Last week you got the answers to the survey and maybe it got you to thinking. I know it made me think a little more about this epidemic. AIDS has affected millions of people. From the current poll I see that many of you are very optimistic a cure for Acquired Immunodeficency Syndrome (AIDS) will be found. I am glad many of you are so optimistic. Just 2 years ago I would have said that nothing could be done for someone with AIDS. However, that has changed with some of the new drug therapies. AIDS patients are living longer and healthier lives.
However, I do want to make one point perfectly clear. THERE IS CURRENTLY NO CURE FOR AIDS. The current treatments can lower the number of viruses in the blood a lot. Unfortunately, if a person with AIDS stops taking the drugs eventually the virus levels go back up. The current treatments will only slow down the progress of this disease in a person infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Since there is no cure for this disease it is very important that people know how to avoid infection with HIV. One very effective means of avoiding this infection is to know how HIV is spread. It can be spread by:
- heterosexual contact,
- homosexual contact (men with men),
- being punctured with a sharp device contaminated with HIV containing blood,
- organ or tissue transplants,
- sharing needles with drug addicts,
- receiving blood or a blood product that is contaminated with HIV.
Now that you know how the disease is spread it is much easier to figure out what behaviors make a person more likely to get AIDS. People who have many heterosexual or homosexual partners are much more likely to get AIDS. People who inject drugs into their veins are much more likely to get AIDS. People who receive blood and blood products or tissue transplants are more likely to get AIDS (This is less common now that we test all blood and tissue donors for AIDS). Being born to a mother with AIDS makes a person much more likely to get AIDS.
The best ways to protect yourself from getting AIDS is to avoid the behaviors that put you in danger. Do not have sexual relations. If you do have sexual relations then have a monogamous relationship (limit your sexual experiences to one person who is also limiting their sexual experiences to one person). If you do not choose to be monogamous then always always always insist on using a condom. But always remember sexual relations
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