Sign up with GoogleThe first person I was aware of to die of AIDS was an older friend of the family in 1989 when I was still a teenager, so it has always been in my consciousness. Since then, a domestic worker of ours passed away in the late 90's from AIDS related causes and one of my best friends has been diagnosed HIV positive.
Strangely, it seems to be a little known fact that with today's drugs, being HIV+ is nothing more than a nuisance and they now project a normal lifespan for anyone HIV+ PROVIDED they take their medication. In the case of my friend, his health deteriorated to the point where he was getting pneumonia every month and looking like a concentration camp victim. His T Cell count was non existent and by all accounts he should have been dead.
Why he wasn't diagnosed earlier, I have no idea, but once he was on the drugs he returned to full health literally within weeks, and is now living a completely normal life in all respects. The latest drugs are so sophisticated that they cannot actually do a meaningful HIV test while you are on them as it will not be detectable. When the drugs are working optimally, your viral load is so low that you are basically not even infectious.
The biggest threat to longevity is developing immunity to the drugs, but this is largely avoidable so long as you NEVER miss your daily dose. Even then, there is now a wide enough variety of drug cocktail combinations that they can modulate this more or less indefinitely. The only factor, of course, is money. Almost all medical aids must pay for HIV drugs, though, and cannot reject you if you are HIV positive - but if you cannot afford a medical aid, you have to rely on state support, which is erratic and never the latest stuff.
Strangely, it seems to be a little known fact that with today's drugs, being HIV+ is nothing more than a nuisance and they now project a normal lifespan for anyone HIV+ PROVIDED they take their medication. In the case of my friend, his health deteriorated to the point where he was getting pneumonia every month and looking like a concentration camp victim. His T Cell count was non existent and by all accounts he should have been dead.
Why he wasn't diagnosed earlier, I have no idea, but once he was on the drugs he returned to full health literally within weeks, and is now living a completely normal life in all respects. The latest drugs are so sophisticated that they cannot actually do a meaningful HIV test while you are on them as it will not be detectable. When the drugs are working optimally, your viral load is so low that you are basically not even infectious.
The biggest threat to longevity is developing immunity to the drugs, but this is largely avoidable so long as you NEVER miss your daily dose. Even then, there is now a wide enough variety of drug cocktail combinations that they can modulate this more or less indefinitely. The only factor, of course, is money. Almost all medical aids must pay for HIV drugs, though, and cannot reject you if you are HIV positive - but if you cannot afford a medical aid, you have to rely on state support, which is erratic and never the latest stuff.
