For most people, finding HIV is a sentence. Few people know that people with this status can continue to lead an active life for many decades.
Virus detection
According to statistics, in Russia more than half a million people are infected with the human
immunodeficiency virus. But, according to doctors, the real figure is 4 times higher. Indeed, not all HIV-infected people know about their status.
Over the years, the virus may not manifest itself in any way. In some cases, health problems occur only 15 years after infection. Prior to this, a person may not even suspect that he is sick. A simple HIV test will help you find out if you have a virus. It can be taken in any hospital.
A laboratory blood test allows you to find out if the patient has antibodies to the virus. With a positive result, there is reason to believe that a person is infected. A negative test means no antibodies are detected. This may mean that the person is not sick. Also, a negative result occurs in cases where too little time has passed since the moment of infection and antibodies in the blood have not yet begun to be produced.
For reliability, doctors recommend repeating the study 1, 3, 6 months after a possible infection.
Virus Transmission Routes
Many are afraid of HIV-infected people, believing that they may become infected by them. But to catch the virus in public transport, catering, swimming pools, hospitals is almost impossible. There are only 3 ways to transmit it:
- from a sick mother to a baby at birth;
- getting directly into the blood;
- unprotected sex.
The latter method is currently the most common. Therefore, it is so important to pay attention to barrier contraception during sexual contacts with unverified partners. The virus can directly enter the bloodstream when using non-sterile surgical instruments, needles. This explains why most drug addicts are HIV-infected.
Is it possible to recover?
Many people, when they find out that HIV has been detected in their blood, fall into despair. But the virus itself is not deadly. It just weakens the immune system. If you follow the doctor’s recommendations, you can normally live a few more decades.
To find out whether it is possible to cure HIV, help in the relevant centers. If a few years ago it was believed that this disease, which inevitably leads to an imminent death, now the situation has changed. Modern treatment allows you to maintain human immunity. Medicines contribute to the fact that the virus can not actively multiply, thanks to this, the human condition does not worsen for many decades. Now, drugs for HIV infection can make the lives of patients as long as other healthy people.
Treatment tactics
Each person, having learned that he is infected with HIV, should contact a special center. There they will prescribe the necessary drugs, they will select the dosage. Special medicines can suppress the action of the virus. When they are taken, he cannot attack healthy cells in the body.
Antiretroviral drugs are prescribed for people whose T-cell count is too low. Currently, there are several varieties of antiviral medications. The doctor treating HIV selects the optimal treatment regimen, focusing on the results of the patient’s tests. The most effective therapy includes treatment with drugs from various groups.
Drug selection
If you timely contact the center where they deal with HIV treatment, you will be prescribed drugs that can block the enzymes of the virus and prevent its reproduction.
One group of antiretroviral drugs is reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Such funds include Lamivudine, Tenofovir, Abacavir, Zidovudine. Protease inhibitors are also isolated separately. Such drugs include Amprenavir, Ritonavir, Nelfinavir, Indinavir. Doctors may also prescribe penetration / fusion inhibitors, such as Enfuvirtide.
There are drugs that can simultaneously be attributed to several groups. World health organizations are developing special treatment regimens that are suitable for various situations. A person who is far from medicine will not be able to choose a treatment for himself. Therefore, you should not even be interested in whether it is possible to cure HIV yourself. You can control your condition if observed by an experienced specialist.
It must be understood that various drugs can suppress the activity of the virus only at a certain stage of its life cycle. Therefore, they are combined. This reduces the risk of drug resistance.
Patient Life After Virus Detection
Many shun people who have tested positive for HIV. Therefore, most infected patients prefer not to talk about their status. This is not as scary as it might seem at first, because it is almost impossible to become infected with the virus by domestic means.
A person who has found a virus in the blood needs to contact a specialized center as soon as possible. The faster treatment is started, the more likely the disease will not progress. The AIDS Center can explain how to cure HIV in the early stages. Of course, even the most modern drugs do not completely remove the infection from the body, but they can weaken it so much that it will not pose a danger to human life.
If a doctor prescribes medication and prescribes a treatment regimen, then this cannot be ignored. Only meticulous implementation of all recommendations, the use of medications according to the scheme and monitoring of health will allow you to make a full and long life. Ignoring the selected medication regimen and dosage may cause treatment to be ineffective. In addition, the drugs will cease to function. Viruses can develop immunity to them, they will become resistant.
Important aspects of life
People who do not give up can tell everyone whether HIV can be cured. Keeping the disease in check is quite realistic. But drug therapy is not enough. Infected people should do everything possible to prevent a weakened immune system. Attention should be paid to the prevention of diseases, including colds. It is also necessary to treat all complications arising under the supervision of a doctor: neurological problems, infectious diseases, the appearance of neoplasms, changes in blood counts.
Patients are required to monitor their diet. It must be balanced, a sufficient amount of vitamins must be present in the products. It is important to give up drugs, alcohol, cigarettes. Also, do not use ready-made semi-finished products, get involved in harmful products, sweets.
Useful are any physical activity. Sport contributes to a surge of energy, the emergence of energy. And this is very important for HIV-infected people, because they often experience attacks of increased drowsiness, loss of strength. In addition, it is important for patients to regularly drink vitamins. It is advisable to use the complexes twice a year: in autumn and spring. This will help strengthen the body and protect it from infections.
HIV-infected mothers
One of the ways a virus is infected is the so-called vertical path. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV is likely. If a pregnant woman has found antibodies to this virus, then it is necessary to immediately begin treatment. The use of special drugs that help reduce the likelihood of intrauterine infection of the baby is required.
Antiretroviral therapy is prescribed from the 12th week of pregnancy. In addition, childbirth should take place in a specialized center. After birth, children are given a special drug. Also, for a certain time, the baby should receive antiretroviral drugs. If everything is done correctly, then the probability that the child will be absolutely healthy is 98%. It is possible to finally find out if an infant has an infection at the age of 18 months. At this time, all maternal antibodies exit the baby’s body.
But if this does not happen, then the question of whether it is possible to cure HIV in a child should be decided jointly with specialists from a specialized medical center.