- Primary HIV Care Provider. This is your team leader, the person who plans your treatment and watches your progress. ...
- Infectious Disease Specialist. This doctor is trained to diagnose and manage infections like HIV. ...
- Nurses and Medical Assistants. These professionals are the backbone of your health care team. ...
- Pharmacists. Pharmacists work with your HIV team leaders to develop a medication treatment plan to help you feel better.
- Mental Health Provider. Your treatment involves caring for both your body and your mind. About 6 in 10 people with HIV have depression -- most of them women.
- Nutritionist/Dietitian. Smart food choices are always important for good health. But that's especially true when your immune system is fighting off a serious infection like HIV.
- Dentist. HIV can cause sores and infections in your mouth, teeth, and gums. In fact, the first signs of an HIV infection are often in your mouth.
- Social Worker. This professional isn't a doctor but someone who helps take care of any concerns you may have while you're living with HIV.
- Case Manager. This person helps you find and coordinate many of the needs that often come with a complicated disease.
- Other Team Members
Who is the best HIV doctor?
You can also get suggestions from:
- A trusted friend or someone you know with HIV
- A local HIV/AIDS organization
- The American Academy of HIV Medicine website (www.aahivm.org)
- Your insurance company's provider list
What type of Doctor treats patients with high ESR?
- High ESR may indicate infection due to the bacterial, viral or parasitic origin. ...
- It is high in inflammatory type arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus.
- If the patient is suffering from any type of vasculitis, ESR is expected to be high.
What type of Doctor treats prostrate problems?
What Types of Doctors Are Involved in Prostate Cancer Care?
- General Practitioner. The first physician most men see for the majority of their medical problems or routine screening is their general practitioner.
- Specialist Physicians and Surgeons. ...
- Radiation Oncologist. ...
- Radiologist. ...
- Pathologist. ...
- Medical Oncologist. ...
What kind of Doctor treats behavioral health?
- Clinical Social Worker – A counselor with a master's degree in social work from an accredited graduate program. ...
- Licensed Professional Counselor – A counselor with a master's degree in psychology, counseling or a related field. ...
- Mental Health Counselor – A counselor with a master's degree and several years of supervised clinical work experience. ...
Which doctor is best for HIV treatment?
Internist.Infectious Disease Specialist.
Who treats patients with HIV?
Your primary HIV health care provider may be a doctor of medicine (MD) or doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO), nurse practitioner (NP), or a physician assistant (PA). Some women may prefer to see an OB-GYN provider who has expertise in HIV/AIDS.
Where can I consult for HIV?
Some people with HIV go to an HIV clinic for their medical appointments; others go to a community health center, a Veterans Affairs clinic, or a private medical provider's office.
Can HIV positive be a surgeon?
The surgical community emphasizes that available scientific data indicate that transmission of HIV infection from physician, surgeon, or nurse to patient is extremely rare.
Their Approach to Health Care
Find a person who shares your basic philosophy about health care. Don't downplay the importance of this.
Qualifications and Office Practice
Your doctor should be board certified in internal medicine (IM) with a subspecialty in infectious disease (ID). If they specialize in HIV, even better. However, some doctors without all of these qualifications -- internists, family physicians, osteopaths -- do have experience treating people with HIV and take very good care of their patients.
Where to Look
Your primary care doctor may have the skills and experience to be your HIV doctor, too. If not, ask them to recommend a specialist.
Build a Good Relationship
One of the most important steps is to communicate and share your views. For example, let your doctor know if something isn't working well for you. At the same time, respect your doctor's concerns and knowledge, even if you don't agree.
What is the best treatment for HIV?
After you’re diagnosed with HIV, it’s important to see a health care provider who can help you start HIV medication (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) as soon as possible. ART is recommended for all people with HIV, regardless of how long they’ve had the virus or how healthy they are.
Does ART cure HIV?
ART can’t cure HIV, but it can control the virus. If taken as every day, exactly as prescribed, ART can reduce the amount of HIV in your body (also called the viral load) to a very low level. This is called viral suppression. Viral suppression helps to keep you healthy and prevents illness.
Is HIV suppressed or undetectable?
There are important health benefits to having a suppressed or undetectable viral load. People living with HIV who know their status, take HIV medication daily as prescribed, and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives. There is also a major prevention benefit. People living with HIV who take HIV medication daily as ...
Does HIV medication prevent transmission?
People living with HIV who take HIV medication daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative sexual partners. This is often called treatment as prevention.
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.
Why do you prescribe HIV?
Your health care provider may prescribe medicines to prevent certain infections. HIV treatment is most likely to be successful when you know what to expect and are committed to taking your medicines exactly as prescribed.
What is drug resistance in HIV?
What Is HIV Drug Resistance? Drug resistance can be a cause of treatment failure for people living with HIV. As HIV multiplies in the body, it sometimes mutates (changes form) and produces variations of itself. Variations of HIV that develop while a person is taking ART can lead to drug-resistant strains of HIV.
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.
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 drug resistant?
A person can initially be infected with drug-resistant HIV or develop drug-resistant HIV after starting HIV medicines. Drug-resistant HIV also can spread from person to person. Drug-resistance testing identifies which, if any, HIV medicines won’t be effective against your specific strain of HIV.
Can HIV drugs prevent HIV?
With drug resistance, HIV medicines that previously controlled a person’s HIV are not effective against new, drug-resistant HIV. In other words, the HIV medicines can't prevent the drug-resistant HIV from multiplying. Drug resistance can cause HIV treatment to fail. A person can initially be infected with drug-resistant HIV or develop ...
What are the services that are available to people with HIV?
Services they may provide: Arrange transportation to and from doctor appointments.
What is the treatment for HIV?
However, there are many medications that can control HIV and prevent complications. These medications are called antiretroviral therapy (ART). Everyone diagnosed with HIV should be started on ART, regardless of their stage of infection or complications.
What test can help determine if you have HIV?
If you receive a diagnosis of HIV / AIDS, several tests can help your doctor determine the stage of your disease and the best treatment, including: CD4 T cell count. CD4 T cells are white blood cells that are specifically targeted and destroyed by HIV. Even if you have no symptoms, HIV infection progresses to AIDS when your CD4 T cell count dips ...
What is HIV RNA?
Viral load (HIV RNA). This test measures the amount of virus in your blood. After starting HIV treatment the goal is to have an undetectable viral load. This significantly reduces your chances of opportunistic infection and other HIV -related complications.
How long does it take to get tested for HIV?
Most rapid HIV tests, including self-tests done at home, are antibody tests. Antibody tests can take three to 12 weeks after you're exposed to become positive. Nucleic acid tests (NATs). These tests look for the actual virus in your blood (viral load). They also involve blood drawn from a vein.
What are some examples of anti-HIV drugs?
Examples include efavirenz (Sustiva), rilpivirine (Edurant) and doravirine (Pifeltro).
How to diagnose HIV?
Diagnosis. HIV can be diagnosed through blood or saliva testing. Available tests include: Antigen/antibody tests. These tests usually involve drawing blood from a vein. Antigens are substances on the HIV virus itself and are usually detectable — a positive test — in the blood within a few weeks after exposure to HIV.
How often should I see a doctor for HIV?
Current HIV treatment guidelines recommend that most people with HIV see their health care provider for lab tests every 6 months. Some people may see their provider more frequently, especially during the first two years of treatment or if their HIV viral load is high or detectable. People who take their HIV medication every day and have an undetectable viral load at every test for more than two years usually only need to have their lab tests checked twice a year.
Who can answer HIV questions?
You may need to direct your questions to different people, depending on what you need or want to know. HIV health care providers (doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants) can answer questions about a wide range of issues that affect your health. These include: How HIV is affecting your body.
What to include in HIV treatment?
Include a list of any HIV medications you may have taken in the past and any problems you had when taking them. Bring a copy of your medical records if your provider does not already have them, including visits to specialists.
What to do if you missed a dose of HIV?
Talk about any HIV medication doses you have missed. Tell your provider about your current sexual or alcohol/drug use activities and your history. These behaviors can put you at risk of developing drug resistance or getting other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well as viral hepatitis.
How does a provider work with you?
Your provider will work with you to develop strategies to stay as healthy as possible. Describe any side effects you may be having. Your provider will want to know how the HIV medications are affecting your body in order to work with you to solve any problems and find the right combination of medications for you.
How to stay healthy with HIV?
Part of staying healthy with HIV is seeing a health care provider regularly so that they can track your progress and make sure your treatment is working. That means managing your HIV medical appointments. Some people with HIV go to an HIV clinic for their medical appointments; others go to a community health center, a Veterans Affairs clinic, ...
What do you need to see if you have HIV?
In addition to seeing your primary HIV health care provider, during a visit you also may need to see a specialist, or access the special skills of a nurse, pharmacist, nutritionist, social worker, case manager, or patient navigator, de pending on your needs . Preparing a plan can help make this easier.
