HIV Aids Treatment, Causes, Types, Symptoms, Medication And Facts

The best way to keep yourself HIV free is to stay away from any possible opportunity that you might contract HIV. First off, HIV gets into you through bodily fluids (semen, vaginal fluids or blood).
Here are some very simple and basic things that you can do to make sure that you stay off it.
• 1) Always use a condom. Safe sex is the biggest way into a world with lesser amount of AIDS patients. IF you don’t want to use one, make sure that both you and your partner are HIV free. Get yourself tested before it’s too late.
• 2) In case you do have sex with someone who is HIV infected then you must always make sure that it is safe sex and that you get y our regular HIV test done.
• 3) Stick to one sex partner. Having multiple sex partners increases the chances of you getting AIDS. Single partners ensure that you don’t end up in a mess you don’t want to get to in the first place.
• 4) Get to know about the previous sex experiences of your partners and also talk about your own. Sometimes it’s shameful but if we have to keep ourselves safe, there are some drastic steps that we have to take. Ask him/her if he has indeed involved in high rick behavior.
• 5) Do not consume drugs or alcohol. It can make you ignore all the factors about safe sex, using condoms, how to see that you stay away from getting HIV infected and can also largely make your body less immune thus making you more susceptible to HIV. All this is bad especially in the heat of the moment.
• 6) Never share needles, cocaine spoons, eye droppers, cotton, cookers and syringes with anybody if you are into drugs.
Now if it is so that you are indeed infected with HIV already and you have already gone in and had sexual relations with somebody else and thus have infected them – or even if you shared a needle, cocaine spoon, eye dropper, cotton, cooker and syringe with them, then you must undo the damage by taking the following steps:

1) Inform your partner that you are HIV positive and that you might have also infected him/her and take him/her to go get tested.
2) Further on always observe safe sex and do not be promiscuous for the sake of your health.
3) Do not donate blood, body organs, semen, body tissues or plasma ever.
4) Do not share items with others like sex toys, toothbrushes or razors that may have been infected with your semen, vaginal fluid or blood

If you are a mother who is pregnant then a suggested course of medicine is one that brings down her viral load to negligible levels until she gives birth. During that time, she must not breast feed her baby if she takes AZT (ZDV). The new born baby also must be made to undergo treatment to minimize or nullify to the best that can be done the effect of the mothers HIV virus on her.

Fighting HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a global health and humanitarian concern as it is one of most fatal diseases known to exist. HIV is a disease that attacks the immune system. It begins by attacking the CD4 cells, also called T4 cells which are necessary to combat illnesses. Ultimately, the virus overwhelms CD4 cells and the body becomes vulnerable to a host of diseases and infections. HIV is a progressive disease. Once your body’s CD4 cell count falls below 200 per cubic millimeter of blood, you will be diagnosed with AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome).

Initial Stage HIV Symptoms

Symptoms of HIV differ according to the stage of the infection you are in. In the initial stage of sickness, many patients develop flu-like symptoms within days of being infected or several takes after. These can include fever, rash, muscles aches along with swollen lymph nodes and glands. However, most people mistake them for common flu and the first symptoms of HIV will often be missed.

Even though the infection is slowly and steadily taking hold of your body, you may be asymptomatic. Only a HIV test will can confirm that you are indeed HIV positive. During this entire time, though completely oblivious, a patient is highly contagious. This is also how, a lot of times, infected mothers pass on HIV to their unborn babies or infants.

Chronic HIV/AIDS Symptoms
As the infection progresses, people with HIV become more and more vulnerable to several illnesses and infections that do not seem to affect healthy individuals around them. Their compromised immune system and its inability to ward off infections and illnesses also makes treatments for these normally curable infections or diseases fail.
In the later stages of HIV, before it progresses to full blown AIDS, signs of HIV infection can involve more severe symptoms. These include:
• Chronic fatigue
• Dry cough and shortness of breath
• Swollen lymph nodes in the armpits, groin and neck
• Mouth sores or yeast infection of the mouth
• Fever and/or night sweats
• Easy bruising
• Bouts of extreme exhaustion
• Unexplained body rashes
• Tingling, numbness and weakness in the limbs
• Appearance of purplish lesions on the skin or inside mouth
• Sudden unexplained weight loss
• Chronic diarrhea lasting for a month or more
• Delayed growth in children
• Enlarged spleen in children

People infected with HIV are observed to develop AIDS eight to ten years after HIV infection. However, with early diagnosis of HIV and access to medications, one can slow down the progression. In some individuals, it could take as long as ten to 15 years or more before they develop AIDS.
HIV/AIDS and Opportunistic Infections

In many instances, HIV patients are detected to have AIDS while receiving treatmet for contracting one of these opportunistic infections. There are more than 20 opportunistic illnesses. Some of them are:
• Severe bacterial infections
• Invasive cervical cancer
• Toxoplasmosis of the brain
• Kaposi’s Sarcoma
• Pulmonary tuberculosis
• Lymphoma
• Recurrent pneumonia

Other distressing conditions that develop with HIV/AIDS are loss of vision, nerve damage and brain impairment.
Since HIV/AIDS has no cure, following preventive measures such as safe sex practices, and using sterilized injection equipment at hospitals is the best protection.