Being HIV-positive essentially means being infected with HIV, which stands for human immunodeficiency virus.
HIV invades the body’s immune system and gradually weakens it over the course of 10-15 years, leading to what’s known as late-stage or advanced HIV infection: AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Struck with AIDS, the body’s immune system can no longer resist to the bacteria, fungi, and viruses that roam all around: infections become frequent and violent, eventually resulting in death if the condition remains untreated.
Although this prospect sounds terrifying, there is a gap of many years (sometimes even decades) between being diagnosed as HIV-positive and suffering from severe immune failure. This is where proper HIV treatment comes into play.
When HIV invades the immune system, it starts making copies of itself inside the body’s immune cells. The number of these copies quickly becomes critical, and the immune cells are literally torn from the inside by copies of the virus.
Essentially, modern HIV treatment (also known as antiretroviral therapy) significantly decreases the rate at which the virus replicates itself. This allows to halt the destruction of one’s immune system and preventing the progression of the disease.
It’s important to understand that an HIV-positive person remains HIV-positive during antiretroviral therapy. In other words, it isn’t a cure, but an effective way to prevent the development of HIV into AIDS—and all the infections that come along with it.
Of course, taking care of all other aspects of one’s health (proper nutrition, healthy sleep, treatment of concurrent conditions) is also essential for the long-term management of the condition, but specialized therapy is still key.
The sooner HIV treatment is started after a person is confirmed to be HIV-positive, the slower the progression of the disease will be. Modern antiretroviral therapy allows living life to the fullest, but it’s essential to start early.
If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with HIV infection, don’t despair and don’t hesitate: make an appointment with a qualified infection specialist to start treatment as soon as possible.
#hivtreatment #treat&beat
Call us to make an appointment: (954) 776-9992 or go online at infectionsmanaged.org
Read More:
https://infectionsmanaged.org/what-is-hiv/
https://infectionsmanaged.org/hiv-treatment-numbers-that-make-you-think/