Doctor's Help on HIV

Finding a good doctor to be a partner in your health care is one of the most important efforts you will make; So don't just take the first one you find. Make a list of doctors in your area who have experience treating HIV and AIDS. Many AIDS organizations have lists of such doctors. Then make an appointment with a few and interview them. Use a checklist of questions.

As your doctor is your partner in your health care, the most important person besides you on your team, think carefully about what you need and expect.

In order to work well together you need some knowledge of HIV disease, its progression and treatment. You also need to know what your status is. Learn to interpret the results, Keep up to date on treatments availability, including supplements such as vitamins, herbs, and tonics, and complementary therapies such as stress reduction through meditation, massage, good nutrition and other techniques. A combination of traditional medical and complementary therapies seems to be most successful for people living with HIV disease.

The Basic Things Your Doctor Should Do for You

It is important to take an active role and work with your doctor or health care provider. You doctor needs to get an understanding of who you are and how HIV is affecting your health.

Past Medical History: As a starting point, get an initial medical assessment. This means that you give your medical history in detail, have a physical examination, and describe your emotional health. You will also need to have your blood tested to learn how much HIV is in your body (your viral load), how strong your immune system is, and how many CD4 and CD8 cells you have. Make a list for your doctor of all your past illnesses and infections. Some illness that you may have had before can come back because of HIV disease. If you have had tuberculosis tell your doctor. Also tell your doctor if you have had any sexually transmitted infections (STI`s) such as syphilis, herpes, hepatitis, chlyamydia, or any others. Include your immunization history and update it.
Sharing Information: You may feel uncomfortable discussing certain things because they are very personal, but you need to be open and honest with your doctor. This is a professional who should treat you with the respect you deserve. The doctor will need to know about anything that affects your health. If you are sexually active, let your doctor know. If you use injection drugs, tell your doctor. Do not assume your doctor will be shocked or negative towards you. An experienced HIV doctor has probably heard and seen it all.
Systems Review: If you have experienced fever, night sweats, unexplained weight loss or anorexia this could mean your HIV disease is getting worse. These are also signs that you may have an opportunistic infection (OI`s). Tell your doctor about these health problems and get treatment early. If these problems continue, ask your doctor to investigate thoroughly.
Emotional Health (Psychosocial Assessment): Tell your doctor counselor if you have been feeling depressed, isolated, or afraid because of HIV. The doctor can suggest professional or community resources to help you. Your emotional health is as important as your physical health and deserves equal attention.
Ongoing Care by Your Doctor: Ask your doctor to do blood tests every four months as long as your CD4 cell counts are above 500. Even above 500, diseases such as tuberculosis, Kaposi's sarcoma (a skin cancer), or lymphoma cancer can appear.

How do you tell if Things are Getting Worse?

If your CD4 counts are falling, or viral load counts are rising, this probably means your HIV disease is getting worse. If you also have unexplained weight loss, ongoing fevers and night sweats, it may mean you have an opportunistic infection. If you have had tuberculosis before, and it comes back, that often means the HIV disease is getting worse. Severe or frequent herpes (including cold sores), bacterial pneumonia, frequent skin problems and yeast infections, diseases in your mouth are associated with developing AIDS within two to three years. Neuropsychological impairment that is usually caused by diseases of the brain can mean that your central nervous system has become infected with HIV. Get treatment immediately.

Things Your Doctor Should Do to Keep You Healthy

One of the best ways to keep from getting sick is to prevent an infection before it happens. This is called "prophylaxis". We now know that those living with HIV disease become more likely to get opportunistic infections at certain stages of the disease. To prevent the following diseases, infections and cancers, discuss them with your doctor if your CD4 count falls below the following levels:

CD4+ Count	Prophylaxis should be considered to prevent the following diseases
Below 200	PCP (Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia)
Below 100	Toxoplasmosis
Below 75	MAC (Mycobacterium Avium Complex)
Below 50	Screening by eye doctor for CMV retinitus (every 3 months)

Also discuss with your doctor:

Options for experimental therapies.
Your diet, eating and nutrition. Your exercise levels.
Your stress levels and relaxation, including sleep patterns.
Your fears and anxieties.

The goal is of helping your doctor to help you to maintain your health, live longer and, most importantly, maintain or improve the quality of your life.

What Kind Of Treatment Is Given To A Person Suffering From HIV/AIDS?

Although no drugs exist that can cure HIV, a person infected with HIV can extend his/her life and improve the quality of his/her life in a number of ways. These practices strengthen the immune system and delay the advancement of HIV.

There are common methods used to treat a person infected with HIV such as:

A person with HIV can take care of his/her health by strengthening the immune system, thus making it more difficult for opportunistic infections to take hold.

This can be done in three ways:

1) Living a healthy lifestyle, taking care of ones health by stopping habits which are harmful to ones health like smoking, drinking, chewing tobacco or gutka or any other form of substance abuse and eating more nutritious food, cutting back on unhealthy food, exercising regularly like aerobics, swimming, continuing on with regular activities, avoiding situations which can cause depression, trying to cut back on activities which cause stress, keeping emotionally stable and increasing spiritual activities which calm ones mind and soul like meditation yoga and so on.

Seeking out emotional support : A person who knows that he/she is infected with HIV generally suffers and faces difficult predicaments. This depression or psychological stress can have serious consequences on the immune system so a person infected with HIV must get emotional support by finding or joining a support group that keeps the will of a person to live life and have a positive thinking attitude which is beneficial to the immune system or by finding a counselor for the counseling normally needed to resolve internal and external conflict.

Taking medicines, which activate the bodies' immune system against all infection in general, but these must be done strictly under the doctors' supervision and prescribed medicines only.

2) The second strategy for treating those infected with HIV is drugs, which impede the replication of HIV; these drugs work in the body to delay the progression of HIV. These drugs must be used under the strict supervision of a specialist doctor only.

3) The third strategy is for preventing or treating opportunistic infections. These drugs are used before a person starts showing symptoms of AIDS. Today a number of medicines are available which can prevent opportunistic infections.