Kevin Waltman
EN 101
6 Oct 2013
Informative Synthesis Essay: HIV/AIDS Antiviral Therapies
HIV/AIDS, those seven letters open people eyes. When HIV first revealed itself everyone was on pins and needles because of the lack of information. HIV has developed many stereotypes. Many of the social stereotypes attached to people living with HIV/AIDS are incorrect. Since the late 2000s the improve antiviral drug therapy has led to a better or “normal” life for infected individuals. Antivirals therapies are not the easiest to come by and insurance companies are complicated when it comes to infected patients with HIV/AIDS. Along with the cost there are different types of drug therapies and some are more effective than others. According to Michael Oldstone’s Viruses, Plagues and History today there are huge advancements in drug therapy has reduced the HIV/AIDS death rates by two-thirds. In the early 1990s in United States the death rate was less great (251). But the early twenty-first century antiviral drug therapies have since improved. The earlier the treatment begins the better the prognoses, some infected patients delay treatment until they see symptoms. In doing so leads to a poorer outcome (Oldstone 252). A longer life expectancy correlates with the shortest time interval between HIV infection, diagnosis, and start of antiviral medical therapy (Oldstone 252). There are improvements in testing for HIV infected persons. There are two tests, CD4 count and HIV viral load. Both help healthcare provides know the strength of your immune system. CD4 cells help your immune system function but the HIV virus comes in and kills those CD4 cells. However the CD4 count test tells how many CD4 cells you have and the higher the count the better. The second test health care providers administer is the HIV viral load test. This test determines how much of the HIV virus is present in your blood and how fast is it growing. The higher the viral load is equivalent
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