Contents
HIV is no longer a sentence – the availability of effective antiretroviral therapy has turned a fatal infection into a chronic disease. People who are infected can live a normal life, work, start a family, and have healthy children if treated. The sooner the better.
HIV affects everyone
According to the data of the National AIDS Center, there are approx. 23 thousand people in Poland. 600 people with HIV. Due to the long, asymptomatic course of the infection in most patients, the number of newly detected cases depends largely on the number of tests performed. Unfortunately, we still test ourselves too rarely – only 10 percent. Poles have ever checked their serological status, while in Western countries the majority of the population is tested. Therefore, it is assumed that some people living with HIV have not yet been diagnosed. How big is the “HIV gray zone”, that is, a group of people who do not know their status and unknowingly infect others? It is difficult to judge … Moreover, in the number of so-called late presenters who are diagnosed late in the infection. It also happens that the virus is diagnosed accidentally, in connection with completely different diseases, e.g. pneumonia or recurrent herpes zoster.
- HIV is no longer a taboo. What is life with HIV in Poland like?
Experts admit that Poles’ low awareness of sexually transmitted diseases is to blame. Many assume that they are not affected by HIV. The truth is that HIV affects everyone, regardless of age, gender, occupation or sexual orientation. Anyone who has had at least one sexual contact without a condom, with someone who is unfamiliar with their serological status, or with other risky behavior, should get tested. Especially since the best effects of treatment are obtained in patients who undergo therapy shortly after infection. Late diagnosis in full-blown AIDS is associated with the risk of severe disease and death.
Therapy yesterday and today
Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, a lot of funds have been allocated to research into the pathogenesis of HIV infection, which has resulted in the development of new effective therapies. Today, “being seropositive” is no longer associated with a quick and inevitable death. Although it is still not possible to cure HIV infection, the situation of patients has changed dramatically. The use of modern antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) in recent years, which make it possible to maintain the level of HIV ribonucleic acid below the detection threshold (<50 copies / ml) in most patients, allows to prevent the destruction of the immune system and the related serious infectious complications, neoplastic diseases or pathologies with the scope of the central nervous system [i].
- The HIV virus is expected to disappear by 2030. Will this plan be implemented?
Currently, infected people who take antiretroviral drugs can work normally, raise families and have healthy children. If treated according to medical indications, they live as long as uninfected people. HIV has now become a chronic disease. For example, the life expectancy of an infected man at the age of 35 after one year of treatment is 70-72 years. By comparison, the average life expectancy of an uninfected male in the general population is 77 years.
However, ARV therapy must be continued for life and, as a long-term therapy, is associated with a relatively high risk of side effects. In the first period of taking medications, digestive system ailments occur: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, which disappear in most people over time. Much more serious side effects appear after many months or even years. They include: lipid metabolism disorders, increased incidence of heart attacks, diabetes, osteoporosis or kidney diseases [ii].
If you want to check that you are not infected with HIV, please purchase INSTI HIV HIV Shipping Screening Test. You can find it on Medonet Market, and you can conduct the test yourself at home.
For over 20 years, the basic principle of therapy has been the use of three drugs from two different groups. A breakthrough for the current treatment is the currently recommended two-drug therapy, based on the use of two active substances.
The effectiveness of dual-drug therapy has been confirmed both among patients who are just starting treatment and in patients who have already been treated and who have changed their previous treatment regimen.
- Patient zero: he had 2,5 thousand lovers, many knowingly infected with HIV
Simplifying treatment through the use of dual-drug therapy also meets the needs of people living with HIV. This is confirmed by the Positive Perspectives 2 study [iii], which shows that 73 percent. of patients declare that they would not mind taking fewer HIV drugs, provided that the treatment is effective, and 68 percent. people living with HIV infection are concerned about the long-term effects of drugs on their body. It is the fear of long-term toxicity that often drives the decision to discontinue treatment.