HIV/AIDS Basics
Written by MichaelZ on June 29, 2009 – 3:33 am -AIDS/HIVwas first reported in the United States in 1981 and has since become a major worldwide epidemic. AIDS is caused by HIV, and results when HIV has severely damaged a patients immune system. By destroying or harming cells of the body’s immune system, HIV eventually destroys the body’s ability to fight off infection. People who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS can get dangerous infections called opportunistic infections. OI’s are caused by viruses and bacteria that don’t normally effect someone with a healthy immune system.
HIV Causes AIDS
Since 1981, more than 980,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to CDC, more than 1,000,000 Americans may be infected with HIV, one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection. The HIV epidemic is increasing the most amoung minority populations and is leading killer of black males between age 25 and 44. According to CDC, AIDS affects nearly seven times more African Americans and three times more Hispanics than whites. In recent years, an increasing number of African-American women and children are being affected by AIDS/HIV.
HIV kills CD4 + cells, which are white blood cells that help maintain the immune system. As the virus attacks those cells, the person infected with HIV is less equipped to fight off infection and disease ultimately resulting in the development of AIDS.
Generally people who are infected with HIV can have the viruses for a realtively long period before the immune system starts to fail. However, there is a strong connection between high levels of HIV in the blood and the decline in CD4+ T cells and the development of AIDS. Antiretroviral medicines can reduce the amount of virus in the body, preserve CD4+ T cells and dramatically slow the destruction of the immune system.
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