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Hiv Aids Research Paper

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Hiv Aids Research Paper
Over one million people in the United States are living with HIV/Aids. HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system. HIV can be divided into two categories HIV-1 and HIV-2. The HIV-1 strain is most common. The HIV-2 Strand is mostly found in West Africa, unlike HIV-1 which can be found worldwide. The HIV-1 strand is more pathogenic. HIV if left untreated will develop into AIDS. AIDS is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AIDS is the result of a long exposure to HIV. HIV will attack the host cd4 cells. Cd4 cells signal the immune system when they detect foreign substances. HIV will attach to these cd4 cells and reproduce. When this happens the cd4 are destroyed by the HIV virus. A Normal range of cd4 cells is between 500-1500. If this count …show more content…
The lower the T cell counts the harder it is for your body to fight off diseases. One method to combat this loss is early ART. ART stands for antiretroviral therapy. This therapy could potentially cause a rise in CD4 if treatment is followed after contracting the virus. The window of time for this is small after an acute infection. Figure 1: CD4 counts in early and late therapy trials
This graph details CD4 counts before and after ART. Before the initiation of ART, CD4 counts were going up in participants who started ART earlier at 4 or less months after the time of HIV infection and were going down in people who started ART later more than 4 months. The central time from the day of infection to the initiation of ART was approximately 7 months shorter in the earlier therapy group than in the later therapy group . Regardless of the difference, CD4 counts increased quicker with those starting therapy earlier, Regardless of whether therapy was initiated when the CD4 counts were higher or lower.
This data was very informative but had some limitations. The research was unable to determine if therapy could reduce clinical progression. Also the sex of the participants were predominantly male. These results could vary using more female participants. The manner of development of the disease could possibly show sex

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