How does antiretroviral treatment work?
How does antiretroviral treatment work?
Antiretroviral drugs HIV is treated with antiretroviral medicines, which work by stopping the virus replicating in the body. This allows the immune system to repair itself and prevent further damage. A combination of HIV drugs is used because HIV can quickly adapt and become resistant.
What are antiretroviral drugs?
Antiretroviral treatment (also known as antiretroviral therapy or ART) are the drugs that treat HIV. Taking ART means that people living with HIV can live long and healthy lives. ART is not a cure for HIV, but it keeps HIV under control, so it doesn’t affect your health and you can carry on with life as usual.
What is effective antiretroviral therapy?
Antiretroviral therapy is an effective treatment for HIV. It does not cure the condition, but it can reduce the viral load to undetectable levels. This means that the virus is not transmittable through sexual activity and a person’s immune system can recover.
What are side effects of antiretroviral?
Other side effects from antiretroviral drugs can include:
- hypersensitivity or allergic reactions, with symptoms such as fever, nausea, and vomiting.
- bleeding.
- bone loss.
- heart disease.
- high blood sugar and diabetes.
- lactic acidosis (high lactic acid levels in the blood)
- kidney, liver, or pancreas damage.
Why antiretroviral therapy is important?
Effective antiretroviral therapy is the most important intervention in terms of improving longevity and preventing opportunistic infections in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Therapy should involve combinations of drugs recommended by current guidelines.
When should antiretroviral therapy for HIV be started?
Treatment with HIV medicines (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) is recommended for everyone with HIV. People with HIV should start taking HIV medicines as soon as possible after their HIV is diagnosed. A main goal of HIV treatment is to reduce a person’s viral load to an undetectable level.
What is the best treatment for HIV?
Antiretroviral therapy. The main treatment for HIV is antiretroviral therapy. Although it’s not a cure, antiretroviral therapy is very effective at slowing the progression of HIV and reducing the risk of transmission to others.
How do you cure HIV?
Being diagnosed with HIV is frightening, but with proper treatment, you can still live a full, healthy life. While there’s no cure for HIV, you can keep it under control and minimize the amount of virus in your body by taking a combination of antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications.
What is the current treatment for HIV?
The treatment of HIV involves antiretroviral medications that fight the HIV infection and slows down the spread of the virus in the body. People living with HIV generally take a combination of medications called highly active antiretroviral therapy ( HAART ) or combination antiretroviral therapy (cART).