AIDS

Posted on December 18th, 2007 by olga

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. HIV/AIDS harms a person’s immune system and leaves him/her helpless to otherwise harmless infections and other diseases.
Pay your attention that people who have in recent times been infected with HIV may experience a condition named Acute Retroviral Syndrome (ARS), primary HIV infection, or conversion sickness. Symptoms of ARS consist of swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, fatigue, malaise, joint pain, and/or a rash. These commonly appear in one to two months after infection and vanish as the body’s immune system starts fighting back. The symptoms generally last for a month. For people who are at low risk for HIV, on the other hand, it’s more possible that people with these problems have a more general infection, such as the flu, which has similar symptoms.
And as a result, following the initial infection, people usually go through a period where they have no symptoms. This period varies in length and can be enlarged by HIV medications. Though, HIV keeps on weakening the immune system during this asymptomatic period, which may at last end. People can suffer from swollen or painful lymph nodes, unexplained weight loss, persistent diarrhea, lack of energy, shingles, dry cough, yeast infections, and even memory loss. Often, these symptoms keep coming back and are more severe than what a usual non-infected person might experience.
As a final point, HIV infection can progress into AIDS. For the reason that their immune systems are weakened, people with AIDS are at risk to many various infections and illnesses. For instance, the most common AIDS-defining illness is known as PCP (Pneumocystis pneumonia), which has symptoms that contain cough, fever, trouble breathing, and chest tightness. PCP is caused by a fungus that many HIV-negative people bring without becoming ill. Another disease seen in people with AIDS is Kaposi’s sarcoma, an otherwise rare form of cancer. Kaposi’s sarcoma produces purple or brownish lesions that resemble bruises but are painless and do not heal.
You should to be tested for sure, and AIDS must be made a diagnosis by a health care professional.
Other signs of AIDS-related illnesses or infections may include:
-nausea
-vomiting
-abdominal pain
-loss of appetite
-losing more than ten percent of one’s body weight (also known as “wasting”)
- headache
-sore throat
-rash
-night sweats
-confusion
-memory loss
-loss of muscle strength
-fatigue
These symptoms are typically persistent and severe in people with AIDS.