AIDS is that form which destroys the defense immune system of the body. The infection by which it is caused is termed as HIV. White blood cells are those cells which protect the body from diseases and HIV lives in the white blood cells after attacking the body. Now the question arises what is the difference between HIV and AIDS? HIV weakens the immune system. When someone gets the HIV virus and his/her CD4 cells come below 200, that person is diagnosed with AIDS. In some cases this disease takes a lot of time to develop while in others it develops quickly.
What Is The Difference Between HIV and AIDS?
Reason:
People get HIV through certain body fluids like semen and blood. It passed between two people in lots of ways which includes sharing needles and having sex. It is a myth that you can get HIV by shaking hands, hugging or even eating with someone who is suffering from HIV. It is possible that if the mother of the unborn is HIV positive, it may pass to the child.
More than 99 % of people who suffer from HIV have unprotected sex with that person who already has HIV. It also happens by sharing injection drugs with the infected person. Except kissing, all other forms of sexual contact that exchange the body fluids carry high amount of spreading HIV risk. More than oral sex, it happens through vaginal or anal intercourse. In the U.S. there is a myth that HIV is a gay disease and cannot happen to heterosexuals. This is not at all true. In fact hr number cause for the HIV is heterosexual sex. From since 1980s, the number of HIV positive people has increased. It is not that kind of disease in which you will look weak, there are so many HIV positive people who look very healthy.
Sharing contaminated injections like syringes and needle are another cause of getting HIV infections. In some regions of the U.S. especially northeast, injectable drugs is the main cause for HIV from 1987.
Medical Treatments:
There is no cure for this disease. There are some protease inhibitors and medications available but it can only make the HIV positive live longer for some time. Mostly people fighting with this disease, tend to die within 2 years.
Transmission of HIV infections from mother to baby has been reduced in western Europe and north America by the use of antiretroviral therapy. It is believed by the scientific studies a woman whose virus is not detectable and is on antiretroviral therapy has 0 to 2 % risk of passing the HIV virus to her unborn babies. There is a high risk if the mother is not taking antiretroviral therapy.
HIV Test Is Important:
If your test has come negative, make sure you take necessary precautions to keep yourself fit and healthy. If your test comes positive, immediately get the support and treatment you need as it will be the matter of your life. Also inform your partner or dear ones who are closely involved with you, so that they will take the preventive measures. If you are not feeling comfortable in telling them, tell your physician, trusted family member or manager to inform them.
Many people ask that what is T-cell or CD4 count and why it is important? We all know that our immune system fights with the infections and different types of cells help it to do so. One type of immune cells are CD4 cells and it is also termed as T-cell. We can say that CD4 cells are the captains of the team of our immune system. They generally help the other cells to do their work or jobs properly. As soon as HIV enters in someone’s body it starts separating CD4 cells into small factories. It makes more HIV. Due to this thousand of new copies of the virus has been made with each CD4 cell. The CD4 cell get exhausted because of this process. In the starting, the body produces more CD4 cells to keep the balance happened due to HIV. After a period of time, less CD4 get produced by the body and the body becomes less able o fight with the infections and germs. You can also get to know the count of the CD4 cells in the blood by a test termed as CD4 count test. If you get the higher count, it means that your immune system is strong. Doctors measure this count when the person is diagnosed with this disease and after every 3 to 6 months. A count of 500 is termed as normal. If the cells drop below two hundred, that person get diagnosed with AIDS.
Combination Of HIV Medicines:
Many doctors recommend taking a combination of HIV medicines if they have decided to take the treatment. Around 3 medicines are required to manage the load of the virus to the undetectable levels and to maintain it there. Believe it or not but HIV multiplies so fast that it makes 1 to ten billion copies in a day. That is why it is very vital to take the combination of medicines. As soon as the copies increases, the effect of the medicines decreases. This is termed as resistance. With the help of the combination therapy, the chances of developing this resistance decrease.
Do not miss even a single dose of the medicines if you are dealing with this disease. If you miss a dose the virus multiplies even more and weakens the CD4 cells. So, if you missed a dose, do not try to take twice to the normal dosage. Continue with the normal schedule with the next dose. If you are getting any kind of side effects from the combination of medicines, consult your doctor, he/she will change the combination.
It happens that sometimes the combination of medicines does not work well to fight the HIV infection. There can be a lot of reasons behind it like the combination is not having the correct medicines or the virus have changed due to resistance because of which the medicines are not showing their effect. Changing the combination of the medicines is not an unusual thing, so do not get panic because of this.
Now you know what is the difference between HIV and AIDS? And also about some medical treatments and reasons for it.
