Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) are the drugs used by medical professionals to help keep patients' HIV under control. Of course, there is no sure for HIV, but antiretrovirals have the ability to greatly prolong the life of a patient with HIV when taken correctly. Currently, patients typically receive a combination of at least three HAART medications that inhibit viral replication of the HIV. In the absence of HAART, progression from HIV infection to AIDS has been observed to occur at a median of between nine to ten years and the median survival time after developing AIDS is only 9.2 months. The reasons for non-adherence and non-persistence with HAART are varied and overlapping. Major psychosocial issues, such as poor access to medical care, inadequate social supports, psychiatric disease and drug abuse contribute to non-adherence. The complexity of these HAART regimens, whether due to pill number, dosing frequency, meal restrictions or other issues along with side effects that create intentional non-adherence also contribute to this problem.
Whatever the reason, lack of strict adherence to the HAART program results in ineffective treatment. The virus will continue to mutate and replicate until it becomes resistent to any form of management.
Without fail, my service learning experiences continued to be my main source in developing my third answer. Other sources, like Wikipedia, Aidsinfonet.org, Thebody.com, and Avert.com allowed me to see the HAART programs from a more medical viewpoint.
No comments:
Post a Comment