What Is Used To Treat Hiv Aids Quizlet

Do You Need To Keep Taking Hiv Treatment

Yes. ART is not a cure and the virus remains in your body, even when your viral load is undetectable, so you need to keep taking your HIV medicine as prescribed. If you stop taking your HIV medicine, your viral load will quickly go back up.

If you have stopped taking your HIV medicine or are having trouble taking all the doses as prescribed, talk to your health care provider as soon as possible. Your provider can help you get back on track and discuss the best strategies to prevent transmitting HIV to your sexual partners until your viral load is confirmed to be undetectable again.

Get tips on taking your HIV medicine as prescribed.

Does Hiv Treatment Cause Side Effects

Like most medicines, HIV medicines can cause side effects in some people. However, not everyone experiences them. The HIV medicines used today have fewer side effects and are less severe than in the past. Side effects can differ for each type of HIV medicine and from person to person. Some side effects can occur once you start a medicine and may only last a few days or weeks. Other side effects can start later and last longer.

Side effects of HIV medicine most commonly reported include:

• Nausea and vomiting

HIV medicines also may cause different side effects in women than men.

If you experience side effects that are severe or make you want to stop taking your HIV medicine, talk to your health care provider or pharmacist before you miss any doses or stop taking the medication. Skipping doses or starting and stopping HIV medicine can lead to drug resistance, which can harm your health and limit your future treatment options. Your health care provider may prescribe medicines to reduce or eliminate side effects or may recommend changing your HIV medicines to another type that might work better for you. Learn more about possible side effects and ways to manage them.

What Are The Types Of Hiv/aids Medicines

There are several different types of HIV/AIDS medicines. Some work by blocking or changing enzymes that HIV needs to make copies of itself. This prevents HIV from copying itself, which reduces the amount of HIV in the body. Several medicines do this:

• Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors block an enzyme called reverse transcriptase
• Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors bind to and later change reverse transcriptase
• Integrase inhibitors block an enzyme called integrase
• Protease inhibitors block an enzyme called protease

Some HIV/AIDS medicines interfere with HIV’s ability to infect CD4 immune system cells:

• Fusion inhibitors block HIV from entering the cells
• CCR5 antagonists and post-attachment inhibitors block different molecules on the CD4 cells. To infect a cell, HIV has to bind to two types of molecules on the cell’s surface. Blocking either of these molecules prevents HIV from entering the cells.
• Attachment inhibitors bind to a specific protein on the outer surface of HIV. This prevents HIV from entering the cell.

In some cases, people take more than one medicine:

• Pharmacokinetic enhancers boost the effectiveness of certain HIV/AIDS medicines. A pharmacokinetic enhancer slows the breakdown of the other medicine. This allows that medicine to stay in the body longer at a higher concentration.
• Multidrug combinations include a combination of two or more different HIV/AIDS medicines

You May Like: What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Hiv

Early Use Of Marijuana In Hiv

From the early-1980s to the mid-1990s, HIV was a major contributor to death and illness in the United States. Early generation HIV drugs were prone not only to premature failure, they often came with serious and sometimes debilitating side effects.

Moreover, people living with the disease were at high risk of illnesses we dont see as frequently these days, including Kaposis sarcoma , AIDS dementia, and the aforementioned HIV wasting syndrome.

It was, in fact, this last condition which first spurred support for the use of medical marijuana. Doctors, who at the time had few options for treatment, surmised that marijuanas appetite-stimulating properties could benefit those experiencing the profound, unexplained weight loss as a result of this still-mysterious condition.

Since laws in the mid-80s to early-90s forbade the use of marijuana in clinical settings, doctors began to prescribe the Schedule III drug , which contains a synthetic form of tetrahydrocannabinol , the active ingredient of cannabis.

While Marinol proved to be successful in alleviating many of the symptoms of HIV wasting, many still preferred the instant hit afforded from three to four puffs of a marijuana cigarette.

How Are Hiv And Aids Treated

The most effective treatment for HIV is antiretroviral therapy . This is a combination of several medicines that aims to control the amount of virus in your body. Antiretroviral medicines slow the rate at which the virus grows. Taking these medicines can reduce the amount of virus in your body and help you stay healthy.

After you start treatment, it’s important to take your medicines exactly as your doctor tells you. When treatment doesn’t work, it is often because HIV has become resistant to the medicine. This can happen if you don’t take your medicines correctly.

Other steps you can take include the following:

• Keep your immune system strong by eating right, quitting smoking, and learning how to avoid infection.
• Monitor your CD4+ counts to check the effect of the virus on your immune system.
• See a counselor to help you handle the strong emotions and stress that can follow an HIV diagnosis.
• Reduce stress so that you can better manage the HIV illness.

Starting treatment

Medical experts recommend that people begin treatment for HIV as soon as they know that they are infected. Treatment is especially important for pregnant women, people who have other infections , and people who have symptoms of AIDS.

Research suggests that treatment of early HIV with antiretroviral medicines has long-term benefits, such as a stronger immune system.

Treatment to prevent HIV infection

Other treatments for HIV

Treatment for AIDS

Living with HIV

If your partner has HIV:

Read Also: Can You Get Hiv From Breastfeeding

What Is Hiv Drug Resistance

When HIV isnât fully controlled by HIV medicine, the virus makes copies of itself at a rapid rate. As HIV multiplies in the body, it sometimes mutates and produces new forms of the virus that may not be as sensitive to a particular medicine as the original virus. This is called drug resistance.

With drug resistance, HIV medicines that previously controlled a personâs HIV are no longer effective against new, drug-resistant HIV. In other words, the HIV medicines can’t prevent the drug-resistant HIV from multiplying. Drug resistance can cause HIV treatment to fail.

A person can initially be infected with drug-resistant HIV or develop drug-resistant HIV after starting HIV medicines. Drug-resistant HIV also can spread from person to person. Drug-resistance testing identifies which, if any, HIV medicines wonât be effective against your specific strain of HIV. Drug-resistance testing results help determine which HIV medicines to include in an HIV treatment regimen.

Taking your HIV medicine as prescribed helps prevent drug resistance.

Hiv And Substance Use

Substance use disorders, which are problematic patterns of using alcohol or another substance, such as crack cocaine, methamphetamine , amyl nitrite , prescription opioids, and heroin, are closely associated with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Injection drug use can be a direct route of HIV transmission if people share needles, syringes, or other injection materials that are contaminated with HIV. However, drinking alcohol and ingesting, smoking, or inhaling drugs are also associated with increased risk for HIV. These substances alter judgment, which can lead to risky sexual behaviors that can make people more likely to get and transmit HIV.

In people living with HIV, substance use can hasten disease progression, affect adherence to antiretroviral therapy , and worsen the overall consequences of HIV.

You May Like: How Long Do Hiv Results Take

Risks And Side Effects

HIV medicines can sometimes cause side effects. Some side effects happen for a short time. Other side effects can cause long term health problems. Tell your healthcare provider about any side effects you are having. Do not stop taking your medicine without first talking to your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider may tell you tips to help you cope with the side effects. Your healthcare provider may also tell you to take different medicines.

• This page does not give the specific side effects and warnings for each HIV medicine.
• Talk to your healthcare provider about the side effects and warnings for the medicines you take.
• Check the FDA Web site to find more HIV medicine information.

My Regimen

It is important that you take your HIV medicines just as your healthcare provider tells you. Your medicines may not work if you skip a dose or do not stick to your schedule. Over time, you can get sick if you do not take your medicines as directed. Your HIV may become resistant to your medicines. This means your medicines could stop working and more HIV could build up in your body.

Here are some tips to help you remember when to take your HIV medicines.

• Use a schedule or planner.
• Set the alarm on your watch or phone.
• Use a pillbox to help you organize your pills.
• Ask a friend or family member to help you.

Chart to help you remember when to take your HIV medicine

IMPORTANT TIP

When Should You Start Hiv Treatment

If you have HIV, itâs important to start treatment with HIV medicine as soon as possible after diagnosis,regardless of how long youâve had the virus or how healthy you are. HIV medicine slows the progression of HIV and can keep you healthy for many years.

It is especially important for people with HIV who have early HIV infection or an AIDS-defining condition to start HIV medicines right away.

People with HIV who become pregnant and are not already taking HIV medicines should also start taking HIV medicines as soon as possible to protect their health and to prevent transmitting HIV to their babies.

If you have been diagnosed with HIV and are not currently taking HIV medicines, talk to a health care provider about the benefits of getting on treatment.

You May Like: What Pills Do Hiv Patients Take

Hiv: Treatment As Prevention

Early HIV testing, treatment and taking your medication as prescribed each day can help protect your partner, too. Achieving an undetectable viral load can drastically lower the risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner. This supports the undetectable equals untransmittable initiative and most people can reach an undetectable viral load within 6 months after starting ART.

Data from The Lancet in 2019 details the results of The PARTNER 1 and 2 studies and other research on the transmission of HIV in serodifferent couples, where one partner is HIV-positive and the other HIV-negative. Overall, this observational study found that the risk of transmission of HIV through condomless sex is effectively zero while the HIV+ partner is on ART and the virus remains undetectable. This association was found for both gay men and heterosexual couples.

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2019 from notes that viral load testing for HIV-positive patients receiving ART should occur every 3 to 4 months after the plasma HIV-1 RNA level becomes undetectable, per HHS guidelines. If the patient’s viral load and clinical status remains stable for 2 years, viral load testing can then be extended to every 6 months. Adherence to ART therapy is important to maintain the undetectable status. Viral rebound can occur within 2 or 3 weeks of stopping ART therefore, continued daily treatment is necessary.

Boiling Peanuts Aids In The Treatment Of Peanut Allergy

Highlights:

• Peanuts are one of the most frequent dietary allergens in the world, affecting roughly 3% of children in Western countries
• Currently, there is no approved treatment for peanut allergy
• Boiling peanuts may be a safe and successful way for treating peanut allergy in children over time with consecutive doses of boiled and roasted peanuts

Boiling peanuts for up to 12 hours could help children overcome allergic symptoms, according to the findings of a clinical experiment conducted by Flinders University and SAHMRI. Up to 80% of children with peanut allergies became desensitised to eating peanuts.

Don’t Miss: What Must An Insurer Obtain To Conduct An Hiv Test

Does Pep Cause Side Effects

PEP is safe, but the HIV medicines used for PEP may cause side effects like nausea in some people. In almost all cases, these side effects can be treated and arenât life-threatening.

If you are taking PEP, talk to your health care provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

PEP medicines may also interact with other medicines that a person is taking . For this reason, itâs important to tell your health care provider about any other medicines that you take.

Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors

* Cimduo, Combivir, Descovy, Epzicom, Temixys, Trizivir, and Truvada are combination medicines.

For more information about the risks and side effects for each medicine, check Drugs@FDA

This information does not give the specific side effects or warnings for each medicine. Check the medicine label and talk to your healthcare provider about the side effects and warnings for the combination HIV medicines you are taking.

IMPORTANT TIPS

• Talk with your healthcare provider about being tested for HLA-B*5701 prior to taking abacavir or medicines containing abacavir.
• These medicines may cause lactic acidosis .
• These medicines may cause serious liver, pancreas, or kidney problems.
• If you have kidney problems or liver problems, such as hepatitis, talk to your healthcare provider before taking these medicines.
• These medications are taken by mouth. Retrovir can also be given as an intravenous infusion.

WARNING SIGNS

• Stomach pain with nausea and vomiting
• Feeling very weak or tired
• Problems breathing

For more information about the risks and side effects for each medicine, check Drugs@FDA

This information does not give the specific side effects or warnings for each medicine. Check the medicine label and talk to your healthcare provider about the side effects and warnings for the combination HIV medicines you are taking.

IMPORTANT TIPS

WARNING SIGNS

• Flu-like symptoms

* Evotaz, Kaletra, and Prezcobix are combination medicines.

Don’t Miss: Can Dried Blood Transmit Hiv

Hiv Treatment Options: Hiv Medications And Drug Classes

The following tables list the main classes and groups of FDA-approved medications used to treat HIV in the U.S., with a brief description of the drug class. New options are frequently approved.

Drugs and combinations are identified by generic and brand names, as well as common abbreviations.

Follow the links to access up-to-date drug information such as dosing, side effects, drug interactions and pill pictures for each agent and drug class.

What Is Hiv Treatment

HIV treatment involves taking highly effective medicines called antiretroviral therapy that work to control the virus. ART is recommended for everyone with HIV, and people with HIV should start ART as soon as possible after diagnosis, even on that same day.

People on ART take a combination of HIV medicines called an HIV treatment regimen. A person’s initial HIV treatment regimen generally includes three HIV medicines from at least two different HIV drug classes that must be taken exactly as prescribed. There are several options that have two or three different HIV medicines combined into a once-daily pill. Long-acting injections of HIV medicine, given every two months, are also available if your health care provider determines that you meet certain requirements.

Read Also: Can Hiv Affect Your Eyes

How Do Hiv/aids Medicines Work

HIV/AIDS medicines reduce the amount of HIV in your body, which helps by:

• Giving your immune system a chance to recover. Even though there is still some HIV in your body, your immune system should be strong enough to fight off infections and certain HIV-related cancers.
• Reducing the risk that you will spread HIV to others

How Do You Know If You Need Pep

PEP may be right for you if you are HIV-negative or donât know your HIV status, and you think you may have been exposed to HIV in the last 72 hours:

• Through shared needles, syringes, or other equipment used to inject drugs, or
• Through sexual assault

Contact your health care provider immediately or go to an emergency room or urgent care clinic right away.

Your health care provider or emergency room doctor will evaluate you, help you decide whether PEP is right for you, and work with you to determine which medicines to take for PEP.

In addition, if you are a health care worker, you may be prescribed PEP after a possible exposure to HIV at work, such as from a needlestick injury.

Recommended Reading: How Do You Get Tested For Hiv Aids

How Well Does Pep Work

PEP is effective in preventing HIV infection when itâs taken correctly, but itâs not 100% effective. The sooner you start PEP after a possible HIV exposure, the better.

While taking PEP, itâs important to use other HIV prevention methods, such as using condoms the right way, every time you have sex and using only new, sterile needles and works when injecting drugs

Commonly Used Substances And Hiv Risk

• Alcohol. Excessive alcohol consumption, notably binge drinking, can be an important risk factor for HIV because it is linked to risky sexual behaviors and, among people living with HIV, can hurt treatment outcomes.
• Opioids. Opioids, a class of drugs that reduce pain, include both prescription drugs and heroin. They are associated with HIV risk behaviors such as needle sharing when infected and risky sex, and have been linked to a recent HIV outbreak.
• Methamphetamine. Meth is linked to risky sexual behavior that places people at greater HIV risk. It can be injected, which also increases HIV risk if people share needles and other injection equipment.
• Crack cocaine. Crack cocaine is a stimulant that can create a cycle in which people quickly exhaust their resources and turn to other ways to get the drug, including trading sex for drugs or money, which increases HIV risk.
• Inhalants. Use of amyl nitrite has long been linked to risky sexual behaviors, illegal drug use, and sexually transmitted diseases among gay and bisexual men.

Read Also: Bee Hive Removal For Free