HIV/AIDS Isabelle Récaborde Dr. Frigon Chemistry SL – Block F Option - Medicine and Drugs

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus A virus that causes AIDS. AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

AIDS is a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. The ability of the immune system to respond to pathogens diminishes. An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by bacterial, viral, fungal or protozoan (pathogens) that usually do not cause disease in a healthy host, i.e. one with a healthy immune system. A compromised immune system, however, presents an "opportunity" for the pathogen to infect.

What does HIV/AIDS do exactly? HIV is a virus that uses the genetic material from our CD4 cells to make more copies of itself. The virus likes one particular cell in our immune system called a CD4 cell or t-cell. When it uses that cell's genetic material, it damages the T-cell making it unable to do its job in our immune system. The more of these CD4 cells that are damaged, the weaker your immune system becomes. Eventually, your immune system will become so weak that it will not be able to protect you from other illnesses and infections, thus you become sick. Simply put, HIV doesn't make you sick. It weakens your immune system, allowing other illnesses and infections to make you sick.

Symptoms The symptoms of AIDS are primarily the result of conditions that do not normally develop in individuals with healthy immune systems.

HIV and AIDS Treatment Drugs taken are referred to as - antiretroviral, anti-HIV or anti-AIDS drugs, HIV antiviral drugs, ARVs. The aim of antiretroviral treatment is to keep the amount of HIV in the body at a low level. This stops any weakening of the immune system and allows it to recover from any damage that HIV might have caused already. If only one drug was taken, HIV would quickly become resistant to it and the drug would stop working. Taking two or more antiretrovirals at the same time vastly reduces the rate at which resistance would develop, making treatment more effective in the long term. ForPatientAdvocates/HIVandAIDSActivities/uc m htm

Why is it so difficult to treat? There is currently no publicly available vaccine for HIV or cure for HIV or AIDS. Specific proteins on the HIV virus bind to a receptor protein on certain white blood cells (T cells). Because of the ability of the HIV viruses to mutate, and because their metabolism is linked closely with that of the cell, effective treatment with antiviral drugs is very difficult, as is a vaccine development. The control treatment and treatment of HIV is exacerbated by the high price of anti-retroviral agents and sociocultural issues.