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The current prevailing philosophy (if you will) in dealing with HIV-infected individuals is to get them on antiretroviral therapy (or drugs directed against this virus) as soon as possible - on the same day as blood tests turn positive. This accomplishes two goals. One, the patient who is taking the drugs soon becomes unable to transmit it to other individuals, thus stopping this epidemic at least at the level of one person. It also helps that individual specifically in keeping the reservoir of HIV at low levels and restoring the immune cells, which (as I had mentioned before) are lost when you do not treat this illness.
The current prevailing philosophy (if you will) in dealing with HIV-infected individuals is to get them on antiretroviral therapy (or drugs directed against this virus) as soon as possible - on the same day as blood tests turn positive. This accomplishes two goals. One, the patient who is taking the drugs soon becomes unable to transmit it to other individuals, thus stopping this epidemic at least at the level of one person. It also helps that individual specifically in keeping the reservoir of HIV at low levels and restoring the immune cells, which (as I had mentioned before) are lost when you do not treat this illness.
This disease still remains incurable. However, if patients take antiretroviral drugs, they totally control this viral illness. In a recent study that we've just completed, matching individuals with HIV with age-match controls without HIV, and then looking at all the numbers, different lymphocytes and so forth. We have now determined that most of the patients have restored their numbers equal to or greater than uninfected patients of the same age. So both the function and numbers have been completely restored with this chronic use of antiretroviral therapy.
One very important development in the last couple of years has been the rollout of a program we call PrEP or Pre-Exposure HIV Prophylaxis. Individuals who are at risk through sexual contact of HIV can take a daily medication and prevent this from occurring. We are currently giving this medication by prescription and it's paid for by insurance companies to partners of patients who do not have HIV, but their partners do. So to protect them from acquiring it, they take a tablet every day. Individuals who are practicing high-risk sex without condoms in the community also are eligible for this therapy. The whole point is to prevent the transmission of HIV from one individual to another. This PrEP is very effective.
Many patients ask about alternative medicines and home remedies in the use of treating HIV. Although some can be dangerous (and so your physician should know about the use of these particular drugs or agents) others are probably harmless, may even have some benefit - I'm not certain. But the critical element in taking care of HIV is to take the antiretroviral medications.
You have been diagnosed with AIDS (the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), which is kind of the end product of years of not addressing or not knowing that you have HIV infection. But all of this is not a death sentence. All we need to do now is to focus on starting you on the appropriate medications. It will be as simple as one pill, once a day. Your CD4 cell numbers will come back up, approaching normal. Your viral load of that virus in your bloodstream will go to undetectable. You just need to remain on this drug and not miss a dose and slowly, as we get better (because you have lost so much of your immunity) we're going to take two steps forward and then it'll always be one back or three forward, two back. This will go on for months but by the end of the year, you're going to be absolutely amazed. You will have gained weight. You will probably be back at work and from there on out for the rest of your life, you're just going to maintain your life by taking a pill once a day.
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