HIV and Aids affects millions of people, and
the scariest thing about it is that most people that have it do not even know
it. HIV/AIDs took the world by storm in the 1980s. 36 million people
are living with HIV/Aids across the globe, and unfortunately the number is
rising daily (Global Statistics 1). Aids is a disease where there is severe
loss in the body’s cellular immunity, greatly lowering the resistance to
infection and malignancy (Merriam-Webster 1). In order to get HIV, the
virus has to enter your blood cells through bodily fluids. The worst part
about AIDS is that it cannot be cured, it will either last for several years or
could even last for a normal lifetime (What are HIV and AIDs? 1).
Although this disease can’t be cured, there are ways to help prolong life and
slow down the diseases progress.
The origin of the HIV and AIDs virus
is much different than most people might expect. The first ever cases of HIV came as early as
1920 ("Origin of HIV & AIDS" 1). There
has been much debate over how this virus came into existence, but years of
research has led scientists to a possible conclusion (1). Although the first case of HIV was recorded
in 1980, there had already been several cases of a similar disease that had not
been identified yet, but research in 1999 found a strain of SIV in chimpanzees,
which is nearly the exact same as HIV in humans (1). Since then, the researcher concluded that the
SIV virus simply crossed species at some point, which is how the virus spread
to humans. The only way to contract the HIV virus by encountering an infected
person’s bodily fluids (1). This may
leave you wondering how chimpanzees spread this virus to humans. Well, it’s quite simple, humans had been
hunting chimpanzees in the jungle, and an infected chimps’ blood had come in
contact with humans who had open cuts or wounds. Conclusive evidence and years of research has
led scientists to believe that HIV originated in Africa. The research shows that the first
transmission of SIV to HIV happened in 1920 in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(1). This same region is recognized for
having the most genetic diversity in HIV strands. Eventually, HIV made its way around the
continent of Africa (1). Its next stop
was Kinshasa and it did not stop there.
At the time it was spreading through the area, the country was growing,
which meant transport in and around the country was heavy, and the possibility
of the virus spreading was very likely.
As time passed, the disease continued to spread and grow, eventually
going global. By 1960, HIV had spread to
Haiti, and the reasoning for it spreading to just Haiti is because at that
time, there were several Haitians working in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
where the virus originated (1).
The United States had not discovered
any cases of HIV until the 1980s, but the virus realistically had been in the
United States a few years prior to that ("History of HIV and
AIDS Overview" 1). Several cases of a rare disease were being
reported in 1981, specifically by homosexual men. For many years, the disease was being related
to the word “gay” only, until the same disease was found in heroin users and
hemophiliacs (1). At the time of the
first AIDs cases were being reported, there had not been much research done
yet. During that time, the general
public new that there were four ways to get AIDs, and those four things were
known as the Four-H-Club. The four H’s
were homosexual, hemophiliacs, heroin addicts, and Haitians (1). In 1983, it was discovered that HIV could
pass through heterosexual intercourse, and the stigmatism that it was only from
homosexual interactions was not valid anymore.
In June of 1983, the first child cases of AIDs had been discovered,
causing people to believe that anyone can contract the disease through any type
of contact. Later it was concluded that
the syndrome was passed to the child at birth if the mother had already had the
disease. The Center for Disease Control,
or the CDC, had put out a statement saying that you could not get the disease
from casual contact, food, water, or air.
This epidemic continued to grow, and by 1990, the number of people
infected was around 10 million, and since then it has continued to rise ("HIV Treatment Overview"). Overtime, the FDA
began approving several different medicines, the most affective one being
Antiretroviral therapy (1).
Antiretroviral therapy, or ART, cannot cure HIV, but can help prolong
life and make anyone who has been diagnosed with HIV much healthier (1). The drug has been used since the mid 1990s
and is the reason the virus has not been taking as many lives (1). The treatment is very important because if
the drug is not used, then people that live with HIV will soon develop AIDs,
which is what will lead to death.
Over the years, several important
figures in our society have been diagnosed with HIV and AIDs. Most are very open about their condition and
do everything they can to try and help others who are facing similar experiences. For example, Hall of Fame basketball player
Magic Johnson, who is now the General Manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, has
had Aids for the last twenty years ("How Has Magic
Johnson Survived 20 Years with HIV?" 1). Back in 1991, Magic
held a press conference where he announced to the world that he had contracted
the HIV virus, and to many at the time, he had just pronounced his own death
(1). People who had heard his
announcement believed he was going to die because at the time, the world did not
know near as much about the virus as we do now, and the perception of the
disease was that once diagnosed, the future was eminent, and death was
inevitable (1). Yet, here we are today,
and Magic Johnson is living a healthy life and is still just as successful as
ever. The reason he is as healthy as he
is, is because he has been taking the antiretroviral drug, which as I mentioned
earlier, helps prolong the life of people living with HIV and AIDs (1). The most effective way to try and keep people
from dying from AIDs is to stop it before the HIV can turn into AIDs, because
after it gets to that point, the odds of living are not near as probable.
One of the hardest parts about having the
virus, is revealing it to the world.
Partially because it is a statement that will change your life, but also
because of how the everyone else will perceive you once you expose yourself to
the world. Charlie Sheen is a perfect
example of someone who has gone through a hard part of his life since being
diagnosed with the deadly virus (“Jason Hanna, Doug Criss and
Sandee LaMotte, CNN” 1). Since then, the emotional and physical toll
on him has been anything but easy. When
Sheen told the people, he thought he was closest to about his diagnosis, he was
shocked and hurt when they demanded money to keep his secret, and since then he
has paid millions of dollars to protect himself (1). Luckily for Charlie Sheen, his HIV has not
yet become AIDs, and until it does, the medicine should protect him and allow
him to live a mostly normal life (1).
Unfortunately, these drugs and
resources still are not available to most of the people living with the disease
in Africa and other third-world countries around the world. Although it is relatively easy to prevent the
spread of HIV in America, but the same cannot be said for less fortunate
countries around the world. The reason
being is that those countries simply are not as medically or hygienically
advanced as the United States is. For
example, the economies in those countries are not sustainable enough to afford
the expensive antiretroviral drugs that save so many lives. Those countries are also not near as “clean”
as America. One of the major ways that
the virus spreads is through reused needles or syringes, and those countries do
not have enough money to be able to have enough of those resources, which lead
to the virus infecting millions of the people living in those unfortunate
conditions.
The virus does more than just
physically harm you, the physiological affect is just as dangerous. People who are diagnosed with the disease
often become depressed because of that the road ahead looks like for them ("Associated Factors of Suicidal Thoughts in HIV-Positive
Individuals" 1). The constant thought in your head that your
life will eventually be cut short by the terminal disease is a hard pill to
swallow, and for many it is not something they can just put to the side and try
and forget about. Becoming infected with
this disease is scary, and roughly thirty percent of the people living with HIV
an AIDs are depressed, and roughly two percent of those people attempt suicide
(1).
A
lot of people do not understand the difference between HIV and AIDs, and its
often confusing because they are talked about together as one whenever they are
discussed. Everyone starts off by
getting HIV, which is most commonly received from bodily fluids such as blood,
semen, rectal fluid, and breast milk.
HIV is a disease that targets the immune system, and specifically the
CD4 T-cells ("HIV/AIDS -
Diagnosis and Treatment."). CD4 T-cells are the white blood cells that
kill viruses and bacteria that get into the body, but when they are killed the
body is left with nothing to defend itself with, which is why the virus is so
deadly (1). The HIV virus transitions
AIDs when the CD4 T-cell count drops to below 200(1). Once the T-cell count is below 200, the white
blood cells do not have enough numbers to fight some viruses (3). Those viruses
take over the body and are what ends up killing the person carrying the disease.
The HIV virus is very serious, as
it takes the lives of millions each and every year. Scientists are constantly doing research and
trying to find the cure to this life changing disease, but unfortunately this
virus has no cure. Although the virus is
not curable yet, there are medicines and treatments out there that can help
those who are suffering live a longer and happier life. One of the only consistent treatment methods
used today is called anti-retroviral treatment (“HIV Treatment Overview”). Antiretroviral drugs cannot kill the virus
completely, but it can stop the growth and progression of the disease from
killing you (2). This process usually
takes around two weeks to begin working and has proven to be a very effective
way to slow down HIV (2). Only around 58
percent of all those who suffer from HIV, have access to the antiretroviral
treatment ("Global HIV & AIDS Statistics? 2018
Fact Sheet."). Roughly fifteen million people are living
with HIV, and in the next year, around two million more people will contract
the HIV virus (3). By 2020, another
million people will have died due to an AIDs related disease. This specific treatment is taken in the form
of a pill and is taken daily (2). Like
any drug, there are side effects that come with this drug. Those side effects include nausea, vomiting,
diarrhea, difficulty sleeping, dry mouth, headaches, rashes, dizziness, fatigue
and pain ("Is There a Cure for HIV and AIDS?").
These different drugs work in different ways, but all do a similar
thing. Most of the drugs disable
proteins produced by the body that the virus needs to grow, so when these
proteins are not being given to the virus, it stalls out and is not able to
hurt the body (4).
Although it is possible to contain
HIV with drugs, there is another more effective way to stop the virus. The way to stop it is to prevent it from ever
starting. In the United States, HIV is
mainly spread through sex and the sharing of needles. Around the world, and especially in The
United States, safe sex is not something that is taught to teenagers.
Therefore, the youth of America is vulnerable to several things that could
change their lives forever. Some ways to
prevent the spreading of HIV is by using condoms, getting tested for STDs
regularly, and jut not having any sex at all.
HIV can be spread through oral and vaginal sex, so it is important to
know who you are with and if they are safe ("Safer
Sex."). HIV can be spread through heterosexual sex,
but it is more commonly spread within the homosexual and bi community. Specifically, gay and bisexual men are the
population that are infected by the virus more than any other group (5). Blood is one of the bodily fluids that HIV is
spread through, and the sharing of needles and syringes is the second most
common way that the virus has been spread in America over the last forty years ("U.S. Statistics."). It is not legal for doctors to re-use needles
after an injection has been given, however, illegal injections and injections
given by someone who does not work for a hospital is a dangerous and risky way
to possibly contract the virus. Making
smart decisions is not always easy, but it should always be top priority
because your life literally depends on it.
The philosophy known today as
absurdity, which was created by the late Albert Camus, is a much different way
of thinking ("Camus,
Albert."). It is not the usual, modern positive outlook
on life, the happy, optimistic mood that society promotes so much in today’s
world (6). The absurd is the idea that
although humans desire happiness, and we like to put hope into things, and have
faith that everything will work out, but that is not how it works, and having
hope in something is meaningless (6).
For example, humans always hope for certain outcomes, like fate, or one’s
“destiny”, but the philosophy of absurdity says that the universe does not
determine the outcome of your life, nor does any super natural power. Absurdity and AIDs may not seem to have much
relation to each other, but if you look at how AIDs can affect one’s mental
state, then you can see how the two go together. When a person receives the news that they
have been diagnosed with AIDs, it often can leave them very deflated, and lost. But like any normal human, we tend to put
faith and hope into life changing events, but like the philosophy of absurdity
states, when one gets AIDs, there is no road to recovery at this point in time,
and all one can hope to do is slow it down enough to be able to enjoy the rest
of the life they have to live. Although
this seems like a very negative outlook, it can help to set people straight, to
offer them some reality on their current condition. False hope can be very disheartening, and
often lead to high expectations, that end up letting you down in the end.
HIV and AIDs is, as of right now, is
a serious issue, that unfortunately we cannot do much about, besides educate
the youth on how to prevent it and try and get everyone suffering from the virus
on the proper medication. Being
diagnosed with this deadly virus is not only dangerous for your health, but it
is also something that is not easy for those who have been diagnosed with to
talk about, the embarrassment and judgment that those who come out with this
virus receive is just another addition to the emotional stress that HIV and
AIDs gives you. Sadly, there is no cue
to this virus, but if the world can work towards educating people in safe sex
and pushing that all those with the virus get treatment to try and save as many
lives as possible. Hopefully, in the
years ahead of us, scientist and doctors will be able to find a cure to this
virus, nut until then, all we can do is work with what we have.
Works Cited
"Associated Factors of Suicidal Thoughts in
HIV-Positive Individuals." PubMed Central (PMC),
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4749688/.
"Camus, Albert." Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy | An Encyclopedia of Philosophy Articles Written by
Professional Philosophers, www.iep.utm.edu/camus/#SH5a.
"Global HIV & AIDS Statistics ? 2018
Fact Sheet." UNAIDS, www.unaids.org/en/resources/fact-sheet.
"HIV Treatment Overview." HIV.gov,
2 Apr. 2019,
www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/staying-in-hiv-care/hiv-treatment/hiv-treatment-overview.
"HIV/AIDS - Diagnosis and
Treatment." Mayo Clinic - Mayo Clinic, 19 Jan. 2018,
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hiv-aids/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373531.
"History of HIV and AIDS
Overview." AVERT, 26 Nov. 2018,
www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview.
"HIV Treatment Overview." HIV.gov,
13 Nov. 2018, www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/staying-in-hiv-care/hiv-treatment/hiv-treatment-overview.
"How Has Magic Johnson Survived 20 Years
with HIV?" Live Science, 7 Nov. 2011,
www.livescience.com/16909-magic-johnson-hiv-aids-anniversary.html.
Jason Hanna, Doug Criss and Sandee LaMotte, CNN.
"Charlie Sheen Says He is HIV-positive." CNN,
1 Aug. 2017,
www.cnn.com/2015/11/17/health/charlie-sheen-health/index.html.
"Origin of HIV & AIDS." AVERT,
19 Oct. 2018, www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/origin.
"Safer Sex." Planned Parenthood
| Official Site,
www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/stds-hiv-safer-sex/safer-sex.
"U.S. Statistics." HIV.gov,
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