Know more about what is Hiv Aids, causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention

Table of Contents

What is Hiv Aids?

HIV and AIDS are two different diseases in which –

What is HIV?

It is a virus that damages the immune system.
Without treatment, over time due to the effects of HIV, the body starts killing more immune cells, which can lead to many diseases including cancer.
The HIV virus spreads through body fluids such as semen, breastmilk, blood, vaginal or rectal fluid, etc.
This virus is not spread through normal contact, air, or water.
The HIV virus enters the DNA cells of a person by itself and remains for life.
At present, Modern Science does not have any medicine for HIV AIDS and research is going on on it.
But HIV can be managed through some treatments.
Without treatment, an HIV-infected person is at risk of developing a serious problem called AIDS.
When the problem becomes AIDS, the immune system becomes so weak that it does not respond to other diseases, infections and conditions.

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What is AIDS?

AIDS is a disease that develops in patients with HIV.
It can also be called the advanced stage of HIV.
The thing to keep in mind is that a person who has HIV does not necessarily develop AIDS.
Whereas in very rare cases, AIDS occurs due to the development of infections like cancer or pneumonia in patients with HIV.
The reason for this is believed to be a very weak immune system.
Without treatment for HIV, AIDS develops within a maximum of 10 years.
Whereas after the diagnosis of AIDS, the remaining life of the person remains a maximum of three years.

Due to AIDS, the immune system becomes so weak that it is unable to defend against many types of diseases, which results in the risk of many diseases – (Know the difference between bacterial vs viral infection)

TB
Pneumonia
Mouth ulcers
Herpes virus
Meningitis
Lymphoma
Kaposi’s sarcoma
Toxoplasmosis
Cryptosporidosis

What is the connection between HIV and AIDS?

In order to develop AIDS, the patient must have HIV.
If someone has HIV, it is not necessary that he will get AIDS.

HIV develops in three stages –

Stage 1 – Acute stage It occurs in the first few weeks after transmission.
Stage 2 – Chronic Stage
Stage 3 – AIDS

Other ways of spreading HIV

Vaginal or anal sex
To use the same injection syringe
Pregnancy
Can reach the baby during delivery
During breastfeeding
Non-cleaning of tattooing tools
It can be caused by blood, semen, vaginal or rectal fluid.
Organ transplant
Blood transfusion

In rare cases with an infected person –

Oral sex
Coming into contact with a wound
Bleeding of saliva

HIV does not spread in the following ways –

To kiss
Shake hands
Sharing food
Skin to skin contact
Sharing towels, toilets, etc.
Mosquito or other insect bites

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What are the causes of HIV and AIDS?

Due to hiv

HIV is a type of virus that spread from African chimpanzees.
According to scientists, the reason for this spread by humans consuming infected meat of chimpanzees.
After which it spread from one human to another for several decades and spread all over the world.

Because of aids

HIV is the cause of AIDS.
If a person does not have HIV, he cannot get AIDS.

What are the symptoms of HIV and AIDS? – What are the symptoms of Hiv Aids?

Symptoms of hiv

Headache
Tiredness
Nausea
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Swelling of lymph nodes
Skin rash
Vaginal yeast infection
Weight loss
Fever persists
Pneumonia, etc.

Symptoms of hiv in men

Gonorrhea
Syphilis
Chlymadia
Trichomonosis

Symptoms of hiv in women

Vaginal yeast infection
Pelvic inflammatory disease
Bacterial vaginosis
HPV
Change in menstrual cycle
Cervical cancer

Symptoms of AIDS

Persistent fever
Night sweats
Tiredness
Skin rash
Frequent or chronic diarrhea
Rapid weight loss
Neurologic problems
Dark spots inside eyes, nose, mouth
Swelling of the lymph nodes in the throat, groin, armpits
Licks or cuts on genitals or anus, mouth, tongue, etc.
Anxiety and depression

How is HIV diagnosed?

For this, many types of tests are done which differ from one person to another according to the situation –

Antigen Test – Results are visible in 18 to 45 days after coming into contact with HIV.
Antibody Test – Results are visible within 23 to 90 days of exposure.
Early signs of HIV are seen in other tests like NAT etc.

What is the treatment for HIV?

Its treatment should be started as soon as possible.
Antiretroviral therapy is used in the treatment of HIV, which also includes daily medicines.
This helps in reducing the spread of the virus.
This helps in keeping the immune cells strong, which helps in protecting against other diseases.
Antiretroviral therapy helps prevent HIV from becoming AIDS.
Also, the risk of spreading HIV to others is reduced.
However, if antiretroviral therapy is stopped, the virus may recur. Therefore, after taking information from the doctor about the medicines, one should keep taking medicines accordingly.

Side effects of therapy

Nausea, headache, dizziness, etc are one of the side effects of antiretroviral therapy.
These symptoms get better with time.
Serious side effects may include swelling of the mouth and tongue, damage to the liver or kidneys, etc.

How is HIV prevented?

A lot of research is being done on this. There is currently no vaccine available for this. But HIV transmission can be prevented by taking some steps –

Safe sex – It can be absolutely safe by avoiding sex. But the risk can be reduced with condoms and other protection methods.
Use of condom – Many people do not know how to use it properly. Be sure to use a condom during anal or oral sex.
HIV Test – This will help in knowing about you and your partner.
In cases of HIV, take medicines on time, this reduces the risk of spreading the virus.
Sexually transmitted diseases – Tests should be done for this so that treatment can be done at the right time.