How Hiv Damages The Immune System

Here's a taste of what TheBody.com has to offer on this topic:

Get the Facts

How HIV Damages the Immune System

Introduction The basic structure of HIV is similar to that of other viruses (Figure 1 ). HIV has a core of genetic material surrounded by a protective sheath, called a capsid . The genetic material in the core is RNA (ribonucleic acid), which contains the information that the virus needs in order to replicate (make more copies of itself) and perform other functions. You can think of RNA as the set of rules the virus follows in order to...

Ask the Experts

reinfected with hiv damage immune system

I was wondering If I was Infected and reinfected a couple of weeks later. would that dammage the immune system so much that Iwould not be able to produce hiv antibodies. It's been 8 months and I've tested negative. Would a pcr dna test...

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

Stanford University, School of Medicine

Reinfection that close would not prohibit you from making antibodies. A PCR test now probably will not add anything.MH... Read more »

Start Treatment Early to Keep Immune system from damage?

I know this is a recurring question with no easy answer, but please bear with me. I was recently diagnosed with HIV, and my viral load is just under 10,000. My CD4+ cells are just above 1000. I am healthy, work out regularly, take a healthy diet and...

Response from Eric Daar, M.D.

UCLA School of Medicine

Thank you for the post. There certainly are no compelling clinical data demonstrating that starting antiretroviral therapy with a CD4 cell count as high as yours will result in any benefit. That does not mean there are not benefits yet to be... Read more »

Immune System Damage

I have a question about immune system damage. I was diagnosed late (CD4 in the 60s and V/L off the charts) and remember talk about immune system damage. I was left with the impression that different parts of the immune system can sustain damage that...

Response from Eric Daar, M.D.

UCLA School of Medicine

Thank you for this excellent question. Unfortunately there remains many things we do not completely understand about the immune system and how it is affected by treatment. There certainly is evidence that not all parts of the immune system come... Read more »

what is immune system damage?

Right or wrong, it has been my goal to delay treatment as long as possible. 10 years since infection and I'm still med free with good labs. However, I have seen the phrase "damage to the immune system" in reference to not starting...

Response from Eric Daar, M.D.

UCLA School of Medicine

Thank you for your post.The phrase you refer to is frequently used in very loose terms. The reason for this is that it really is not very specific or well defined. I suspect most use it to describe immunologic deficits that occur in people that... Read more »

Go to Ask the Experts »

Connect With Others

More on the two immune system stuff

Posted by Anonymous, 1 Reply

Again, the below gospel is plagerized from Gallant.

This may be a dumb question -- but I would sincerely appreciate an answer

If AIDS is a breakdown of the immune system, why don't people with AIDS get
colds all the time? Why... Read more »

immune system

Posted by Anonymous, 2 Replies

Would persisted symptoms such as yeast infections,sores in nose,coated tounge ,that keep comming back be a sign of a poor immune system,and if so how bad would the immune system have to be not to produce detectable antibody's by 6 months.I can't... Read more »

the method of exposing the immune system .....

Posted by Anonymous

8-14-97 The method of exposing the immune system to parts of HIV
in advanced evolved forms can be made more effective if the
immune system is prepard in advance for this treatment. People
with HIV infection receive some of this preparation but the... Read more »

Immune system & HIV detection

Posted by andypb, 1 Reply

What is compromised/ supressed immune system.

Does compromised/ weak immune system take more time to produce antibody to HIV infection.

Would a Person having as low Cd 4 counts 350 is considered to have compromised immune system.

Do such person with... Read more »

Connect on Our Bulletin Boards »

Tools

My Health Tracker

Assess Your Risk for HIV

Find Local HIV/AIDS Services

Resource Centers

Guides for People With HIV

View All of Our Guides >>