315- HIV/AIDS Remedies : HIV Prevention and SIDA Treatments
HIV Prevention and AIDS Treatments To Get Rid Of AIDS. Please know HIV/aids and get home remedies to treat effectively this disease that’s AIDS
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Review and Edited by Lady Feranmi on 11/04/22
HIV Prevention and AIDS Treatments: What’s HIV
- Human immunodeficiency virus or HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system.
- If HIV is not cared for or treated, it can lead to the disease AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Learning the basics about HIV can keep you healthy and prevent HIV transmission
- There is currently no effective cure. Once people get HIV, they have it for life.
- But with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. People with HIV who get effective HIV treatment can live long, healthy lives and protect their partners.
HIV Prevention and AIDS Treatments: How do I know if I have HIV?
It is only through tests that you can know whether you have HIV is to get tested. If you have an HIV test, is good for your health. Knowing your HIV status helps you make healthy decisions to prevent getting or transmitting HIV.
Key Points When you have HIV in your Body
- People can get or transmit HIV only through specific activities, such as sex or injection drug use. HIV can be transmitted only in certain body fluids from a person who has HIV. These fluids are blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk.
- To reduce your risk of HIV, use condoms correctly every time you have sex. Do not inject drugs. If you do, use only sterile injection equipment and water, and never share your equipment with others.
- If you do not have HIV but are at risk of getting HIV, talk to your health care provider about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP involves taking a specific HIV medicine every day to reduce the risk of getting HIV through sex or injection drug use.
What are the stages of HIV?
When people with HIV don’t get treatment, they typically progress through three stages. But HIV medicine can slow or prevent the progression of the disease. With the advancements in treatment, progression to Stage 3 is less common today than in the early days of HIV
Stage 1: Acute HIV Infection
- People have a large amount of HIV in their blood. They are very contagious.
- Some people have flu-like symptoms. This is the body’s natural response to infection.
- But some people may not feel sick right away or at all.
- If you have flu-like symptoms and think you may have been exposed to HIV, seek medical care and ask for a test to diagnose acute infection.
- Only antigen/antibody tests or nucleic acid tests (NATs) can diagnose acute infection.
Stage 2: Chronic HIV Infection
- This stage is also called asymptomatic HIV infection or clinical latency.
- HIV is still active but reproduces at very low levels.
- People may not have any symptoms or get sick during this phase.
- Without taking HIV medicine, this period may last a decade or longer, but some may progress faster.
- People can transmit HIV in this phase.
- At the end of this phase, the amount of HIV in the blood (called viral load) goes up and the CD4 cell count goes down. The person may have symptoms as the virus levels increase in the body, and the person moves into Stage 3.
- People who take HIV medicine as prescribed may never move into Stage 3.
Stage 3: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
- The most severe phase of HIV infection.
- People with AIDS have such badly damaged immune systems that they get an increasing number of severe illnesses, called opportunistic infections.
- People receive an AIDS diagnosis when their CD4 cell count drops below 200 cells/mm, or if they develop certain opportunistic infections.
- Also, people with AIDS can have a high viral load and be very infectious.
- Without treatment, people with AIDS typically survive about three years
HIV Prevention and AIDS Treatments: Are there HIV symptoms?
Some people have flu-like symptoms within 2 to 4 weeks after infection (called acute HIV infection). These symptoms may last for a few days or several weeks. Possible symptoms include
- Fever,
- Chills,
- Rash,
- Night sweats,
- Muscle aches,
- Sore throat,
- Fatigue,
- Swollen lymph nodes, and
- Mouth ulcers.
But some people may not feel sick during acute HIV infection. These symptoms don’t mean you have HIV. Other illnesses can cause these same symptoms.
See a health care provider if you have these symptoms and think you may have been exposed to HIV. Getting tested for HIV is the only way to know for sure
HIV Prevention and AIDS Treatments: How is HIV transmitted?
Most people who get HIV get it through anal or vaginal sex, or by sharing needles, syringes, or other drug-injection equipment. However, there are powerful tools and ways that can help prevent HIV transmission. The condom is an example of prevention. The person-to-person spread of HIV is called HIV transmission. People can get or transmit HIV only through specific activities, such as sex or injection drug use. HIV can be transmitted only in certain body fluids from a person who has HIV:
- Blood
- Semen
- Pre-seminal fluids
- Rectal fluids
- Vaginal fluids
- Breast milk
HIV Prevention and AIDS Treatments
HIV transmission is only possible if these fluids come in contact with a mucous membrane or damaged tissue or are directly injected into the bloodstream (from a needle or syringe). Mucous membranes are found inside the rectum, the vagina, the opening of the penis, and the mouth.
In the United States, HIV is spread mainly by:
- Having anal or vaginal sex with someone who has HIV without using a condom or taking medicines to prevent or treat HIV
- Sharing injection drug equipment (works), such as needles, with someone who has HIV
HIV can also spread from a woman with HIV to her child during pregnancy, childbirth (also called labour and delivery), or breastfeeding. This is called perinatal transmission of HIV. Perinatal transmission of HIV is also called mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
You cannot get HIV from casual contact with a person who has HIV, such as a handshake, a hug, or a closed-mouth kiss. And you cannot get HIV from contact with objects, such as toilet seats, doorknobs, or dishes used by a person who has HIV.
How can a person reduce the risk of getting HIV?
Anyone can get HIV, but you can take steps to protect yourself from HIV.
- Get tested for HIV. Talk to your partner about HIV testing and get tested before you have sex. Use the GetTested locator from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find an HIV testing location near you.
- Choose less risky sexual behaviours. HIV is mainly spread by having anal or vaginal sex without a condom or without taking medicines to prevent or treat HIV.
- Use condoms every time you have sex. Read this fact sheet from CDC on how to use condoms correctly.
- Limit your number of sexual partners. The more partners you have, the more likely you are to have a partner with poorly controlled HIV or to have a partner with a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Both of these factors can increase the risk of HIV.
- Get tested and treated for STDs. Insist that your partners get tested and treated, too. Having an STD can increase your risk of getting HIV or spreading it to others.
- Talk to your health care provider about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP is an HIV prevention option for people who do not have HIV but who are at risk of getting HIV. PrEP involves taking a specific HIV medicine every day to reduce the risk of getting HIV through sex or injection drug use. For more information, read the HIVinfo fact sheet on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).
- Do not inject drugs. But if you do, use only sterile drug injection equipment and water, and never share your equipment with others.
How can a person who is HIV positive prevent passing HIV to others?
Take HIV medicines daily. Treatment with HIV medicines (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) helps people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. ART cannot cure HIV, but it can reduce the amount of HIV in the body (called the viral load). One of the main goals of ART is to reduce a person’s viral load to an undetectable level. An undetectable viral load means that the level of HIV in the blood is too low to be detected by a viral load test. People with HIV who maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.
Here are some other steps you can take to prevent HIV transmission:
- Use condoms correctly every time you have sex.
- Talk to your partner about taking PrEP.
- If you inject drugs, do not share your needles, syringes, or other drug equipment with your partner.
Are HIV medicines used at other times to prevent HIV transmission?
Yes, HIV medicines are also used for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and to prevent perinatal transmission of HIV.
- Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)
PEP means taking HIV medicines within 72 hours after a possible exposure to HIV to prevent HIV infection. PEP should be used only in emergency situations. It is not meant for regular use by people who may be exposed to HIV frequently. For more information, read the HIVinfo fact sheet on Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). - Prevention of perinatal transmission of HIV
Pregnant women with HIV take HIV medicines for their own health and to prevent perinatal transmission of HIV. After birth, babies born to women with HIV receive HIV medicine to protect them from infection with any HIV that may have passed from mother to child during childbirth. For more information, read the HIVinfo fact sheet on Preventing Perinatal Transmission of HIV.
What is a healthy diet for people living with HIV?
In general, the basics of a healthy diet are the same for everyone, including people with HIV.
- Eat a variety of foods from the five food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy.
- Eat the right amount of food to maintain a healthy weight.
- Choose foods low in saturated fat, sodium (salt), and added sugars
Review and Edited by Lady Feranmi on 11/04/22
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