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HIV & AIDS
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009This is one of the scariest words you can have told to you. Mainly because you may not know what it means and what happens next. It is a virus that damages your body’s immun system, meaning it makes it harder for your body to fight off infections. Unforunately this disease also makes you more susceptible to different types of cancer and other infections such as pnuemonia and meningitis.AIDS is the name given when you are in the later stages of the disease.
In early stages of the infection, the symptoms may include, fever, headache,swollen lymph glands, and a rash.In the beginning you may not have symptoms but you will still be able to pass the disease on to others. In the later stages of the disease, the first signs are swollen lymph nodes,diarrhea,weight loss,fever and a couch. By the time that AIDS has set in the signs and symptoms may be the following. Soaking night sweats, shaking chills or a fever higher than 100,dry couch, shortness of breath,chronic diarrhea,persistent white spots or unusual lesions on your tongue or in your mouth,headahces, blurred or distorted vision, and weight loss.
This disease is passed a number of different ways and here are just a few of them. Having unprotected sex with an infectious person, through blood transfusion of an infected donor.Through needle sharing, meaning drug needles used by someone who is a carrier of the disease. Just to let you know you cant get the disease by kissing or hugging,dancing or shaking hands. It has to be passed through blood or sexual secretions.
The complications of this disease are that you are more vulnerable to pneumonia, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, hepatitis,herpes and HPV.Also you become more vulnerable to different types of cancer.
Testing for HIV is done using blood or oral mucous, but it isnt accurate sometimes becaus ethe disease takes about 12 weeks for the antibodies to develop and in rare cases it could take up to 6 months.
As of now there is not cure for HIV/AIDS, but there are drugs that suppress the symptoms and reduce the amount of the virus in your blood to very low levels or to the fact of being undetectable. Now that doesnt mean that its gone.Testing will be done at the beginning of treatment and every 3-6 months to see if the meds are lowering the levels of the virus in the blood.
Now when being treated remember to follow your doctor’s guidelines. Get vaccinations for pneumonia and the flu, dont smoke or do any illicit drugs and try your best to eat a healthy diet. Find ways to relax,get plenty of rest.
When receiving this news go out and learn all that you can about the disease to better prepare yourself for the changes.Maintain a strong support system, do what you can to come to terms with the illness. If you have to seek out counseling, there are a vast number of support systems out there to help you through this.
