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.
