AIDS

AIDS : Its progression and Progress in its Study

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Introduction

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS ) has been among the worsening problem in health today . It has been a pandemic affecting people of any races and beliefs . Worldwide , there are millions who are infected with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV ) and not all these infected individuals are even aware that they are already carriers of the disease

Millions die annually due to AIDS brought about by complications accompanied to the disease

It is with this that health organizations are

advocating on wide information dissemination about the said virus and disease for global awareness and for us to be able to prevent , if not combat , the virus

What is HIV

HIV is a retrovirus belonging to the family Retroviridae . The family was named as such as it produces the enzyme reverse transcriptase which is important for the virus ' replication 1

The said virus was known before as human T-lymphotrophic virus III lymphadenopathy-associated virus , and AIDS Associated Retrovirus 1

Mode of Transmission

The virus is usually transmitted via blood and other body fluids like seminal and vaginal discharge . Transmission may be through sharing of infected syringe in drug abusers , or via blood transfusion of contaminated blood , sexual contact which includes oral , anal and vaginal sex . It was found that the virus was able to penetrate mucosa . Thus oral transmission is not via saliva but via lesions or damages in mouth lining and gums 2

What is AIDS

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AIDS is a complex in which the body 's immune system is no longer able to combat diseases that are normally not infective to human . Death by AIDS is brought about by complications from opportunistic infections The HI virus replicates , infects and kills immune system specifically the CD4 positive T-cells found in the blood . The virus is able to escape detection of phagocytes and thus enabling it to replicate to even greater numbers . The virus is able to destroy these cells without causing apparent signs of infection 2

The virus affects enzyme production as well as water-salt balance in the blood . It also causes depletion of body proteins as it is needed to repair cells . It hinders efficient absorption of nutrients in the villi as it is also able to penetrate epithelial cells . Eventually , it also damages the lymph system destroying body homeostasis as well as the kidneys and brain 3

Latest Researches and Findings

At present , there is still no known cure to AIDS but there are approved antiretroviral drugs used in conjunction with each other to prevent the rapid onset of the disease 2

In this light , studies are being conducted on further improvement of treatment for AIDS . One among these is discovery of potency of Prostatin . It is used as an herbal medicine and its potency was discovered in activating latent HIV in host 's reservoirs such as lymph This , if proven effective , will allow the host 's system including those hiding in reservoirs 4

Another is the development...