When is it time to start taking HIV medications?
09 December 2016
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) treatment reduces the amount of HIV in the body, which is important to keep you healthy, and reduces the chance of transmitting the virus to others by 96%. A study called HPTN052.
This will only happen if you take the medications properly and follow the instructions of the medical staff, keeping the levels of viral load undetectable; That is, less than twenty copies of the virus.
It is worth mentioning that the guidelines on the use of drugs establish that it is necessary to start treatment as soon as possible to prevent the virus from progressing and causing more damage in your body. At the comprehensive care clinic they will support you to start this process and will guide you so that you can adapt to it and get the results you expect.
What situations increase the need to start ART?
- Pregnant women
- People in the AIDS phase
- Early HIV infection (when the virus was newly acquired since the first six months after acquiring viral load increases and can cause a lot of damage to the body)
- Patients with kidney disease or hepatitis
ART is a lifelong treatment, its effectiveness depends on compliance, that is, taking the medication every day, exactly as you have been prescribed.
Before starting treatment, talk to your doctor about the fears and doubts that may arise, establish with him a plan that allows you to comply adequately with the treatment regimen, represents a great challenge, but certainly the benefits for your life and you Health are much more important.
Source investigated by: Ale Calderón, El Salvador
