HIV Symptoms and Treatment
HIV infection progresses through stages. In the early weeks, you might experience flu-like symptoms including fever, swollen glands, rash, and muscle pain. These initial symptoms typically fade after a few weeks, which is why many people don't realize they're infected.
Without treatment, HIV gradually weakens the immune system over years, leading to frequent infections, diarrhea, and weight loss. If it progresses to AIDS, more serious conditions develop, including severe weight loss, certain types of pneumonia, and cancers like Kaposi sarcoma.
While there's no cure for HIV, modern treatments called Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) can reduce the amount of virus in the body to undetectable levels. This allows people with HIV to live long, healthy lives and prevents progression to AIDS. Regular blood tests monitor treatment effectiveness.
Hope Matters: With proper medical care, HIV is now a manageable chronic condition. People with HIV who receive treatment early can have nearly the same life expectancy as those without HIV!