AIDS Health Article

Treatment in women

Treatment of pregnant women with HIV is particularly important in that anti-retroviral therapy has been shown to reduce transmission to the infant by 65%.

Alternative treatment

Alternative treatments for AIDS can be grouped into two categories: those intended to help the immune system and those aimed at pain control. Treatments that may enhance the function of the immune system include Chinese herbal medicine and western herbal medicine, macrobiotic and other special diets, guided imagery and creative visualization, homeopathy, and vitamin therapy. Pain control therapies include hydrotherapy, reiki, acupuncture, meditation, chiropractic treatments, and therapeutic massage. Alternative therapies can also be used to help with side effects of the medications used in the treatment of AIDS.

Prognosis

At the present time, there is no cure for AIDS.

Treatment stresses aggressive combination drug therapy for those patients with access to the expensive medications and who tolerate them adequately. The use of these multi-drug therapies has significantly reduced the numbers of deaths, in this country, resulting from AIDS. The data is still inconclusive, but the potential exists to possibly prolong life indefinitely using these and other drug therapies to boost the immune system, keep the virus from replicating, and ward off opportunistic infections and malignancies.

Prognosis after the latency period depends on the patient's specific symptoms and the organ systems affected by the disease. Patients with AIDS-related lymphomas of the central nervous system die within two to three months of diagnosis; those with systemic lymphomas may survive for eight to ten months.

Prevention

As of 2001, there is no vaccine effective against AIDS. Several vaccines are currently being investigated, however, both to prevent initial HIV infection and as a therapeutic treatment to prevent HIV from progressing to full-blown AIDS.

In the meantime, there are many things that can be done to prevent the spread of AIDS:

• Be monogamous and practice safe sex. Individuals must be instructed in the proper use of condoms and urged to practice safe sex. Besides avoiding the risk of HIV infection, condoms are successful in preventing other sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Before engaging in a sexual relationship with someone, get tested for HIV infection.
• Avoid needle sharing among intravenous drug users.
• Although blood and blood products are carefully monitored, those individuals who are planning to undergo major surgery may wish to donate blood ahead of time to prevent a risk of infection from a blood transfusion.
• Healthcare professionals must taken all necessary precautions by wearing gloves and masks when handling body fluids and preventing needle-stick injuries.
• If you suspect that you may have become infected, get tested for HIV infection. If treated aggressively early on, the development of AIDS may be postponed indefinitely. If HIV infection is confirmed, it is also vital to let your sexual partners know so that they can be tested and, if necessary, receive medical attention.

BOOKS

Early HIV Infection Guideline Panel. Evaluation and Management of Early HIV Infection. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, 1994.

Huber, Jeffrey T. Dictionary of AIDS-Related Terminology. New York and London: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 1993.

"Infectious Diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)." In Neonatology: Management, Procedures, On-Call Problems, Diseases and Drugs. Ed. Tricia Lacy Gomella, et al. Norwalk, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1994.

Katz, Mitchell H., and Harry Hollander. "HIV Infection." In Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment. Ed. Lawrence M. Tierney Jr., et al. Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1998.

McFarland, Elizabeth J. "Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infections: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)." In Current Pediatric Diagnosis & Treatment. Ed. William W. Hay Jr., et al. Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1997.

So, Peter, and Livette Johnson. "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)." In Conn's Current Therapy. Ed. Robert E. Rakel. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1997.

PERIODICALS

Xiao, X., L. Wu, T. S. Stantchev, Y. R. Feng, S. Ugolini, H. Chen, Z. Shen, J. L. Riley, C. C. Broder, Q. J. Sattentau, and D. S. Dimitrov. "Constitutive cell surface association between CD4 and CCR5." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. (June 1999): 7496-7501.

ORGANIZATIONS

Gay Men's Health Crisis, Inc., 129 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-0022. (212) 807-6655.

National AIDS Hot Line. (800) 342-AIDS (English). (800) 344-SIDA (Spanish). (800) AIDS-TTY (hearing-impaired).

OTHER

"FDA Approved Drugs for HIV Infection and AIDS-Related Conditions." HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service website. January 2001. <http://hivatis.org>.

Rebecca J. Frey