HIV Treatments and Reducing Drug Resistance Essay -- Biology Medical B

HIV Treatments and Reducing Drug Resistance Abstract HIV is a retrovirus that will constantly attack human’s immune system once an individual is infected and will eventually develop to AIDS, often a deadly sexually transmitted disease. Currently, there are different kinds of antiretroviral treatments available for patients who are tested to be HIV positive as well as patients with AIDS. HIV can easily develop resistance to its treatment through mutation each generation, which leads to ineffectiveness in treatment. The only way to continue to fight off HIV is to change treatment that is still available. Patients have to cooperate with experienced doctors by adhering to their professional recommendations, while doctors are responsible for closely monitoring the patient’s conditions through test results and their body’s response to treatment, as well as helping them to live healthily without serious damage to their immune system over a long period of time. Human Immunodeficiency Virus, commonly known as HIV, is the retrovirus that causes a desperate worldwide epidemic that afflicts human beings – Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, abbreviated as AIDS. When the body is infected with HIV, the immune system will respond by making antibodies to fight against this particular infection (AIDS.org, 2003). As a result, to determine whether a person is infected, a sample of blood is extracted and the test will look for antibodies fighting against HIV. This kind of blood test is known as HIV testing. Even though HIV is the actual cause of AIDS, a person who is positive in the HIV Testing does not necessarily mean that the person has AIDS (AIDS.org, 2004). When a person is infected with HIV, the virus will gradually damage the immune sys... ...s.org/factSheets/102-HIV-Testing/html AIDS.Org. (2004, August). Immune Restoration Overview. Information Fact Sheets. July 17, 2005: www.aids.org/factSheets/470-Immune-Restoration-Overview.html AIDS.Org. (2004, September). Opportunistic Infections. Information Fact Sheets. July 17, 2005: www.aids.org/factSheets/500-Opportunistic-Infections.html AIDS.Org. (2004, March). Viral Load Tests. Information Fact Sheets. July 17, 2005: www.aids.org/factSheets/125-Viral-Load-Tests.html AIDS.Org. (2003, November). What is AIDS?. Information Fact Sheets. July 17, 2005: www.aids.org/factSheets/101-What-is-AIDS.html Avert.Org. (2005, July). Continuing Antiretroviral Treatment. Continuing HIV Treatment. July 21, 2005: www.avert.org/couttrt.htm The Body. (2003, April). Living with HIV/AIDS. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. July 17, 2005: www.thebody.com/cdc/living.html