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.

What is HIV?
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the virus responsible causing Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The HIV virus infects cells of the immune system leading to their destruction or impaired function. Since the immune system that fights off various infections is compromised, the infected person is highly susceptible to infections and cancers.

HIV and AIDS
The HIV virus in its most advanced stage is called the AIDS. The progression from HIV virus to AIDS is known to have a median time between 10 and 15 years. An AIDS victim may suffer and succumb to a combination of any of the 20 identified AIDS-related illnesses and cancers. Inspite of serious efforts by the medical and research fraternity, AIDS remains a fatal disease with no known cure. Today, medical treatment for AIDS attempts to give sufferers prolonged life and mitigate physical and emotional suffering related to the illness. However, HIV is a preventable disease.

How Is HIV Transmitted?
HIV is transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse, both anal and vaginal, in many cases. Other common modes of HIV transmission in humans is through transfusion of contaminated blood and sharing of contaminated needles and equipment to inject drugs. An HIV-infected mother can pass this deadly virus to her infant through pregnancy, delivery and breast feeding. Healthcare professionals who have work related exposure to HIV and AIDS virus can also contract them in health care settings.

How many people are living with HIV?
The U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) operates the most comprehensive HIV/AIDS surveillance system in the country through its centers. Data from USCDC shows that an estimated 56,300 Americans are newly infected with HIV each year.
• Currently, there are an estimated 1.2 million Americans who are living with HIV/AIDS.
• About 21% of HIV-positive people are unaware that they are infected

According to estimates by WHO and UNAIDS, 33.4 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2008. Two thirds of HIV infections are in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, HIV/AIDS is considered a global epidemic.
Early Stage Symptoms of HIV

Though many people who are HIV-positive do not feel symptoms, they begin to feel sick as their illness advances into AIDS. At this stage, many sufferers experience acute flu-like illness, called acute retroviral syndrome (ARS). Symptoms can include fever, chills, night sweats, muscular aches, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat and ulcers in the mouth.

How Is AIDS Diagnosed?
Most of the time, samples of blood or fluid are used to conduct HIV tests. In the immune system are cells called T-Cells or CD4 cells that send signals to activate the disease combating immune response. In a HIV infected person the CD4 count falls to under 200.

Reducing your Risk to HIV/AIDS
Avoiding unprotected sex, using latex condoms for sexual activity, avoiding multiple sexual partners minimizes your risk. Using single-use, disposable needles and other injection equipment at clinics and hospitals, acupuncture, body piercing and drug administration is another necessary precaution to avoid contracting this deadly disease. Since breast milk in a HIV-positive mother can infect her child, early treatment and medication has to start before birth of the baby.
Though even with treatment HIV often progresses into AIDS, with treatment and proper medication many people live several healthy years.