Life Expectancy Of Hiv Sufferers

Everyone these days has heard of HIV and AIDS, but most of us know very little about these conditions. We may know that AIDS struck certain communities hard in the 1980s and 1990s, that it has spread to become a virtual pandemic in parts of Africa and Asia, and that it can be controlled - although not cured - with certain expensive drugs, but often leads to a slow, painful and inevitable death.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and is a type of retrovirus that often leads to AIDs or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. AIDS in turn can lead to serious "opportunistic infections" that an infected person is susceptible to because their immune system has begun to fail and is unable to fight off these infections. The almost inevitable outcome of developing AIDS is becoming infected with conditions such as bronchitis, herpes, shingles, tuberculosis and pneumonia.

Statistics on life expectancy of HIV and AIDS sufferers is difficult to pin down because it is so dependent on socio-economic factors. In 1993 when a person was first diagnosed with HIV they were expected to live about seven years. By 2005 it was estimated that 9 out of 10 people infected with HIV and not treated with antiretroviral drugs would develop AIDS within 10-15 years. At that time (2005) once a person developed AIDS their life-expectancy was about 1 year without antiviral treatment and 5 years with.

By 2006, with the development of new antiretroviral drugs, life expectancy of HIV and AIDS sufferers had improved substantially. It was then estimated that someone diagnosed with HIV could expect to live about 24 years - but only if they stuck to a strict regimen of then-current antiretroviral drugs. Without the drugs your chances of living that long are greatly reduced. And some studies indicate that only slightly more than 50% of Americans who needed anitretroviral drugs were actually getting them.

By 2009 it is estimated that a person diagnosed with HIV at age 20 could expect to live 30 or 40 years more if they stuck to the newest drug therapy called "highly active antiretroviral treatment" or HAART. These statistics were compiled from 14 studies done on 43,000 HIV patients. These studies were conducted in developed countries such as the US, Canada, and others in Europe.

When all is said and done, the most effective way currently known to safeguard against infection from STDs is through the use of condoms. All other forms of prevention or treatment are basically fighting a rear-guard action.

In spite of the tremendous improvement in HIV/AIDS life expectancy, it is a well-known fact that preventing initial infection is the only real way to save yourself from the devastating impact of the condition, and a life-long dependence on expensive drugs. Indeed, many of these drugs are not available in underdeveloped countries, and even in some developed countries the expense is too great to have them readily distributed to all HIV/AIDS sufferers.