HIV life expectancy is now “near normal”

 HIV, as you well know, is a terrible STD. Over time it develops into AIDS, which completely wipes out your immune system. It’s terrifying to think about, but thanks to new drugs we appear to be finding ways around it.

A study in Lancet has suggested that young people on the latest HIV drugs can now expect to have a near-normal life expectancy. This is all thanks to improvements in the treatments provided. Twenty-year-olds that started the treatment back in 2010 can expect to live 10 years longer than those that started it back in 1996. However, starting the treatment early is crucial in order to achieve a long and healthy life. Charities claim that too many people are still unaware they’re affected by the virus.

Antiviral therapy helps treating HIV. (Image: BBC)

A Medical Achievement

These new drugs have much fewer side effects and do a good job of preventing the virus from replicating in the body. This new drug also gives the virus a hard time growing an immunity to it. Despite this though, people with HIV are still not living as long as expected. Specifically those who were infected through the use of injecting drugs via dirty needles. The antiviral therapy combines three or more drugs which will stop the virus from progressing further in the body.

This medical achievement means a lot. We are getting closer and closer to the day that such diseases will no longer be any concern to us. That’s so long as it’s caught and treated. Although the proportion of people undiagnosed has fallen over the last twenty years, it’s still thought that one in eight people with HIV still have no idea.

Source: BBC