AIDS

General information about a disease

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) – a disease which is considered one of the most terrible and dangerous troubles of a modern civilization. Special attention which is paid to AIDS is connected with the fact that for many years scientists cannot find medicine against uncontrollable destruction of immune system. As the result, fight against AIDS is conducted generally by means of prevention of a disease and distribution of information on her among inhabitants of Earth.

AIDS belongs to those diseases about which say that they kill slowly but surely. The contagium changes structure of DNA of healthy cells and can remain in a carrier body more than 3 years. Throughout all this term it does not lose the activity and gradually becomes the integral element as a part of blood. Researchers connect extremely high risk of infection with AIDS when using of badly sterilized tools which came into direct contact with blood of the infected person earlier with this feature of a virus. Situation is complicated also by the fact that AIDS which symptoms can be shown even in several years after infection is characterized by the highest degree of variability. On this indicator the disease advances everything known to us viruses, including numerous kinds of flu.

How it is possible to catch AIDS?

Many people consider that patients with AIDS are deadly to any normal person. Actually, it is absolute nonsense. It is possible "to catch" a disease in only three ways:

• during sexual intercourse with infected;
• in mother's womb when AIDS is transmitted to a fruit directly through a placenta;
• at transfusion of the infected blood or at its hit in an organism otherwise, for example, when using of badly processed surgical instruments.

Knowing about how the virus is transmitted, the fact that the greatest number of the patients with AIDS is registered among addicts who often use one syringe for intravenous injections does not raise questions any more. In risk group there are also homosexuals as in their environment condoms are applied not so often, as during sexual intercourses between men and women. Only complex prevention of AIDS directed to earlier identification of infected can cope with similar problems. As for hemotransfusion, the problem in recent years given is particularly acute not so as today any blood donor undergoes careful inspection on existence of the AIDS virus. The same concerns also control of use of surgical instruments which becomes more and more rigid every year.

There are also separate exotic ways of transfer of AIDS, but their share in the general structure of incidence is insignificant is small and therefore we will not consider such provocative factors within one article. Let's mention only that you have to treat with extra care sexual contacts without use of condom in the period of monthly.

What occurs when the virus of an immunodeficiency gets to blood?

After penetration into an organism of DNA of a virus contacts with DNA of a host cell. By means of integraza enzyme it is built in its structure, breaks normal work of healthy bodies and fabrics. Symptoms of AIDS are shown far not at once, however statement of the correct diagnosis is possible even at early stages as from the very beginning of a blood cell contain specific genetic material, that is, as a matter of fact, they mutate under the influence of the activator.

Submitting to the wrong genetic program, cells begin to reproduce various components of a virus, promoting its distribution. The separate part in this process is assigned to enzyme protease which can change a cover of a new element of a virus in such a way that that becomes to healthy cells, suitable for transmission of infection. At a stage of reproduction quite effective fight against AIDS providing use of inhibitors of protease which deprive enzyme of its ability to reproduction can be conducted.

There is a natural question – if scientists know very much about the mechanism of development of AIDS, then why every year on our planet new patients with AIDS appear? Everything put here that the activator strikes not only T lymphocytes, but also some other cells with long service life (macrophages, monocytes). In them he does not show activity and is impregnable for activity of the known drugs, that is, completely it is not possible to bring AIDS out of an organism.

Symptoms of a disease of AIDS

Researches which in different years were conducted in dozens of western countries showed what from the moment of infection before emergence of the first symptoms actually of AIDS can pass not one year. However rates of progressing of a disease depend on the most different factors: virus strain, genetic features of the patient, his psychological state, standard of living and other reasons. In general, it is possible to allocate rather precisely 5 stages of AIDS symptoms of which are:

• sharp deterioration in health – is shown in two-three months from the moment of infection. At patients temperature increases, there are headaches, lymph nodes increase, rash on a body is observed. This stage usually lasts about 3 weeks;
• the virus carriage period – proceeds almost asymptomatically and quite often proceeds up to 10 years. Symptoms of AIDS are shown only by insignificant symptoms, for example, increase in lymph nodes;
• the stage of a generalized lymphadenopathy – is characterized by a strong hyperadenosis, but lasts not for long – about three months;
• the period AIDS - the associated complex – symptoms are expressed rather brightly. Patients with AIDS suffer from sharp decrease in body weight, ongoing diarrhea, fever, a severe cough, various skin frustration;
• final formation of AIDS – symptoms of an infection are shown constantly and quickly progress, leading, eventually, to a lethal outcome.

Fight against AIDS

It is known that the person managed to take a set of diseases under control, but in a case with the AIDS virus usual methods of treatment and a vaccine do not work. About the reasons of failures we wrote above. Let's add only that all existing developments in the field differ in very high cost and can prevent AIDS only at early stages and that not in all cases. It means that now fight against AIDS is conducted only by means of distribution of accurate information among patients and moral support of the people who became victims of an infection.

Prevention of AIDS

As the disease is considered incurable, the special part is assigned to prevention of AIDS. Their purpose – to prevent cases of mass infection and though partly to control spread of a disease among the population. In the developed countries information promotion yields quite good results, but in the developing states it does not work because of illiteracy of people and elementary rejection of a healthy lifestyle.

At prevention of AIDS the great value is given also to measures of prevention of infection of babies from sick mother. In this direction to scientists it was succeeded to make significant progress. Several drugs which reduce risk of infection of a fruit with AIDS by 15-20% were developed, and their efficiency constantly grows. Especially the fact that such therapy costs absolutely not much pleases and it is available even to lower-income strata.

Despite all ongoing efforts, fight against AIDS is far from end. Yes, researchers work on receiving a vaccine and fight against spread of a disease among newborns, however, all achievements in these areas do not give the answer to the most important question – how finally to win against AIDS? It is possible that in the future the mankind will be able to cope with a virus, and meanwhile every year more than 70 000 children become orphans because their parents perish from this dreadful disease.