| HIV/AIDS Treatment |
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AIDS is a disease of the immune system, caused by HIV. To date, all of the proven strategies for treating HIV disease focus on crippling the HIV’s ability to infect and destroy immune cells. Currently, there are no approved treatments for improving immune deficiency and function in HIV disease. However, the good news is that when HIV reproduction is slowed by using anti-HIV drugs (antiretrovirals), your immune system begins to repair itself. There’s evidence of some improvement in the immune system when HIV is controlled over time. HIV infects the cells in your body, including CD4 cells (T cells). It uses these cells as a host to reproduce. Once the cells are infected, HIV impairs how they function and eventually destroys them over time. CD4 cells are key for controlling disease. They direct other cells to perform tasks that control infections and diseases. As HIV destroys more CD4 cells, your body gradually loses its ability to fight disease. This is when a person becomes more at risk for serious and life-threatening conditions. Infected cells function improperly and die prematurely, weakening the immune system and permitting the development of opportunistic infections (infections that take the opportunity to flourish when the immune system is damaged by HIV). The overall goal of anti-HIV therapy is to slow or stop the ability of HIV to reproduce, and thereby slow or stop the progression of HIV disease and the destruction of the immune system. While other approaches of combating HIV infection have been proposed and tested, thus far only anti-HIV therapy has been proven to slow disease progression and extend life. While understanding and making decisions about anti-HIV therapy can be an overwhelming process, it isn’t insurmountable. With the support of your doctor and reliable information, it’s possible to devise a wise anti-HIV strategy. A balanced approach to such a strategy must include knowledge of the benefits, risks and limitations of existing therapies, and the prospects for improvements offered by combination therapies and newer drugs. The goals of anti-HIV therapy The goals of anti-HIV therapy should be to:
Once HIV was identified as the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), stopping or slowing its replication became a major goal. Significant progress has been made towards reaching this goal, especially with the advent of potent drugs and the use of combination therapy. This has made it possible to develop long-term strategies for managing HIV. Yet uncertainty remains about when to start and when to switch or how best to combine anti-HIV therapies. Also, the failure of existing drugs to remain completely effective for long periods of time is sometimes misunderstood as meaning that the drugs don’t work at all. Making wise decisions about the use of antiretroviral therapies requires understanding the benefits and risks of therapies, good communication with a knowledgeable doctor, and proper use of various lab tests. It’s important to remember that people can live a long time, without symptoms of HIV disease and without using anti-HIV therapy. Thus many, if not most, people don’t have to decide about using therapy immediately after learning that they’re living with HIV. Assessing your personal risk of HIV disease progression and making decisions that you feel comfortable with and empowered by is part of the key to a successful long-term anti-HIV strategy. Western Medicine ANTI-RETROVIRALS are also called anti-HIV drugs It is the main type of treatment for HIV or AIDS. It is not a cure, but it can stop people from becoming ill for many years. The treatment consists of drugs that have to be taken every day for the rest of someone's life. HIV is a virus and when it is in a cell in the body it produces new copies of itself. With these new copies, HIV can go and infect other previously healthy cells. So HIV can quickly spread through the billions of cells in the body, if it is not stopped from replicating or producing new copies of itself. The drugs are often referred as:
A combination of antiretrovirals is given to slow down the replication of HIV, and lower the number of virus in the bloodstream. It is important to take antiretrovirals at the right time and in the rught combination to be effective.
The NRTIs and the NNRTIs slow down the virus from replicating in the cell by blooding virus RNA converting to DNA. The PIs help prevent the formation of new HIV virus by blocking the splitting of big proteins. They do not get rid of the HIV virus. Click here for more reading on antiretrovirals... Complimentary Therapies or Alternative Therapies may be used instead of or with conventional western medicine. People living with HIV use these therapies for many reasons; to fight the HIV directly, to boost and sustain the immune system, to manage symptom and to provide extra energy and reduce fatigue. The therapies range from systems of practice, like Chinese Medicine, Naturopathy and Traditional First Nation Medicine and physical agents like herbs and nutrition to body therapies like massage, all they way to mind/body therapies like meditation, yoga and sweat lodges that harness the power of the mnd to promote healing. Traditional Medicines We have many strong traditions and medicines passed down from our ancestors that can improve our health and helps us on our journey. The Medicine Wheel reminds us that being well is not just a physical matter, but a combination of physical, spiritual and mental and emotional aspects of our being. Sacred ceremonies like swat lodge, smudging and ceremonial brushing helps us to get in touch with our spiritual and emotional aspects and cement the bond to ourselves, family community, and nation. Sacred healing herbs include sweet grass, sage, cedar and juniper. Traditional healers can be help with man of the symptoms of having HIV. |