How treating HIV can help manage the disease

The world of HIV treatments has come very far since the discovery of the disease. However, as far as the HIV treatments have come, there is still no cure. Treating HIV is the most we can do for someone suffering from the disease. Different HIV medication options are available and are taken together to create a powerful combination of daily medication, working to maintain the healthy T-cells in the immune system and keep other illnesses and symptoms of HIV at bay. These daily medication cocktails are incredibly important to keeping a sick person as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

What daily medication do people take as HIV treatments?

There are five main types of daily medication used for HIV treatments. These different HIV medications are designed to protect health T-cells and prevent them from being hijacked by the HIV cells. Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and protease inhibitors (PIs) disable proteins necessary for the HIV cells to hijack the healthy T-cells. Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors provide the HIV cells with faulty proteins, to prevent them from attaching to the actual healthy cells. These different HIV medications aim to keep HIV from replicating any further than it already has.

The other two main types of drugs are different; HIV cells need to enter the CD4 cells (another name for T-cells) and that entry can be sufficiently blocked. Entry (or fusion) inhibitors prevent entry and integrase inhibitors also disable a protein that's necessary for entry. These drugs also make up part of the daily medication that someone with HIV must take.

What if the HIV treatments don't work?

If you aren't successfully treating HIV with the daily medication you are currently taking, you might have to look at different HIV drug combinations. The best doctor in NYC will realize that not everyone reacts to medications the same way, so it's important to keep an eye on how your body is reacting. Be honest and discuss your symptoms as thoroughly as possible. It will help make your life easier and more manageable.

What to do while treating HIV

It's important to continue seeing your doctor regularly while treating HIV. If you need different HIV medications, your doctor should be the one to prescribe them. You will need to talk to your doctor regularly about your HIV treatments and how they are affecting you, so be sure to schedule appointments on a routine basis. After all, you went through all the trouble of finding the best doctor in NYC, so why not take advantage of that?