23 Jul 20 1:50:52 PM
Due to the added risk of other infections and disease, people living with HIV must make lifestyle adjustments to accommodate their reduced immunity.
Adherence: Taking HIV medication as prescribed is absolutely essential to effective treatment. Missing even a few doses might jeopardize the treatment. Program a daily, methodical routine to fit the treatment plan around any existing lifestyle and schedule. Treatment plans will be different between people. People sometimes refer to “adherence” as “compliance”.
HIV medications can cause particularly severe side effects that often deter people from adherence. Learn more about the adverse effects of HIV medication by clicking here. If side effects are becoming too severe, speak to your medical team rather than simply stopping medication. They can switch the regimen to a better-tolerated drug.
General health: Taking steps to avoid illness and other infections is key. People living with HIV should seek to improve overall health through regular exercise, a balanced, nutritious diet, and the cessation of any drugs, including tobacco.
Additional precautions: People living with AIDS should take extra precautions to prevent any exposure to infection, especially around animals. Avoid coming into contact with animal feces and pet litter. Doctors also recommend the meticulous and regular washing of hands. Antiretrovirals reduce the need for these precautions. Regular contact with doctors: HIV is a lifelong condition, so regular contact with a healthcare team is important for updating treatment in line with advancing age and other conditions. The healthcare team will regular review and adjust treatment accordingly.
Psychological effects: Common misconceptions about AIDS and HIV are reducing as understanding of the disease increases. However, stigma around the condition continues in many parts of the world. People living with HIV may feel excluded, persecuted, and isolated. An HIV diagnosis can be very distressing, and feelings of anxiety or depression are common. If you feel anxious or have symptoms of depression, seek medical help immediately.
Treatment
No cure is currently available for HIV or AIDS. However, treatments can stop the progression of the condition and allow most people living with HIV the opportunity to live a long and relatively healthy life. Starting ART early in the progression of the virus is crucial. This improves quality of life, extends life expectancy, and reduces the risk of transmission, according to the WHO’s guidelines from June 2013. More effective and better-tolerated treatments have evolved that can improve general health and quality of life by taking as little as one pill per day. A person living with HIV can reduce their viral load to such a degree that it is no longer detectable in a blood test. After assessing a number of large studies, the CDC concluded that individuals who have no detectable viral load “have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting the virus to an HIV-negative partner.”
Emergency HIV pills, or post-exposure prophylaxis
If an individual believes they have been exposed to the virus within the last 3 days, anti-HIV medications, called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), may be able to stop infection. Take PEP as soon as possible after potential contact with the virus. PEP is a treatment lasting a total of 28 days, and physicians will continue to monitor for HIV after the completion of the treatment.
Antiretroviral drugs
The treatment of HIV involves antiretroviral medications that fight the HIV infection and slows down the spread of the virus in the body. People living with HIV generally take a combination of medications called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) or combination antiretroviral therapy (cART).
There are a number of subgroups of antiretrovirals, such as:
Protease inhibitors
Protease is an enzyme that HIV needs to replicate. These medications bind to the enzyme and inhibit its action, preventing HIV from making copies of itself.
These include:
Integrase inhibitors
HIV needs integrase, another enzyme, to infect T cells. This drug blocks integrase. These are often the first line of treatment due to their effectiveness and limited side effects for many people.
Integrase inhibitors include:
Nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)
These drugs, also referred to as “nukes,” interfere with HIV as it tries to replicate.
This class of drugs includes:
Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs)
NNRTIs work in a similar way to NRTIs, making it more difficult for HIV to replicate.
Chemokine co-receptor antagonists
These drugs block HIV from entering cells. However, doctors in the U.S. do not often prescribe these because other drugs are more effective.
Entry inhibitors
Entry inhibitors prevent HIV from entering T cells. Without access to these cells, HIV cannot replicate. As with chemokine co-receptor antagonists, they are not common in the United States. People will often use a combination of these drugs to suppress HIV.
A medical team will adapt the exact mix of drugs to each individual. HIV treatment is usually permanent, lifelong, and based on routine dosage. A person living with HIV must take pills on a regular schedule. Each class of ARVs has different side effects, but possible common side effects include:
Complementary or alternative medicine
Although many people who have HIV try complementary, alternative, or herbal options, such as herbal remedies, no evidence confirms them to be effective. According to some limited studies, mineral or vitamin supplements may provide some benefits in overall health. It is important to discuss these options with a healthcare provider because some of these options, even vitamin supplements, may interact with ARVs.
"Medically reviewed by Daniel Murrell, MD on November 29, 2018 — Written by Adam Felman"
5/2/2024
*T & C Apply
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