Which is the main goal of HIV treatment?
Treatment Reduces the Amount of HIV in the Blood. The amount of HIV in the blood is called viral load. Taking your HIV medicine as prescribed will help keep your viral load low and your CD4 cell count high. HIV medicine can make the viral load very low (called viral suppression). Viral suppression is defined as having less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood.
What is the goal of HIV therapy?
Mar 29, 2019 · Why Is HIV Treatment Important? Getting and staying on HIV treatment because it reduces the amount of HIV in your blood (also called the viral load) to a very low level. This keeps you healthy and prevents illness. There is also a major prevention benefit. People living with HIV who take HIV medication daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have …
How to optimize HIV treatment?
Apr 27, 2022 · HIV Treatment as Prevention. 4-27-2022 HIV treatment helps people living with HIV stay healthy and prevents transmission of the virus to others. Learn more.
How long do people live with HIV without treatment?
Routine care and treatment is the best way to keep people with HIV (PWH) healthy. PWH who take medication as prescribed can achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load (or viral suppression), resulting in effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to their sexual partners. Clinician Treatment, Care and Prevention Materials
What is HIV treatment?
HIV treatment involves taking medicine that reduces the amount of HIV in your body. HIV medicine is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). There is n...
When should I start treatment?
Start Treatment As Soon As Possible After Diagnosis HIV medicine is recommended for all people with HIV, regardless of how long they’ve had the vir...
What if I delay treatment?
HIV will continue to harm your immune system. This will put you at higher risk for developing AIDS. Learn more about AIDS and opportunistic infecti...
What are the benefits of taking my HIV medicine every day as prescribed?
Treatment Reduces the Amount of HIV in the Blood The amount of HIV in the blood is called viral load. Taking your HIV medicine as prescribed will h...
Does HIV medicine cause side effects?
HIV medicine can cause side effects in some people. However, not everyone experiences side effects. The most common side effects are Nausea and vom...
Will HIV treatment interfere with my hormone therapy?
There are no known drug interactions between HIV medicine and hormone therapy. Talk to your health care provider if you are worried about taking HI...
What if my treatment is not working?
Your health care provider may change your prescription. A change is not unusual because the same treatment does not affect everyone in the same way.
Sticking to my treatment plan is hard. How can I deal with the challenges?
Tell your health care provider right away if you’re having trouble sticking to your plan. Together you can identify the reasons you’re skipping med...
What is the treatment for HIV?
HIV treatment involves taking medicines that slow the progression of the virus in your body. HIV is a type of virus called a retrovirus, and the combination of drugs used to treat it is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART is recommended for all people living with HIV, regardless of how long they’ve had the virus or how healthy they are.
Is HIV treatment a prevention?
There is also a major prevention benefit. People living with HIV who take HIV medication daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partners. This is called treatment as prevention.
Can HIV be transmitted to HIV-negative people?
People living with HIV who take HIV medication daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partners. This is called treatment as prevention.
How successful is HIV treatment?
HIV treatment is most likely to be successful when you know what to expect and are committed to taking your medicines exactly as prescribed. Working with your health care provider to develop a treatment plan will help you learn more about HIV and manage it effectively.
How soon can you start ART for HIV?
Treatment guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend that a person living with HIV begin ART as soon as possible after diagnosis. Starting ART slows the progression of HIV and can keep you healthy for many years.
Can HIV medications cause side effects?
However, not everyone experiences side effects from ART. The HIV medications used today have fewer side effects, fewer people experience them, and they are less severe than in the past. Side effects can differ for each type of ART medicine and from person to person.
How long do HIV side effects last?
Some side effects can occur once you start a medicine and may only last a few days or weeks.
How Your Treatment Works
It’s called antiretroviral therapy (ART). The drugs help keep your body’s virus count, called an HIV “viral load,” low or “undetectable.” That in turn lets your immune system heal itself and stay strong. It also lowers the odds that you might spread HIV to other people.
How to Prepare
Before you start ART, you’ll have blood tests and a physical exam to rule out other infections or diseases that also need to be treated. Your doctor may also want to check that your virus isn’t resistant to any of the current HIV drugs.
Treatment Questions
HIV drugs can be taken in many different combinations. You and your doctor will find the therapy that works best for you. You'll want to think about:
Side Effects
If your HIV drugs cause problems, your doctor can prescribe medicine to ease the side effects or switch you to different HIV drugs.
Monitoring
Your doctor will check your blood every 3-6 months to keep tabs on your HIV and how well your treatment is working. The main tests are:
CD4 Cell Count
Also called T-cells, these help your body fight infections. HIV attacks these cells, and makes it easier for you to pick up infections and get sick. Your doctor will check your CD4 count every 3-6 months if it’s in the low range (less than 500 cells per cubic millimeter of blood).
Self-Care
Medication can help keep your HIV in check. But your personal actions also will have a big effect on your health.
Answer
I think the correct answer to the question is to keep the persons immune system functioning. HIV usually multiply quickly in a body and can damage the immune system. Immune system is what allows the body to fight off infections and cancers. HIV treatment greatly slows down the damage it does and allows the immune system to recover.
New questions in Biology
1. What mountain ranges on Earth would require you to take oxygen with you to reach the peak? Find at least two mountains. Be sure to include their el …
Diagnostic Considerations
HIV infection can be diagnosed by HIV 1/2 Ag/Ab combination immunoassays. All FDA-cleared HIV tests are highly sensitive and specific. Available serologic tests can detect all known subtypes of HIV-1. The majority also detect HIV-2 and uncommon variants of HIV-1 (e.g., group O and group N).
Acute HIV Infection
Providers serving persons at risk for STIs are in a position to diagnose HIV infection during its acute phase.
Treatment
ART should be initiated as soon as possible for all persons with HIV infection regardless of CD4+ T-cell count, both for individual health and to prevent HIV transmission ( https://clinicalinfo.hiv.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/AdultandAdolescentGL.pdf#N#pdf icon external icon#N#).
Other HIV Management Considerations
Behavioral and psychosocial services are integral to caring for persons with HIV infection. Providers should expect persons to be distressed when first informed that they have HIV.
STI Screening of Persons with HIV Infection in HIV Care Settings
At the initial HIV care visit, providers should screen all sexually active persons for syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, and perform screening for these infections at least annually during the course of HIV care ( 425 ). Specific testing includes syphilis serology and NAAT for N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis at the anatomic site of exposure.
Partner Services and Reporting
Partner notification is a key component in the evaluation of persons with HIV infection. Early diagnosis and treatment of HIV among all potentially exposed sexual and injecting drug sharing partners can improve their health and reduce new infections.
Special Considerations
All pregnant women should be tested for HIV during the first prenatal visit.
Can HIV be suppressed?
Today, people with HIV who take HIV medication as prescribed and stay virally suppressed can live long, healthy lives and have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to a partner. Increasing the proportion of people with HIV who are virally suppressed is a key strategy to prevent new HIV transmissions.
How many people are unaware of HIV?
Diagnose all individuals with HIV as early as possible after infection. More than 160,000 Americans are unaware they are living with HIV. Early detection coupled with rapid linkage to care is critical and can lead to improved individual and community health outcomes.
What is a ready set program?
In December 2019, HHS launched Ready, Set, PrEP, a nationwide program that provides PrEP medications at no cost to thousands of individuals who qualify. SSPs are another effective component of a comprehensive, integrated approach to HIV prevention for people who inject drugs.
Why are SSPs important?
SSPs play an important role in reducing the transmission of viral hepatitis, HIV, and other infections. Comprehensive SSPs dramatically reduce HIV risk and can provide an entry point for a range of services to help stop drug use, overdose deaths, and infectious diseases.
What are the different types of HIV drugs?
Types of drugs. Initial HIV treatment generally consists of two medications called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in combination with a third active antiret roviral (ARV) drug from one of three drug classes: integrase strand transfer inhibitors. non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors.
What is the DHHS?
Current guidelines. Recent updates. HIV resources. Bottom line. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is the U.S. federal government agency responsible for protecting the health of the American public. The DHHS HIV guidelines help inform healthcare professionals of the best ways to treat HIV based on the latest clinical evidence ...
What is the Department of Health and Human Services?
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is the U.S. federal government agency responsible for protecting the health of the American public. The DHHS HIV guidelines help inform healthcare professionals of the best ways to treat HIV based on the latest clinical evidence and expert opinions. In this article, we break down some of the key ...