Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is better known as AIDS. This condition results from the most advanced stage of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, infection. The first case of AIDS was reported in the United States in 1981. Since that time, researchers and physicians have advanced the treatment protocols to the point where antiviral medications are helping individuals live years longer than those in just the past decade. Advanced stages of AIDS occur as the individual reaches the end of his life and requires focused care.
Infections
HIV and AIDS affect the T cells in the body's immune system. These white blood cells play a vital role in the protection against opportunistic infections. According to the University of California at San Francisco, some of those opportunistic infections include candidiasis of the trachea or lungs, cryptococcosis, which affects the body outside of lung, cytomegalovirus, which affects the outside of the liver, spleen or lymph nodes, encephalopathy, histoplasmosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and pneumocystis. Individuals with end-stage AIDS can also suffer from toxoplasmosis of the brain and salmonella septicemia.
Cancers
According to the American Cancer Society, opportunistic infections can also include certain cancers that are linked to end-stage AIDS. Invasive cervical cancer in women, Kaposi's sarcoma, Burkitt lymphoma, immunoblastic lymphoma and brain lymphoma are all cancers that are prevalent in individuals who are in the advanced stages of AIDS.
Wasting Syndrome
According to AIDS.org, AIDS wasting syndrome is an involuntary loss of more than 10 percent of body weight. Individuals with AIDS suffer from reduced appetite, diarrhea, weakness and fever, which cause the reduction in both lean body mass and fat. Although physicians are unclear as to what starts AIDS wasting syndrome, they do understand that several factors contribute to the syndrome, including low food intake, poor nutrient absorption and an altered metabolism. HIV appears to change some hormone levels, which affects metabolism. These factors all work together to create a downward spiral that is usually predictive of death.
Neurological Problems
The HIV virus does not appear to directly invade nerve cells, but, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, it does jeopardize the health and function of those cells. Inflammation can directly damage the brain and spinal cord, causing symptoms such as confusion, forgetfulness, behavioral changes, progressive weakness and loss of sensation. HIV infection can significantly alter the size of certain areas of the brain that are involved in learning and the processing of information. Complications that occur as a result of advanced stages of AIDS, or the drugs used to treat it, include seizures, shingles, spinal cord problems, lack of coordination, anxiety disorder, fever, depression, vision loss, difficult or painful swallowing and destruction of brain tissue and coma.
