Of the Dreaded Disease Called AIDS

Every year, on the first of December, people around the world gather around and rally against a disease called Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.  They strive to keep people informed about the killer disease and how to prevent it.

AIDS is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV and is characterized by the weakening of the immune system, thereby making the patient vulnerable to other types of infections and tumours’.  A recent report from the United Nations creates the illusion that AIDS infections are tapering off.   The United Nations says that AIDS cases peaked in 1996, almost 13 years ago.

Estimates in 2007 have placed the total number of people with AIDS or HIV at around 30 million to 36 million, while more than 25 million have been thought to die from the disease since 1981.  The hardest hit has been the African continent, and most new cases involve people who are under 25 years old.

Transmission and Prevention

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is transmitted by:

- Having unprotected sex with an infected person,

- An infected mother passing it on to an unborn child, or during labour and childbirth, or

- Getting transfused with infected blood.

The killer disease can thus infect anybody, but high risk groups have been identified: older people, women, children, drug users, gay men, and prostitutes.  Much of the prevention effort in HIV and AIDS prevention are focused on people who do not have it yet.  Every year, we are bombarded with ads, infomercial, and pamphlets telling us how to avoid getting the disease.  From abstinence from sex, to being faithful, to using condoms, to avoiding drug use or sharing needles, people around the world are being instructed on how to avoid the disease.

The good news is, much of the focus is now geared towards those who have been infected.  The so-called people living with AIDS/HIV are now being educated on how to make sure that they do not infect other people with the disease.  On top of that, they are also given the knowledge on how to manage their own health and the disease, while also being provided the support they need to live with AIDS or HIV.

Symptoms

AIDS symptoms are varied, but generally, these involve infections that do not normally trouble healthy people.  Bacterial, fungal and viral infections plague an AIDS patient and can very well affect every organ in the body.  AIDS patients are also susceptible to a variety of cancers like cervical cancer and Kaposi’s sarcoma.   They may also have higher incidences of fever, swollen glands, and loss of weight, weakness and other symptoms of infections.

Treatment

At the moment, there is no known cure for AIDS.  Modern science has been scrambling to find a treatment that would reverse the disease, but has not been successful so far.  There are, however, therapies and treatments that help stem or slow the progression of the disease.

HIV or AIDS treatment nowadays involves antiretroviral treatments that can help people avoid getting ill for a far longer time from when they got infected.  It is a treatment plan that has to be undergone by the patient every single day.

Antiretroviral treatments help the patient by lowering the number of the HIV in the body, making it nearly impossible to weaken the immune system.  It also helps the body recover from HIV-related damage.

At the moment, more than two drugs are required for therapy, ensuring that the body does not become resistant to treatment and make it inutile.  This makes the treatments more effective in the long run.

Lamivudine, abacavir, stavudine, didanosine and tenofovir are only some of the drugs currently approved for HIV or AIDS treatment.

With the lack of a cure, AIDS (and HIV) remained one of the most frightening diseases that currently plague the world.  Do not be a victim.  AIDS is a deadly disease that is ironically very easy to avoid.  Educate yourself and your loved ones on just what exactly the disease it, how it is transmitted and how it could be avoided.

More importantly, if you think that you have AIDS or HIV, or if you have engaged in risky behaviors, then have yourself checked.  Early diagnosis of the disease cannot only help you get treatments to help slow down the progress of the disease, but also protect the people you come in contact with.