Understanding HIV Treatments

Video Transcript

Dr.’s Whiteboard: Understanding HIV Treatments Treatments for HIV have come a long way since the virus was first discovered in 1983. While scientists are still working on a cure for HIV, there are several drug therapies that can help HIV patients live long and full lives. The most common and effective therapies used today are retroviral drugs, which work by specifically targeting the virus that’s infected a person’s cells. 

Current retroviral drugs cannot completely eliminate the HIV virus, but they can keep virus levels—called viral loads—to a manageable level and prevent HIV from progressing to AIDS. There are five classes of retroviral drugs, and each is designed to attack the living virus at different points in its lifespan. 

 1. Nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, or NRTIs

 2. Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, or NNRTIs 

3. Protease inhibitors 

4. Entry or fusion inhibitors 

5. Integrase inhibitors Many of these drugs stop or interrupt the virus from replicating and creating new copies of itself. Other drugs stop HIV from spreading in the body by blocking the virus from docking on, and infecting, healthy cells.

 Because many of these drugs work against the HIV virus differently, they are often combined in a “cocktail” form to prevent the virus from developing resistance and rendering treatment ineffective. Early HIV patients were subject to a handful of pills throughout the day, but now these drugs can be lumped together in a once-daily pill. This type of treatment goes by many names, including combined antiretroviral therapy, cART, or highly active antiretroviral therapy, HAART. Taking only one pill a day makes adhering to treatment much easier for patients, and adherence is the most important thing a patient can to ensure their therapy is effective. While these drugs can help HIV from progressing, there are some side effects. 

The most common effects of retroviral drugs are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, weakness, and dizziness. Some patients may develop a rash as well. Your doctor may prescribe medicine or recommend certain lifestyle changes to help combat these effects. In rare cases, people undergoing HIV treatment may experience other side effects such as an imbalance of sugars and lipids in the blood, bone loss, or abnormal fat distribution in the belly, neck, arms, or face. Working closely with your doctor can help mitigate these potential side effects. There is no one-size-fits all treatment plan for HIV treatments, but talking to your doctor about you concerns such as side effects, resistance, and how to incorporate treatment into your daily life can help you find the best drug regimen to keep the HIV virus in check. For more, browse through the expensive information available here on Healthline or make an appointment with your doctor. 

Source: Healthline.com

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