Answered by SecondMedic Expert
General Physician · General Physician
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is an incurable, life-threatening condition that results from infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV attacks and destroys a type of immune system cell called a T-cell or CD4 cell, which helps the body fight infections. As HIV reproduces in these cells, it eventually causes very severe damage to the immune system by reducing the number of healthy T-cells available to fight off other infections.
When the number of T-cells decreases enough, people can no longer effectively fight off bacteria, viruses and fungi - leading to AIDS. Since AIDS is caused by HIV infection rather than directly by any particular virus or microbe itself, there are currently no drugs or vaccines available to cure this condition. This means that once a person has contracted HIV and its effects progress into full-blown AIDS status – they will remain in this state for life unless another form of treatment becomes available in future medical research.
Currently scientists are researching potential cures for AIDS with some promising findings; however there have yet been none proven effective on humans as of now. There are treatments such as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) which combines several different antiretroviral medications into one medication regimen; however all HAART does is suppress or contain the virus levels within infected individuals so that their bodies can hopefully maintain adequate numbers of healthy T-cells for them to function normally – essentially keeping them from progressing further towards advanced stages of disease. Unfortunately even though HAART can be helpful it still does not offer a cure for AIDS unfortunately due to how complex and aggressive HIV actually is while also taking into account how difficult it may be at times to get those infected access to high quality healthcare services where they live.
