Most people believe they know what causes AIDS. For a decade, scientist, government officials, physicians, journalists, public-service ads, TV shows, and movies have told them that AIDS is caused by a retrovirus called HIV. This virus supposedly infects and kills the “T-cells” of the immune system, leading to an inevitably, fatal immune deficiency after an asymptomatic period that averages 10 years or so. Most people do not know-because there has been a visual media blackout on the subject-about a longstanding scientific controversy over the cause of AIDS.
A controversy that has become increasingly heated as the official theory’s predictions have turned out to be wrong. This thesis will further discuss symptoms and the possible cure and prevention of such disease. Is HIV really is the cause of AIDS? Based on some studies HIV are the one causing the AIDS, but to some it is from the bacteria that they have gotten from the person in contact with them. It may take a long to prove this thesis but further study can prove this. Definition of Terms The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes AIDS, the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
In this study we will be able to evaluate the causes of AIDS, how does one acquire such virus. ( familydoctor. org). How HIV is spread? It is usually misinterpreted that having HIV means having AIDS. There are different types of HIV. Most people have HIV-1, but there are many strains (types); a person can become infected with more than one strain. HIV attacks the body’s immune system (natural defense system against disease) by destroying one type of blood cells (CD4 cells) that helps the body fight off and destroy germs. CD4 cells belong to a group of blood cells called T-cells that also help the body fight disease.
In the body, HIV gets into these cells, makes copies of it, and kills the healthy cells. Then the body can’t fight germs anymore. When HIV takes over enough CD4 cells or causes serious infections (that don’t normally make a healthy person sick), a person then has AIDS. This paper described the causes and the different kind of HIV. How is HIV spread? The progression from HIV to AIDS is different for everyone-some people live for 10 years or more with HIV without developing AIDS, and others get AIDS faster. ( www. emedicinehealth. com).
HIV is spread through some of the body’s fluids such as in the blood, semen, vaginal fluids, breast milk and some body fluids sometimes handled by health care workers (fluids surrounding the brain and spinal cord, bone joints, and around an unborn baby). It is passed from one person to another by : having sex with someone who has HIV, using needles with drugs that has been used by an infected HIV patients, if the mother has a HIV a child may get the virus thru breastfeeding, and thru blood transfusion. There is a wrong belief that HIV can be transmitted thru swimming pool, using the same toilet stool and others.
It is best to study first the possible means of transferring the said virus. According to the study done in the United States, HIV is affecting more women than men, especially in women of color. Each year, HIV infection rates are rising in women. Women are contracting HIV mostly through sexual contact with men. The second most common way women are getting HIV is through injection drug use. HIV symptoms Base on study people with HIV are not detected on its first year. The symptoms are not evident and it is not easily detected because of lack of symptoms. The symptoms varies from person to person.
Most people get the flu-like syndrome within a month or two after first getting HIV. It includes fever, headache, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes often getaway within a week. Even if there are no symptoms, HIV can still be passed to another person. (metrokc. org. gov). HIV is never diagnosed by the symptoms. The symptoms may be present but it is cause by other disease and not HIV. To further analyze if you really have HIV there are several clinical test that can be perform to find out if you really have HIV. There is no cure in HIV but it is best to keep your body healthy. ( Profitt MR, Yen-Lieberman B. 1993 ).
HIV is active inside the body, even without symptoms. As the HIV spreads throughout the body, the person will feel sick. The first symptom is the large lymph nodes that may be enlarged for more than 3 months. And as the virus progresses, several symptoms will be also evident such as being very tired, quick weight loss, fevers, night sweats, headache, nausea, and vomiting. Other severe symptoms includes the vaginal yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, STD like gonorrhea, Chlamydia, trichomoniasis and pelvic inflammatory disease or infection of a woman’s reproductive organs. AIDS – Acquired Immune Disease Syndrome
AIDS are define as having at least one of the health problems common in people with AIDS, some of which are called opportunistic infections, like wasting syndrome from HIV, recurrent pneumonia, or invasive cervical cancer. These are symptoms that usually don’t make a healthy person sick. People who have AIDS can have severe opportunistic infections which can be fatal because their bodies can’t fight them off. AIDS can also be defined based on the number of CD4 cells in the blood. Healthy adults have CD4 and T cells counts of 1,000 or more. Person with AIDS have less than CD4 cells per cubic millimeter of blood. ( Mathe G. 1992 ).