The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is a disease that systematically destroys the body's immune system, according to MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. The disease can...
Though HIV is an incurable disease, several medications slow its progression. Many of these medications work by preventing the HIV virus from producing more copies of itself. Several classes of HIV antiretroviral medications have been approved by...
HIV, also known as human immunodeficiency virus, is an infection that, during its advance stages, can develop into to AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, a disease that affects the body's cells and immune system. HIV is transmitted through...
Neuropathy occurs regularly in HIV infection. According to University of Chicago Center for Peripheral Neuropathy, nerve damage affects nearly a third of patients diagnosed with HIV, and peripheral neuropathy can manifest at early stages of the...
Some medications increase the risk for developing kidney stones, and individuals who take these medications may need to stop taking the drug, or have their dosages reduced. Individuals who continue taking the drug should have their kidney function...
The effects of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, are detrimental not only for the individual, but also for society as a whole. AIDS is a life-threatening disease that damages the body's immune system. It is caused by the human...
According to the United States (U.S.) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in the U.S. there are 56,300 people infected with "Human Immunodeficiency Virus" (HIV). NIAID approximates that 33 million people worldwide are...
Starting medications for HIV can be a lifestyle change. Antiretrovirals are medications used to slow the progression of HIV. There are different classes of drugs that work to stop the virus in different stages of its life cycle. A doctor will...
Antiretroviral, or AVR, drugs are used to treat retroviruses--most often, the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which can eventually lead to the failure of the immune system, called auto-immune deficiency syndrome, also known as AIDS. There...
MedlinePlus notes that in 2008, about 3.4 million people in the world had human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. The virus, which spreads through sexual contact or needle exchange or from mother to...
In July 2010 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 1 million people in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS. Whereas infection with the human immunodeficiency virus was once untreatable due to lack of effective...
Highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, is a way of treating HIV, according to the "American Family Physician" in an August 2003 article. HAART makes use of different antiretroviral medications in order to effectively lower the levels of...
Infection with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, causes AIDS, a condition in which the immune system becomes weakened, leaving patients vulnerable to life-threatening opportunistic infections. HIV is a retrovirus composed of a genome made from...
Cholesterol is a waxy substance that circulates in your bloodstream and plays an important role in the composition of cell membranes, hormones and enzymes. While cholesterol is an essential element in the body, too much cholesterol can be...
Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, can take many years to progress to AIDS. At the time of publication, there is no cure for HIV/AIDS, but antiretroviral medications mean that some HIV-positive patients can live with the disease for a long...
HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, is a sexually transmitted virus that spreads by contact with infected semen, vaginal fluids, blood or during childbirth or breastfeeding. AIDS is a chronic syndrome caused by HIV, in which your immune...
HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, is a virus that weakens the immune system. It destroys the important cells of the body that fight infection, with symptoms mimicking other viruses like the flu. Over time, HIV makes it impossible for the...
AIDS (autoimmune deficiency syndrome) is a condition in which the cells that defend the body called CD4 lymphocytes reach a level of 200 or lower. Symptoms of AIDS include night sweats, a dry cough, blurry vision, shortness of breath, chronic...
Avert, an international AIDS charity, states that HIV and AIDS prevention proves vital for those who have already become infected with the virus, as well as those who present a risk for infection. While treatment with antiretroviral medications...
In 2006 there were 56,300 new cases of HIV infection in the United States, according to the "5-Minute Clinical Consult" textbook. Advanced HIV infection, AIDS, took the lives of 14,627 people in 2006. HIV infection worldwide affects 32.2 million...
HIV positive women who become pregnant will need to work closely with their physicians to make decisions about antiretroviral medications. If a woman decides to stop all her medications during pregnancy, her viral load could increase and she...
The HIV virus slowly infects cells in the body's immune and central nervous system, ravaging the immune system over time to the point that the body is unable to fight back. The medical and scientific communities organize HIV infection into four...
Psychosis is a condition in which the patient loses touch with reality with delusions about circumstances, or hallucinations, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Patients infected with HIV may develop psychosis; patients with more...
Although many overweight individuals desire to lose weight, unintentional weight loss is a cause for concern and is sometimes seen in people with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. HIV is a virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome,...
Hypothyroidism refers to a condition in which the thyroid gland is underactive. The Mayo Clinic says that symptoms of hypothyroidism includes fatigue, constipation, muscle weakness, joint swelling and depression. Other symptoms of this condition...
HIV is a complex disorder that can cause many different health problems, including kidney disease. One way of treating kidney problems due to HIV is to prescribe diuretics, a type of medication that helps the kidneys excrete more water. Diuretics...
Because newborns do not have a fully developed immune system, there is a good chance that if you come down sick, your newborn will also become ill. But there are a few basic steps that you can take to reduce the likelihood that your illness will...
Most people are familiar with type 2 diabetes, which has a hereditary component and is often triggered by obesity. But sometimes diabetes is drug-induced, and several different medication categories are implicated as culprits. Despite the risk,...
AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is a serious medical condition that is contracted through exposure to HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS affects the immune system, inhibiting the body's ability to fight off infection, leaving...
