AIDS

• According to the Center for Disease Control, late stage AIDS usually occurs once the CD4 cell count drops below 200/mm3, or when an opportunistic infection such as pneumonia or toxoplasmosis takes hold of the body. This stage can last anywhere from a few months to many years before death will eventually claim the life of the patient. This mostly depends on the course of treatment such as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), or by successfully treating the opportunistic infections that threaten the life of the AIDS patient. According to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, some AIDS patients have lived in this stage for as many as two decades.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 56,300 people in the United States were infected with the HIV/AIDS virus in 2006 (the most recent year for which data are available). Of those infected, an estimated 14,500 will die each year from the disease. Although there is no cure for HIV/AIDS, there are treatment options available to help slow the progression of the disease, as well as treat the symptoms that occur with an infection. Unfortunately, many people are unable to afford these treatments or are not tested and diagnosed in time to treat the disease.

One of the main consequences of leaving HIV/AIDS untreated is the rate in which the disease will progress from HIV to AIDS. It is possible to live for many years, even decades, with HIV without it progressing to AIDS by using specially developed medication. However, leaving the virus untreated gives it free reign to do more damage at an increased rate.

Cytomegalovirus is one of the most common diseases that occur once HIV has progressed to AIDS. Retrovirals used to treat HIV/AIDS often help prevent a cytomegalovirus infection. Unfortunately, without treatment, this virus can attack the retina, causing retinitis. Eventually, retinitis can cause complete blindness.

Tuberculosis (TB) can also occur if HIV/AIDS is left untreated. TB is a bacterial infection that can cause serious damage to the lungs and can even cause death. Tuberculosis can also leave an HIV/AIDS patient susceptible to meningitis.

Encephalitis, otherwise known as a brain infection, can also occur in patients who are not treating their HIV/AIDS infection. Most commonly caused by a parasite called toxoplasma gondii in AIDS patients, encephalitis can cause coma and eventually lead to death if not treated.

Not treating HIV/AIDS can lead to a host of other opportunistic infections. These include. but are not limited to. malaria, herpes, mycobacterium avium complex, thrush and pneumocystis pneumonia. HIV/AIDS treatment does not guarantee that a patient will not eventually become infected with one or more of these infections. However, treatment usually dramatically increases the chances of a patient’s survival and recovery from such infections.

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According to the International AIDS charity Avert, approximately 2.7 million people every year are infected with the HIV virus throughout the world. An additional 33 million people are estimated to already be living with the virus. This does not count those individuals whose HIV has already progressed to AIDS. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, which specifically targets the immune system. Once infected, the virus uses the structures of healthy cells in the body to replicate itself leaving the body vulnerable to a host of different diseases which can quickly become deadly.

Whenever a foreign substance (antigen) enters the body, the immune system activates white blood cells to create specialized proteins called antibodies. Each antibody is specific to the antigen that it was created to help fight off. When HIV enters the blood stream, whether through blood or sexual body fluids, the body reacts by creating and sending out HIV specific antibodies. These antibodies can be detected through an HIV specific blood, urine or saliva test.

Standard HIV tests cannot detect antibodies in the blood until anywhere from six to twelve weeks after infection. This is called the "window period." During this time period, it is not uncommon to get a false negative result due to there not being enough HIV antibodies in the blood stream yet to detect. If this is the case, another test called a P24 Antigen test can detect viral protein in the blood stream as soon as one week after exposure. Another options is an HIV RNA test that looks directly for the the genetic material of HIV, not the antibodies created to fight the virus.

Since HIV testing deals with such a large "window period," and P24 Antigen tests may not be easily available to everyone, it is always recommended to get tested a second time three or four months after your first test. This will ensure that your first test did not result in a false negative due to a lack of antibodies being present in the blood sample.

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Marinol is a trademarked brand name owned by Solvay Pharmaceuticals for the prescription drug dronabinol, which contains the main psychoactive substance in marijuana. The FDA has approved the drug for two indications: to reduce nausea and vomiting in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, and to increase the appetite in patients who have lost significant weight due to infection with HIV/AIDS. Obtaining Marinol legally requires a prescription after consulting with a doctor about either of the two conditions.

Things You’ll Need

• Doctor’s prescription

• Talk to a doctor about Marinol if you are receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer or have experienced significant weight loss and decreased appetite as a result of living with HIV/AIDS. Know that a physician will conduct a complete evaluation of your medical condition, including verification of the conditions for which Marinol may be prescribed.

• If you are undergoing chemotherapy, tell your doctor if you are experiencing extreme discomfort from nausea, vomiting and other issues associated with the treatment. Quality-of-life issues are considerations for the prescription of Marinol to ease suffering and will increase the likelihood of getting a prescription.

• Explain significant weight loss and low appetite to your doctor, who can conduct body-mass tests to determine if your weight loss is sufficient to warrant a powerful appetite stimulant such as Marinol. There is no specific weight loss that would automatically spur a decision to prescribe Marinol, as that is an issue unique to each patient, but receiving a prescription is more likely to occur if the physician perceives health risks associated with significant loss of weight. Marinol has been clinically shown to boost appetite for 24 hours after taking a dose.

• Take prescription Marinol as directed by your physician. The drug is taken orally in gelatin capsule form, in dosages of 2.5 mg, 5 mg, or 10 mg of dronabinol. Marinol can cause dependence with prolonged use.

• Use caution until you are accustomed to the effects of Marinol. Effects of the drug can be felt within a half-hour of taking the pill, reaching peak effect at 2 to 4 hours. The psychoactive effects may last 4 to 6 hours. The manufacturer recommends people taking Marinol not drive or operate machinery until they understand how the drug affects them.

Tips & Warnings

• Be aware that Marinol is a synthetic version of delta-9-THC, the principal active ingredient in cannabis (marijuana). As such, Marinol can produce many of the same heightened consciousness effects associated with the high obtained from marijuana use, including euphoria, elevated mood, and easy laughter.

• Tell your doctor if you have any known allergy to cannabis or sesame oil before using Marinol.
  Avoid driving or operating machinery until you are confident you can tolerate Marinol and are safe to drive or use equipment.
  Adverse reactions seen in clinical trials of Marinol include stomach pain, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, paranoia, sleepiness and abnormal thoughts.

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