Question about HIV?
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HIV/AIDS takes a long time to show up. Maybe that's what you're referring too? The medicine they give you, unless there is new medicine I'm not aware of, prevents HIV from advancing to AIDS. But no, once HIV turns to AIDS, you eventually die. Its long and painful. Something as simple as a common cold can kill you.
It's possible to live a very long time once you have HIV/AIDS, but it will be a painfull, and sickly existence.
yes. some folks go on a cocktail for awhile and go off for a few years and then back on another type.
the meds for hiv is loads better than back in the 80s!
and now the med field is saying that folks that are diagnosed with AIDS (the final blow in the HIV world) are getting better and even going back into the HIV diagnosis stage!
folks with HIV (not full blown AIDS) stand a much greater advantage these days.
also - remember that one with HIV will have a strand and someone else could have another type of HIV strand... please wear protection even if you are diagnosed.
good luck!
It's true that some people can have HIV for decades without developing any signs of HIV related immune system damage. They are, unfortunately, a tiny minority. For most people it's necessary to take medication at some stage to keep the virus under control.
It's not so much having a particularly "strong" immune system though. Some people have a genetic variation that makes it harder for the virus to multiply and cause disease in their bodies.
There are also a number of different strains of HIV, some of which are more virulent than others.
Yes, that is true and very common. Some people take a long time to get to the point where they need medications.
The HIV virus is always changing. You can't predict what it will do without regular blood tests to monitor the immune system.
I have seen patients who get sick very quickly and others who just live on the edge for years without developing AIDS.
yes it is true that there are people out there who can live a long time with the virus without taking any meds but I think it has more to do with the way they take care of themselves (no smoking, drinking, stying up late, etc...) than with their immune systems because the virus is actually killing the host's immune system. The virus attaches itself to a healthy t-cell (immune cell) and injects its DNA. The RNA in the t-cell transforms to DNA (with the HIV code) and then it exits the now infected t-cell to go and attck more healthy cells.
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