Hiv Medication Measurements

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When to Start Anti-HIV Medications

Terms Used in This Fact Sheet Antiretroviral: A medication that prevents a retrovirus, such as HIV, from making copies of itself. Anti-HIV medications are also called antiretrovirals. Antiretroviral therapy (ART): The recommended treatment for HIV. ART involves taking a combination of three or more anti-HIV medications from at least two different drug classes every day to control the virus. CD4 count: The number of CD4 cells in a sample...

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If HIV lives in the gut is there any way to measure it

Dear Doctor HolodniyI have read that only 2% of HIV lives in the blood, the reaminder resiging in our lymph nodes, gut, brain, testicles etc.The majority I believe lives in the gut and judging by the rumbling in my stomach since I was infected this...

Response from Mark Holodniy, M.D., F.A.C.P., C.I.C.

Stanford University, School of Medicine

It can be measured, but is not practical, given the need for invasive procedures to acquire tissue by endoscopy.... Read more »

Fear rules and ruins my life in equal measure. OHL? Or something else?

Hi Doctor Bob. THank you for taking this email ( I hope that you do). I am a heterosexual man who is currently living in Central Europe and I am living my life in fear of HIV and STD's. I am a very inadaquate man and I find myself in massage...

Response from Robert J. Frascino, M.D.

The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation

Hello,". . . I need someone to talk to and divulge my problems." I couldn't agree more! You do indeed have problems, but I'm nearly certain HIV is not one of them. Certainly fear of HIV is! But remember that a "fear"... Read more »

lipodystrophy [and risk factors, measures]

I'm on a HAART regimen since June 2002 (I was PC diagnosed) and I'm feeling quite well. Viral load: 63...CD4: 287. Any side effects. But Lipodistrophy is always the menace! I'd like to ask you this:- How high is the risk to get...

Response from Cade Fields-Gardner M.S., R.D.

The Cutting Edge

According to opinions expressed by many HIV-specialist clinicians, the highest risk of the meds you mention is stavudine for lipoatrophy. There is controversy and argument about this every step of the way.Please remember that a risk factor is... Read more »

hiv-2, can viral load be measured?

Dear Dr. Holodniy,I was just diagnosed with hiv-2 (which I got last year on a trip to Amsterdam, even though I used protection with the woman). Seroconverted after 6 months (somewhere beteween 6 and 11 months).The worst part is, no one knows...

Response from Mark Holodniy, M.D., F.A.C.P., C.I.C.

Stanford University, School of Medicine

There are no commercially available HIV-2 quantitative viral load tests. People have developed and described "homebrew" PCR based viral load tests to describe some of the findings you described. Some of the HIV-1 treatments work. Drugs... Read more »

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