A.I.D.S & What It Is.
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Submitted by macd0033 on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: Medical
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A.I.D.S & What It Is.
The definition of AIDS-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Aids is caused by a virus called HIV. The virus attacks the immune system, the body's "security force" that fights infections. The virus is like the flu or a cold that attacks the body's immune system. HIV mostly infects the T-cells also known as the T-helper cells. These cells are white blood cells that turn the immune system to fight the disease. Once HIV is in the cells it starts producing millions of little viruses, which kill the cell then go on to infect other cells.
Scientists believe HIV was spread from monkeys to humans between 1926-1946. Researchers indicate that HIV jumped from chimpanzees to humans as early as 1675 and didn't establish itself as an epidemic in Africa until 1930.
Some people have received HIV in emergency transfusions of unscreened blood; mothers infected with HIV also have transmitted the virus to unborn children in the womb, during delivery, breast milk and through unprotected sex. Aids poses as a threat to the survival of millions of people, especially in the Third World, where health is weakened by the economic crisis. Most Africans do not have access to the effective antibiotic treatment for STD's.
Infections that characterize Aids are tuberculosis, pneumonia, severe diarrhea, forms of cancer, blindness and brain disorders. Treatment is very costly and not accessible to the majority on Africa. The drugs only increase the lifespan by a few months. There are two types of drug groups. The first is called reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors. The work by interrupting an early stage in the duplication of the virus and slow down the spread of the HIV in the body. The second group of drugs is called the protease inhibitors; these drugs interrupt the virus replication at a later stage in its cycle. HIV can become resistant to both groups and treatment consists of combination (cocktail) therapy. The drugs have side effects that can be severe such as...
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