Things To Know About Hiv Suppression
A vial of blood
A vial of blood
Development of antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV has turned what was once an almost always fatal infection into a manageable chronic condition. Daily antiretroviral therapy can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood to levels that are undetectable with standard tests. Staying on treatment is crucial to keep the virus suppressed. NIAID-supported research has demonstrated that achieving and maintaining a durably undetectable viral load not only preserves the health of the person living with HIV, but also prevents sexual transmission of the virus to an HIV-negative partner.
Who Are Hiv Long
“We were a group of people who were willing to stand up for ourselves and for others and face what the world had to offer. Those living with HIV today can never the horrors many of us had to endure in the early days of this epidemic. I wish I didn’t remember I wish I could forget.” Vickie Lynn, Drawing Lines in the Sand, A Girl Like Me
Powerful HIV drugs now make it possible for people living with HIV to live far longer lives than could have been imagined before effective HIV treatment became available. This is one of the greatest successes of modern medicine. Those who have lived with HIV for many years are often called long-term survivors .
There are a few definitions describing HIV LTS. One definition of LTS refers to those who have been living with HIV since before the modern era of effective HIV drugs, or “highly active antiretroviral therapy” . They are sometimes known as pre-HAART LTS or “longest-term survivors.” They acquired HIV when the condition was, in most cases, a death sentence. They often spent their early adult lives believing they would die young – and watching scores of friends die of the health condition with which they themselves were living. This kind of traumatic experience can leave a lasting mark on people’s lives, and affect mental and physical health, as well as financial stability and overall quality of life.
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Newly Diagnosed With Hiv
What does an HIV diagnosis mean?
- If you receive an HIV diagnosis, it means that you have HIV.
- Unlike some other viruses, the human body cant get rid of HIV completely. Once you have HIV, you have it for life.
- But with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. People with HIV who get effective HIV treatment can live long, healthy lives and protect their partners.
What should I do if I just got diagnosed with HIV?
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Factors That Reduce Life Expectancy
But there are challenges that can take back many of those gains. From an individual perspective, longevity is subject to numerous factors that can either increase or decrease life expectancy in a person with HIV. These factors range from things we can control to things we can’t .
Moreover, HIV is really only part of the long-term concern. Even for those able to maintain an undetectable viral load, the risk of non-HIV-associated diseases, like cancer and heart disease, is far greater than in the general population and can occur anywhere from 10 to 15 years earlier.
So profound are these concerns that a person with HIV is far more likely to die prematurely of a non-HIV-related illness than an HIV-related one.
Life Expectancy With Hiv: How Long Can Someone Live With Hiv
The research on HIV, its symptoms and causes has been done since years, and the same is in continuation. As of now there is no cure for HIV or AIDS, but there are medications and treatment which can make the remaining life of the patient easier, and extend the duration of the patients life. As, HIV can be distinguished or categorized in three different stages, the life expectancy for different stage is different and also depends upon the infected percentage of your immune system.
As per the statistics reported from 1996-1997, an HIV positive person has a life expectancy of almost 19 years, say if the person has been found infected at the age of 20, he shall live further till he is 39-40 years old. However, there has been an immense inclination found in life expectancy since then, and as reported in the year 2011, the increased life span of 19 years was found to extend up to 53 years, where supposedly if a person is found HIV positive at the age of 20, he can live as long as 73-74 years old.
A HIV positive woman has lesser life expectancy than men, but with the advanced treatment methods, the life expectancy in the current scenario has been increased, where initially it was reported to be around 38 years old and now has been found to extend up to 49 years old. The increase in the life expectancy of a person with HIV has increased thanks to the advanced medicines and treating methods.
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Treatment Fatigue And Tolerability
Treatment fatigue may lead many LTS to have difficulties adhering to their HIV treatment, which can eventually cause drug resistance. However, multidrug-resistant HIV is already a reality for a number of LTS, for whom effective treatment options are difficult to find.
Many long-term survivors take a dizzying array of pills each day, for HIV and for other health conditions they’re managing . They may also take vitamins, supplements, birth control methods, and pain relievers, all of which can increase the likelihood of drug interactions.
A review of numerous studies of people who acquired HIV at birth found that younger long-term survivors were more likely to have their HIV treatment be unsuccessful than adults, for a number of reasons:
- They may have been exposed to HIV treatment in the womb that increased their chances of HIV drug resistance
- Their treatment histories tend to be just as complex as those described above for older-adult LTS, and complicated by fewer medication options for children due to fixed doses and the need for dose adjustment for weight
- Young people may find it more challenging than adults to take their HIV drugs consistently enough for the drugs to be effective
It is very important for LTS of all ages to have trusting relationships with their health care providers, so that they can work together to find effective, tolerable treatment options. This is a key step not only to improve long-term health outcomes, but also to improve quality of life.
How Is Life Expectancy Calculated
Life expectancy is the average number of years that a person can expect to live.
More precisely, it is the average number of years an individual of a given age is expected to live if current mortality rates continue to apply. It is an estimate that is calculated by looking at the current situation of a group of people and projecting that into the future.
However, HIV is a relatively new disease and HIV treatment is a rapidly changing area of medicine. It is therefore hard to know whether our current experience will be an accurate guide to the future.
At the moment, there are large numbers of people living with HIV in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties and sixties. Current death rates are very low, resulting in encouraging figures for future life expectancy. But we have very little experience of people living with HIV in their seventies or eighties, so we know less about the impact HIV may have later in life.
Also, healthcare for people with HIV is likely to get better in the future. People living with HIV will benefit from improved anti-HIV drugs that have fewer side-effects, are easier to take and are more effective in suppressing HIV. Doctors understanding of how best to prevent and treat heart disease, diabetes, cancers and other conditions in people with HIV is improving. This could mean that people actually live longer than our current estimates suggest.
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Health Issues And Aging With Hiv
People aging with HIV share many of the same health concerns as the general population aged 50 and older: multiple chronic diseases or conditions, the use of multiple medications, changes in physical and cognitive abilities, and increased vulnerability to stressors. In addition, while effective HIV treatment has decreased the likelihood of AIDS-defining illnesses among people aging with HIV, many HIV-associated non-AIDS conditions occur frequently in older persons with HIV, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, renal disease, and cancer. These conditions are likely related to a number of interacting factors, including chronic inflammation caused by HIV. Researchers are working to better understand what causes chronic inflammation, even when people are being treated with ART.
HIV and its treatment can also have effects on the brain. Researchers estimate that between 25 and 50% of people with HIV have HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder , a spectrum of cognitive, motor, and/or mood disorders categorized into three levels: asymptomatic, mild, and HIV-associated dementia. Researchers are studying how HIV and its treatment affect the brain, including the effects on older people living with HIV.
HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day
Stage : Acute Hiv Infection
After a person comes into contact with HIV, the virus replicates quickly, and the blood contains high levels of the virus. At this time, it can easily transmit to others through blood, semen and preseminal fluids, rectal fluid, vaginal fluid, and breast milk.
Within 24 weeks of exposure to the virus, some people develop a nonspecific syndrome with a fever and other flu-like symptoms. This may last for several days or weeks.
Not everyone experiences these symptoms, however. If a person does not undergo testing, it is possible for HIV to progress without any indication that it is in the body.
The flu-like symptoms of a stage 1 HIV infection may include:
- swollen glands
- nausea or vomiting
These symptoms are collectively known as a seroconversion illness. They represent the bodys natural response to an infection as it attempts to kill off the virus. However, the human body cannot completely remove this virus once it is present.
At this stage, the virus replicates using the bodys CD4 T cells and spreads throughout the body. In doing so, it destroys CD4 T cells.
Eventually, this process stabilizes. The immune system reduces the number of viral particles, and levels of CD4 T cells may rise. However, the number of these cells may not return to its original level.
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How Is Hiv Spread From Person To Person
HIV can only be spread through specific activities. In the United States, the most common ways are:
- Having vaginal or anal sex with someone who has HIV without using a condom or taking medicines to prevent or treat HIV. Anal sex is riskier than vaginal sex.
- Sharing injection drug equipment , such as needles, with someone who has HIV.
Less common ways are:
- From mother to child during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding. However, the use of HIV medicines and other strategies have helped lower the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to 1% or less in the United States.
- Getting stuck with an HIV-contaminated needle or other sharp object. This is a risk mainly for health care workers. The risk is very low.
HIV is spread only in extremely rare cases by:
- Having oral sex. But in general, the chance that an HIV-negative person will get HIV from oral sex with an HIV-positive partner is extremely low.
Start Hiv Treatment As Soon As Possible After Diagnosis
- Get in care and take medicine to treat HIV .
- Taking HIV medicine can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood .
- HIV medicine can make the viral load very low . Viral suppression is defined as having less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood.
- HIV medicine can make the viral load so low that a test cant detect it .
- Getting and keeping an undetectable viral load is the best thing you can do to stay healthy. Having an undetectable viral load also helps prevent transmission to others. In fact, if you have an undetectable viral load, you have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex. Most people can get the virus under control within six months.
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Causes Of Hiv Infection
HIV is found in the body fluids of an infected person. This includes semen, vaginal and anal fluids, blood and breast milk.
It’s a fragile virus and does not survive outside the body for long.
HIV cannot be transmitted through sweat, urine or saliva.
The most common way of getting HIV in the UK is through having anal or vaginal sex without a condom.
Other ways of getting HIV include:
- sharing needles, syringes or other injecting equipment
- transmission from mother to baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding
The chance of getting HIV through oral sex is very low and will be dependent on many things, such as whether you receive or give oral sex and the oral hygiene of the person giving the oral sex.
How Do I Talk To My Partner About Their Risk Of Acquiring Hiv
People living with HIV can involve their partners in their treatment plans. Research shows that adhering to treatment often can improve with support from loving relationships and from the community.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis , in which an HIV-negative person takes antiretroviral medication to prevent infection, can be part of the conversation. Learn more about PrEP.
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When And Who Should Get Tested
The CDC recommends that anyone between ages 13 and 64 should have them tested for the infection. It is important to undergo a repeat test if you have changed your sexual partner. In most cases, you should have your HIV test after 3 months of engaging in sexual activity with a new partner. Some people are at high risk for contracting the virus this is true for IV drug users, homosexual males, and those who change sex partners often. For them, it is important to go for HIV testing every 6-12 months.
Your body may have enough antibodies after 3 months of becoming infected some people may have those antibodies within 20 days of becoming infected. Therefore, it is a good idea to go for testing every six months, especially if you have had unprotected oral, anal, or vaginal sex with a different partner during this time. To get tested, you can go to your local health department, doctor’s office, or hospital. Nowadays, special sites are set up to help you with HIV testing these testing sites keep your data private and share it only with medical experts authorized to see your record.
Risk of HIV
It is worth mentioning that certain factors put you at an increased risk of becoming infected. For instance, you are likely to contract the HIV virus if:
You should talk to your healthcare provider to get more information regarding how long can HIV go undetected and how often you should go for HIV testing.
What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Hiv And Aids
When first infected with HIV, a person may have:
- increased number of infections
- infections that are more severe than is typical
Without treatment, HIV can lead to a very weakened immune system and progress to AIDS. Illnesses that happen in AIDS are called “AIDS-defining conditions.”
AIDS-defining conditions include:
- a lung infection called pneumocystis pneumonia
- Kaposi sarcoma
- lymphoma
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Treatment Helps Prevent Transmission To Others
- If you have an undetectable viral load, you have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.
- Having an undetectable viral load may also help prevent transmission from injection drug use. We dont have data about whether having an undetectable viral load prevents transmission through sharing needles, syringes, or other injection equipment . It very likely reduces the risk, but we dont know by how much.
- Having an undetectable viral load also helps prevent transmission from mother to baby. If a mother with HIV takes HIV medicine as prescribed throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery and gives HIV medicine to her baby for 4 to 6 weeks after birth, the risk of transmitting HIV to her baby can be 1% or less.
- Having an undetectable viral load reduces the risk of transmitting HIV to the baby through breastfeeding, but doesnt eliminate the risk. The current recommendation in the United States is that mothers with HIV should not breastfeed their babies.
Gains And Losses In Life Years
Factors that influence life expectancy are either static or dynamic .
Static factors, like race or sexual orientation, influence life expectancy because they are ones people are often unable to escape. For example, high levels of poverty in Black communities combined with a lack of access to health care and high levels of HIV stigma take back many of the gains seen in White communities.
Dynamic factors, by comparison, have a strong cause-and-effect relation to survival times. For instance, treatment adherence is directly related to disease progression. The less adherence is maintained, the greater the risk of drug resistance and treatment failure. With each failure, a person loses more and more treatment options.
When looking at both static and dynamic risk factors, we can begin to identify where an individual can gain or lose life-years without even knowing it. Among them:
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What Are The Stages & Symptoms Of Hiv
First Stage of HIV: If you are suffering from HIV since 2 to 6 weeks, then it is known as primary HIV infection or acute retroviral syndrome. Symptoms of first stage HIV subside in 1 to 2 weeks and consist of:
- Red rash.
- Swollen lymph nodes.
Second Stage of HIV: In this stage, the immune system deteriorates. Doctors name this stage as clinical latent period or asymptomatic. Although this is the acute stage in HIV, still people tend to ignore the symptoms found in the second stage, as they hardly notice any change in their body. People, who are in second stage of HIV, may live up to 10 years or more.
Third Stage of HIV: Third and last stage of HIV is AIDS. This stage comes when CD4 in the patient drops below 200. Even in the third stage, people hardly notice the presence of HIV or AIDS in their body, and hence do not consider it important to consult an expert doctor, thus putting their lives in danger. Symptoms of third stage HIV are:
- Severe and long lasting diarrhea.
- Yeast infection in your mouth and throat.
- Swollen lymph nodes in the neck.
People, who are at last stage of HIV AIDS, may live up to three years. In other case, if the patient fails to notice the symptoms, and does not consult the doctor at the right time, then the life expectancy may be lesser than 3 years.