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Body Health Resources Foundation
STEP 6: Choosing the Right HIV Treatment
Part of HIV and Me: An African American's Guide to Living With HIV
February 1, 2008 Doctors have not yet discovered a single combination of HIV medications that's best for everyone. Each combination has its advantages and disadvantages. The U.S. government issues regularly updated HIV treatment guidelines for health care professionals. As of January 2008, the guidelines made the following HIV treatment recommendations for people who are starting on their first HIV treatment combination:
Each of these treatment combinations include at least one drug from two different types, or "classes" of HIV medications. Each class of medication stops HIV from making copies of itself at a different moment in its reproductive cycle. The following are the five classes of HIV medications:
You and your provider will consider many issues before deciding on a treatment combination, including:
Copyright © 2006 Body Health Resources Foundation. All rights reserved. This article was provided by Body Health Resources Foundation. It is a part of the publication HIV and Me: An African American's Guide to Living With HIV. |