Concepts of Biology: HIV and AIDS

As a matter of fact, HIV and AIDS can be considered as a major threat to human life. The primary purpose of the paper is to examine the symptoms and the effects that HIV and AIDS have on a human being.

HIV is a type of virus that can transform to AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) without treatment (OpenStax, 2013). A decade ago the disease and virus itself were considered to be incurable, and the majority of people died shortly after they had AIDS. However, the medicine and technologies develop rapidly, and nowadays, the virus can be controlled, and the patients have an opportunity to live long life under the constant control of professionals.

HIV and AIDS are two words that are not new for the society. There is hardly a person in the world that has never heard about the virus and the disease that it causes, however, not many people know the difference between HIV and AIDS and an impressive effect that it has on the immune system of a human being. The virus, HIV, makes the immune system vulnerable and not effective (OpenStax, 2013). Although it is a virus and the immune system should defend, it should be noted that the immune system does not recognize the virus, and thus, is not able to attack it.

The symptoms of HIV can be divided into three stages. The acute infection is characterized by the attempts of the organism to fight infection. Not so many people can draw a proper attention to the virus as the symptoms are very common to the flu, namely headache, fatigue, sore throat, vomiting, fever, and a red rash on the body. The period lasts for a couple of weeks, and the symptoms disappear, however, the virus continues to influence the immune system in a non-symptomatic stage.

After the first stage when the body tried to fight the virus and showed symptomatic reaction, the human body is unable to fight, and HIV transforms to the second stage. This period is latent, and the person cannot notice that something is wrong. This stage usually lasts ten years and in some cases even more. During this period, the virus makes the immune system vulnerable killing CD4 T-cells (OpenStax, 2013).

When the virus has killed enough CD4 T-cells and a human immune system is weak and is almost unable to fight, the person is diagnosed with AIDS. Nevertheless, due to the medications the person can rebuild the immune system and live longer. However, medications should be taken constantly. In addition to the destroyed immune system, a person usually experiences a number of symptoms, namely infections, quick loss of weight, tiredness, skin rashes, a decrease of mental abilities, headache and dizziness (OpenStax, 2013).

In conclusion, it should be pointed out that HIV influences the health of a human being in an impressively negative way. It destroys the immune system, makes it vulnerable, and unable to fight any disease. The risk of death is high in case a person does not take medications that are costly. HIV and AIDS are challenging to the society as not every infected patient can afford treatment and live long and happy life. An individual can even not notice the symptoms as they are similar to the flu, however, in ten years, the virus will transform to the AIDS and a weak immune system will not be able to fight any virus. Thus, it is essential to take care of health and prevent the risk of HIV.

Reference

OpenStax. (2013). Concepts of Biology. Houston, TX: OpenStax College.

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StudyCorgi. 2020. "Concepts of Biology: HIV and AIDS." October 16, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/concepts-of-biology-hiv-and-aids/.

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