Aids what should we do

Support medication adherence. Ask your loved one what you can do to support them in establishing a medication routine and sticking to it. Also ask what other needs they might have and how you can help them stay healthy. Learn more about treatment adherence.

Get support. Take care of yourself and get support if you need it. Turn to others for any questions, concerns, or anxieties you may have, so that the person who is diagnosed can focus on taking care of their own health. If someone has disclosed their HIV status to you, thank them for trusting you with their private health information. One reason they may have chosen to disclose their status to you is that they need an ally or advocate, or they may need help with a particular issue or challenge.

Some people are public with this information; other people keep it very private. Ask whether other people know this information, and how private they are about their HIV status. Let the person know, through your words or actions, that their HIV status does not change your relationship and that you will keep this information private if they want you to.

Educate yourself about HIV. Others are at different stages of treatment and care. Topics Linkage to Care Adherence. Learn more about HIV rash. These symptoms can come and go or get progressively worse. These include:. Men, and those with a penis, may be more likely than women to notice symptoms of STIs such as sores on their genitals.

Learn more about HIV symptoms in men. For the most part, symptoms of HIV are similar in men and women. However, symptoms they experience overall may differ based on the different risks men and women face if they have HIV.

However, women, and those with a vagina, may be less likely than men to notice small spots or other changes to their genitals. While not related to HIV symptoms, another risk for women with HIV is that the virus can be transmitted to a baby during pregnancy.

However, antiretroviral therapy is considered safe during pregnancy. Women who are treated with antiretroviral therapy are at very low risk for transmitting HIV to their baby during pregnancy and delivery. Breastfeeding is also affected in women with HIV. The virus can be transferred to a baby through breast milk.

For these women, use of formula is encouraged. Options besides formula include pasteurized banked human milk. Learn more about HIV symptoms in women. AIDS refers to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. By that time, the immune system is quite damaged and has a harder time generating a response to infection and disease. Antiretroviral therapy controls the virus and usually prevents progression to AIDS. Other infections and complications of AIDS can also be treated.

That treatment must be tailored to the individual needs of the person. The virus can also be transmitted through a blood transfusion or organ and tissue transplant. However, rigorous testing for HIV among blood, organ, and tissue donors ensures that this is very rare in the United States.

Learn more about HIV transmission. HIV is a variation of a virus that can be transmitted to African chimpanzees.

Scientists suspect the simian immunodeficiency virus SIV jumped from chimps to humans when people consumed chimpanzee meat containing the virus. Once inside the human population, the virus mutated into what we now know as HIV.

This likely occurred as long ago as the s. HIV spread from person to person throughout Africa over the course of several decades. Eventually, the virus migrated to other parts of the world. Scientists first discovered HIV in a human blood sample in The main treatment for HIV is antiretroviral therapy, a combination of daily medications that stop the virus from reproducing.

This helps protect CD4 cells, keeping the immune system strong enough to take measures against disease. It also helps reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to others.

However, the virus is still in the body. And if that person stops taking antiretroviral therapy, the viral load will increase again, and the HIV can again start attacking CD4 cells. Learn more about how HIV treatments work. Many antiretroviral therapy medications are approved to treat HIV.

They work to prevent HIV from reproducing and destroying CD4 cells, which help the immune system generate a response to infection. This helps reduce the risk of developing complications related to HIV, as well as transmitting the virus to others. The U. This combination helps prevent HIV from forming resistance to medications. Resistance means the drug no longer works to treat the virus.

Many of the antiretroviral medications are combined with others so that a person with HIV typically takes only one or two pills a day. A healthcare provider will help a person with HIV choose a regimen based on their overall health and personal circumstances. These medications must be taken every day, exactly as prescribed. Blood testing will help determine if the regimen is working to keep the viral load down and the CD4 count up. Side effects of antiretroviral therapy vary and may include nausea, headache, and dizziness.

These symptoms are often temporary and disappear with time. Serious side effects can include swelling of the mouth and tongue and liver or kidney damage. What Is HIV? HIV can spread: during sex especially anal sex and vaginal sex through sharing needles for injecting drugs or tattooing by getting stuck with a needle with an infected person's blood on it HIV also can pass from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

HIV does not spread through: pee, poop, spit, throw-up, or sweat as long as no blood is present coughing or sneezing holding hands sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses How Can I Protect Myself? If you decide to have sex, reduce your risk of getting HIV by: using a condom every time you have sex including vaginal, oral, or anal sex getting tested for HIV and making sure all partners do too reducing the number of sexual partners you have getting tested and treated for STDs sexually transmitted diseases ; having an STD increases the risk of HIV infection Understanding how HIV spreads can help you make safer choices about sex.

When AIDS occurs, your immune system has been severely damaged. You'll be more likely to develop opportunistic infections or opportunistic cancers — diseases that wouldn't usually cause illness in a person with a healthy immune system. If you think you may have been infected with HIV or are at risk of contracting the virus, see a doctor as soon as possible. HIV is caused by a virus. It can spread through sexual contact or blood, or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breast-feeding.

HIV destroys CD4 T cells — white blood cells that play a large role in helping your body fight disease. The fewer CD4 T cells you have, the weaker your immune system becomes. To become infected with HIV , infected blood, semen or vaginal secretions must enter your body. This can happen in several ways:. You can't become infected with HIV through ordinary contact. HIV isn't spread through the air, water or insect bites.

HIV infection weakens your immune system, making you much more likely to develop many infections and certain types of cancers. But you can protect yourself and others from infection.

Your doctor will also test your kidney function before prescribing Truvada and continue to test it every six months.

You need to take the drugs every day. They don't prevent other STIs , so you'll still need to practice safe sex. If you have hepatitis B, you should be evaluated by an infectious disease or liver specialist before beginning therapy. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.