HIV AIDS on TV

There are many difficult subjects that we have to deal with all the time. Sometimes, it may be hard for children to talk to parents, or vice-versa when it comes to these issues. That is why it is always a great thing when popular media takes it upon themselves to educate society about things that are important to everyone, whether we are already familiar with them or not. For example, HIV and AIDS were brought into the forefront by many different media venues, at a time when the majority believed that they were diseases that only affected homosexuals, Haitians, hemophiliacs, and heroin users. Television dramas and documentaries increased awareness of HIV and AIDS when they were relatively new viruses across the globe. Here are some of the programs on television that helped to bring HIV and AIDS into the public eye, which in turn may have saved several thousand lives.

1. The Test of Time: From HIV to AIDS – This was a television documentary that followed people that were infected with HIV and AIDS, and also showed the effect that it has on their families. This was a very emotional documentary that changed the way that people viewed the viruses. This documentary aired in 1990, the same year that the first full length feature dealing with the diseases, Longtime Companion, hit theaters. This year was an important year for increasing awareness of HIV and AIDS.

2. Friends For Life: Living With AIDS – This is a heartbreaking 1998 documentary that details the lives of children that have been affected by both HIV and AIDS. It is very difficult to watch children that did not have a chance to live a normal life. Usually children become infected while in the womb, during childbirth, or because of breastfeeding. Also, there have been cases where people became infected during blood transfusions. It is tragic that they have to deal with this horrible disease when they had nothing to do with its contraction.

3. Shouting Silent – This followed children who had been orphaned because of their parents deaths due to HIV and AIDS. Released in 2002, this is a very upsetting tale which shows how difficult it is for women to prevail in society when they are stuck raising their siblings from a young age. With portions of Africa housing almost a third of the deaths related to these viruses, orphaned children is a large concern. There is nobody around to help them through their situation and children quickly lose their own childhoods while taking on the responsibilities left behind by their parents.

These are only a few of the specials and documentaries that are available. This type of film-making has an enormous effect on us as a people, and we need brave people to get out there and educate people. Whether it is about AIDS and HIV, or anything else that we may have to deal with in the future, films and television programs get information out to people that need it.

Arthur Ashe

There has been an article previously that documented a few of the public figures who have changed the course of HIV and AIDS by bringing their diseases into the spotlight. It is very important that we make it well known that people we see on television or in movies are being affected by HIV and AIDS. This way it becomes more real for people that are uneducated about the subject. If there is somebody that has no clue about HIV and AIDS, but then their favorite basketball star is infected, this will increase people’s awareness when it is talked about on the news or in a television special. Here are some more of the famous figures that have made a difference in our society by making it known that they have been infected HIV or AIDS, either by announcing it to the public, or by their deaths due to the viruses.

1. Robert Reed – He played Mike Brady while on the television The Brady Bunch and was a wholesome father figure that the entire country looked up to. What the public did not see though, was that Reed was angry and ashamed of his homosexuality. He often threatened his male partners after intercourse because he did not believe that he had the option of coming out to the public. He was living with HIV and AIDS for some time before dying in 1992. Reed is an example of somebody that brought HIV and AIDS out into the public because of his death. He tried to keep his personal life to himself for the most part.

2. Arthur Ashe – The first African-American to ever win a Grand Slam contest in the sport of tennis. He found that he had contracted HIV during one of his blood transfusions, which effectively ended his tennis career. Ashe and his family tried to keep his infection a secret at first, but then made it public after there were reports that a newspaper was going to run a story about his disease. While he had the chance, Arther Ashe did whatever he could to increase AIDS awareness. He died in February of 1993.

3. Ryan White – He was not a famous actor or athlete, but he did gain popularity after being expelled from his school for being infected with HIV. This put White and AIDS awareness into the forefront. Before Ryan White, these viruses were thought to only affect the homosexual community, but he really showed that it could infect anybody, even your neighbor or your child. White was a hemophiliac that became infected after coming into contact with contaminated blood during a blood transfusion.

Thankfully there are people that put themselves into the spotlight for the benefit of everybody in their position without a voice. HIV and AIDS can affect anybody, and these people showed that. Hopefully, as long as there is a subject that needs to be brought to our attention, there will be somebody with the courage to talk about it.

Treatments for HIV and AIDS

As of right now, there are no vaccines or cures for HIV and AIDS. There are, however, different treatments used to suppress symptoms and to allow sufferers to live a relatively normal life. Being diagnosed with these viruses used to considered a death sentence, but that just is not true anymore. Many people are living with HIV and AIDS for several years after their diagnosis. But that does not mean that our citizens are safe by any means. AIDS and HIV have caused over 2 million deaths since they were officially recognized as diseases in 1981, and the proper treatments have not been reaching the places in the world that really need them. A third of these deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa alone, with political corruption being a large factor in why these people are not receiving their treatments. We have not passed through the time where we need to worry about these viruses, and we need to find out more about this pandemic that is taking the lives of so many people. Here are some of the treatments used for HIV and AIDS, so that you can familiarize yourself with what is going on with these diseases.

1. Post-exposure prophylaxis – This is basically when anti-retroviral drugs are used immediately after possible exposure to HIV and AIDS in an attempt to prevent the viruses from spreading through the system. The earlier this regimen of drugs is started, the better the chance that the exposed person will have to prevent infection. The regimen is most effective if it started after an hour after coming into contact with HIV or AIDS, and remains beginning a course of drugs will remain effective until three days after initial exposure.

2. Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy – Also known as HAART, this treatment is a cocktail of drugs that an HIV or AIDS infected person takes. Different drugs are taken depending on how long the patient has been infected with the viruses. The cocktail will usually consist of three or four different drugs, but there will two anti-retroviral drugs in the mix. Having all the necessary drugs mixed into one pill can also be available.

3. Bone marrow transplant – This is not a treatment that is widely used at all and is still under development. The reason this treatment has been coming into the public eye is because after a HIV positive patient in Berlin was given a bone marrow transplant, they were no longer showing any signs of being infected. Whether this treatment would consistently work or if it would work on AIDS patients remains to be seen at this point.

We are getting closer every day to providing relief for sufferers of HIV and AIDS. As long as the research continues, we can see a partial eradication during our lifetime. What is troubling though, is that even the treatments we have today are not reaching the most infected areas, which makes it more difficult to eliminate these viruses.

History of HIV

HIV and AIDS are relatively new diseases if you compare them to the number of other illnesses that have been infecting our populations over hundreds and thousands of years. These viruses were recognized as diseases recently, and they have become major concerns in countries all over the world. Because of the short time it has been around, there is no cure or vaccine as of yet for the viruses, but scientists and medical researchers are working day in and day out to help put a stop to the suffering out there. It is important that citizens around the world have some familiarity with HIV and AIDS, even if they are not personally affected by them. You never know if somebody you love will be infected by these deadly diseases, and there are millions of people that have already died or are infected currently. Here is some history on HIV and AIDS for those of you out there that may not be as aware as you should be.

1. 1981 – This is when the first cases of HIV and AIDS were recognized as legitimate diseases. At first, these viruses were thought to only affect the homosexual community. That is why the first name for them was GRID, or gay-related immune deficiency. Soon after, reports came in from different countries that non-homosexuals were also being affected by HIV and AIDS, which quickly made the term ‘GRID’ obsolete.

2. 1982 – Reports were released linking blood transfusions with the spread of HIV and AIDS. This was affecting sufferers of hemophilia significantly, and soon the viruses were known as ‘the 4H disease’. The reason it was called that is because it was thought to only infect homosexuals, Haitians, hemophiliacs, and heroin users.

3. 1985 – HIV and AIDS are really brought into the public eye after movie star Rock Hudson passed away after living with the diseases. After his death, President Ronald Reagan addressed the world and talked about HIV and AIDS openly. He let the public know that these diseases are a real threat, and although treatments may be available in the future, there were none available at the time.

4. 1991 – Basketball superstar Magic Johnson retires because of his HIV diagnosis. Johnson was apparently keeping his disease from developing into full blown AIDS by using drugs that help slow the damage to the immune system. Many people believed that Magic Johnson’s case was a miracle or that he had some secret cure to the viruses, but that is not what happened. Doctors say that anybody that has health care could have the same access to the drugs that Johnson uses.

These viruses have been doing damage to citizens for a while now. There is much more to the history of HIV and AIDS than what is detailed here, so if you have any interest in finding out more about it, there are plenty of resources available online to those who search for it.

Dealing with AIDS

These diseases can be devastating, not only to the ones that are infected, but also to their family members and loved ones. When somebody says that they have HIV or AIDS, the reactions that they get are very different from when somebody says that they have a disease such as cancer. There is both a social stigma against those that are infected with HIV and AIDS, and there is an intense fear that the people around a sufferer will also be infected. This type of mentality is what caused several children to be expelled from their schools and exiled from their communities and from their friends by angry parents. Knowing about HIV and AIDS before getting yourself and your entire town crazy is a given. There is much more awareness about these viruses than there was even a decade ago. The next step after making yourself aware is knowing what to do if somebody you know is infected. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts for people that might have to deal with a family member or loved one beign infected by HIV and AIDS in the future.

DO: Be understanding. At this point, you should already know more about how these viruses are contracted and that you are not in immediate danger by sitting and having a conversation with a sufferer. Those that have been infected by HIV or AIDS already have a lot to deal with, and it could not have been easy to approach you to tell you about their disease.

DO NOT: Be judgmental. Everybody makes mistakes, and somebody with HIV or AIDS is paying for their mistakes more than you can imagine. It is important that people with these viruses be allowed a chance at living a normal life, but that is not possible if there is a stigma against the diseases. Not that it should make a difference, but there are cases where people contract HIV or AIDS from things such as blood transfusions, breastfeeding, or by simply being birthed by a mother with the disease.

DO: Realize that not all infected people are degenerates, even though the public has painted it that way. There are many cases where one night of unprotected sex has lead to an infection. There is an picture that people have of HIV and AIDS patients where they are all promiscuous, drug using homosexuals, but that simply is not true.

DO NOT: Make the person that has told you about a very important part of their life feel alone. This is a time when they need the people they love the most, and abandoning them during their time of need is not going to help anybody.

If we reach a point where people suffering from HIV and AIDS do not have to hide it, we can move forward as a society. Recognizing these people will increase awareness of the diseases, which can bring down numbers in the end, but most importantly it can bring about acceptance.

Magic Johnson

When HIV and AIDS were first recognized as diseases in 1981, there were still many people ignorant about how they affected sufferers. There was a significant amount of time that passed until it was accepted that HIV and AIDS were not gay diseases and that there were many people from countries all over the world that were being infected, regardless of their sexual orientation. For many people, it took somebody they knew suffering from the disease before they were able to take it seriously. For the people that did not know anybody that had HIV or AIDS, celebrities and public figures were a great help to increasing awareness. If many of these celebrities kept it to themselves instead of coming out with their diagnosis publicly, many patients would be suffering with muted voices. Here are some of the public figures that have been infected by HIV and/or AIDS, or have died from the viruses.

1. Rock Hudson – Although he never made it public that he was a homosexual, he was one of the first movie and television stars to die from HIV or AIDS. When Hudson publicly announced that he was dying, this made the diseases real for many people. Rock Hudson was always viewed as an all American manly man, and nobody would have thought that somebody like Hudson would be dying from that disease.

2. Magic Johnson – Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in the early 1990’s and announced it to the world. He went on a regimen of anti-retroviral drugs that kept full blown AIDS from taking over his immune system. Magic Johnson increased the hope in many sufferers, showing that it was possible to live a normal life after being diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. There were some people that thought that it was too good to be true and that Johnson had found some secret cure, but doctors have said that the types of drugs that he is on are available to anybody with health insurance.

3. Greg Louganis – An olympic diver that had won several gold medals during his career, he was found to be HIV positive in 1988. While keeping this revelation to himself at first, he decided to bring every aspect of his life into the public when his partner Tom Barrett lost a battle with AIDS. A television movie was made about this Olympian in 1997, with Louganis being played by Saved by the Bell alum, Mario Lopez.

If it was not for these public figures coming out and informing the public about their struggles, their triumphs, and everything in between, we would not be as knowledgeable as a whole when it comes to the subject of HIV and AIDS. It is especially effective when these figures tell us about their lives because when there is somebody we can look at who is suffering from these diseases, it makes it easier to educate people about prevention.

Prevent HIV/ AIDS

These diseases have been wreaking havoc on humankind since the first reported cases in 1981. It was believed to only affect the homosexuals at first, but that notion was quickly dismissed after it was realized that HIV and AIDS can affect anyone. HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. They are both considered to be sexually transmitted diseases even though sex is not necessary to transmit them. It is very important to know exactly how HIV and AIDS can be contracted, so that you can take the necessary precautions. Here are the main ways that HIV and AIDS are spread. Learn these and then share this information with other people so that we can put an end to this pandemic.

1. Vaginal or anal intercourse – Semen, pre-ejaculate, and vaginal fluid will contain HIV or AIDS if the partner is infected. That is why it is important to always use a latex condom during intercourse until you and your partner are both tested for sexually transmitted diseases. Lambskin condoms, which are made from a lamb’s intestines, are effective as a contraceptive but are NOT effective against preventing diseases such as HIV and AIDS. When choosing a condom, a latex variety is the safest bet. Studies have shown that spermicidal condoms may actually increase the chances of transmission.

2. Breastfeeding – Many children contract HIV and AIDS because their infected mother breastfed them. Many mothers are not aware that the diseases can be transmitted this way, so awareness needs to be increased. Over two million people have died from HIV or AIDS so far, and 300,000 of them were children. This doesn’t even give them a chance to lead a normal life, which is tragic.

3. Pregnancy and Birth – If a mother is infected by one of these viruses, it is also possible for a child to contract them while they are still in the uterus or during childbirth. A child being able to escape the womb of an infected woman without being infected themselves is a miracle, but to contract it through breastfeeding afterward is simply heartbreaking.

4. Open wounds – If blood is transferred through the open wound of an infected person, it is possible that the viruses could be transmitted. There were several cases where recipients of blood transfusions ended up becoming infected with these viruses because the blood either wasn’t tested or it slipped through the cracks. Many precautions are taken now to prevent something like that from happening.

5. Sharing Needles – Intravenous drug use can pass infected blood to others, which may transmit the viruses.

Becoming familiar with the ways that HIV and AIDS are transmitted is essential if we ever want to get past this. Millions of lives have already been claimed by this virus and the numbers are increasing every single day. There is no cure available as of yet, but some vaccines are in development. For now, there are drugs available to suppress symptoms.

Symptoms of HIV

HIV and AIDS have reached pandemic status and people all over the world are being infected regularly. It is believed that over 30 million people are living with these diseases worldwide, and over 2 million people have died, 75% of the deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Since these viruses are relatively new, it is important that we increase awareness about them so that we can protect ourselves and prevent more cases from occurring in the future. One thing that we should familiarize ourselves with is the symptoms of HIV and AIDS. Knowing the symptoms will serve a few functions. We can find out more about these viruses and functions, we will have some idea of what sufferers go through, and we may be able to realize that something is wrong early on instead of infecting other people. Here are five of the symptoms of HIV and AIDS so that we can all help in preventing the transmission of these diseases.

1. Lung infections – Ailments such as pneumocystis pneumonia and tuberculosis are frequent among those that are infected by HIV and AIDS. While tuberculosis can be transmitted to people with healthy immune systems, pneumocystis pneumonia is fairly rare normally. Pneumocystis pneumonia is very common for people with these viruses and is caused by a fungus. Because the immune system is weakened, the fungus begins to cause infections.

2. Gastrointestinal infections – Esophagitis and chronic diarrhea are also symptoms of HIV and AIDS. Esophagitis is an inflammation of the tube connecting to the stomach. It is caused by viral or fungal infections. Chronic diarrhea can be from an assortment of bacteria and infections wreaking havoc in your gastrointestinal system. Bacteria include salmonella and listeria, and some viruses that may cause chronic diarrhea are astrovirus, adenovirus, and rotavirus.

3. Nervous system abnormalities – Encephalitis and AIDS dementia complex can both develop in people with HIV and AIDS. Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain that can cause fever, headache, sensitivity to light, and seizures. AIDS dementia complex on the other hand causes psychological, cognitive, and motor anomalies.

4. Cancer – The chances for many types of cancer are increased when a person is infected with HIV and AIDS. Cervical cancer and lymphomas are much more common for sufferers of these viruses than for the average person. Many different tumors are prevalent as well, such as Kaposi’s sarcoma.

5. Weight loss – This can be a signal for not only HIV and AIDS, but unexplained weight loss will usually tell you that something is wrong with your body. If this is something that you are experiencing, be sure to visit a doctor immediately.

Knowing the precursors of HIV and AIDS is important if we as a people hope to eradicate these viruses at any point in the future. Spread the word to loved ones, friends, family, and even strangers for that matter, everyone should be aware of these deadly viruses.

Longtime Companion FIlm

Sometimes, the best way to make a statement or get information out to the public is through movies and television. We all saw some “very special episodes” of television programs when we were growing up, and as corny as they may have been, they were still informative. After that episode ended, you knew more about the subject that was covered than when you sat down. This was especially true in the case of films bringing HIV and AIDS to the attention of the masses. HIV and AIDS are relatively new to us, only being recognized as diseases for about thirty years. Some films have done an incredible service to our society by increasing awareness. Here are the most powerful and important films that had characters that were infected with either HIV or AIDS.

1. Philadelphia – This was a film starring Tom Hanks as the main character, Andrew Beckett. The movie’s main focus was HIV and AIDS and how discrimination can come about when people find out somebody is infected by these diseases. Andrew Beckett was a lawyer that was infected with AIDS, but was hiding it from everybody at his law firm. After being fired, Beckett believes that it is because knowledge of his disease was leaked to the rest of the office. He then chooses to file a lawsuit against his former firm. This was a very powerful movie, and allowed people to see how HIV can affect a sufferer.

2. Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story – This was a straight-to-television based on HIV positive Olympian Greg Louganis, who is portrayed by Mario Lopez. It was a refreshing change to see Mario Lopez put behind his Saved by The Bell persona to take on a truly challenging role. Greg Louganis was an Olympic diver that won several gold medals during his career. This movie showed how the struggled with his own disease along with the death of Tom Barrett, whom he was in a relationship with, from AIDS. After Barrett succumbed to the AIDS virus, Louganis decided to come out as a gay, HIV positive man to the public.

3. Longtime Companion – One of the first movies with HIV and AIDS as the subject matter to be theatrically released, and it was the first to open with a wide release. This film is set during the first few years after HIV and AIDS were recognized as diseases in 1981. The movie was released in 1990, and the movie follows the characters from 1980-1989. It is arguable whether this is the most important HIV and AIDS movie, but there is no doubt that it was groundbreaking.
It is great that the movie business has the courage to put out films like these occasionally. Powerful films can change the way the entire public perceives a subject, and bring to light any issues that need exposure. Hopefully this trend will continue as long as there are concerns that need addressing.