Human Immunodeficiency Virus - Essay Example

HIV/AIDS School: Introduction Human Immunodeficiency Virus is abbreviated as HIV. The virus attracts the human body and weakens the immune system by destroying vital cells which aid in fighting diseases. This virus leads to AIDS later after the immune system has stopped functioning resulting to a collection of symptoms oftenreferred to as the syndrome (Ariën, Vanham, & Arts, 2007).Since the beginning, the HIV/AIDS has been accompanied with the epidemics of denial, ignorance, fear which results to discrimination and stigmatization against people leaving with HIV and AIDS and also their relatives. It is important to note that HIV and AIDS related stigma bear discriminatory actions which embrace the spread of HIV and AIDS. The great epidemic is the fear of being associated or identified with HIV, which prevents people from knowing about their sero-status and people not taking part in activities that educate people on the spread of the virus (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Staff, World Health Organization, & World Health Organization Staff, 2006). Body Topic 2 Finding that I am HIV positive I would get overwhelmed and scared. This is because my whole life would be taking another route of making decisions. After a few days I would come into terms with the results because being HIV positive does not mean it’s a virtual death sentence as it was earlier in the days. I am familiar with the HIV information from website and from HIV campaigns and I know that being HIV positive does not meant that I already have AIDS. With the new treatment regimens have enabled HIV positive disease to be termed as a chronic condition for many patient. This would spring in all the bravery in me to face the situation boldly knowing that my decision from that moment on would affect my health stability. I am sure that eating healthily and taking the right medical services would result to a longer life for me, just like everybody else living positively. An HIV patient who is well-versedabout the disease is a powerful patient. That is a patient who takes control of his/her life. Reading about the virus and the patient who have tested positive on websites and watching videos from YouTube will be my first move. Also I would seek for more information from nonprofit educational organizations. Learning about both the standard and the experimental HIV treatments and the side effects would greatly help me in the method that I would use. I would also look for HIV doctors via the yellow pages or the telephone book under the “HIV and AIDS Educational Support services. Doctors’ information is also accessible under Social Services Organizations. (Kendall, 1991) The customers’ desks on these organizations will thereby refer me to a local HIV and AIDs self-help groups. The first person that I would tell about my status would be my doctor and my best friend. This is because the two will not judge me. The doctor will also assist me by guiding me through the journey and giving helpful referrals of people and groups that are likely to help me. The doctor will also take me through nutritional way that I will be required to observe and medications in order to stay longer without feeling sickly. The main reasons why I would not share the information with many people especially my family or colleagues, is because they are likely to judge me and want to know how I got the disease. Some of the major decisions that I would make after the results are out is seeking medical attention from my personal doctor. My personal doctor would then direct me to a HIV /AIDS doctor. I would ensure I observe healthy way of eating and exercising. I would also join a HIV group of people surviving with HIV/AIDS this way I would share testimonies which would help me in leaving my daily life as a HIV patient. Additionally, I would also ensure that I talk to my partner about my status so that he can also visit a doctor for a checkup. Topic 3 People who are on hard/high drugs disperses a person’s judgment. This information is necessary to share with older siblings. Additionally if a person uses another person’s sharp equipment such syringes, needles, or cotton one can get infected with the virus. It is important to advice the older siblings not to engage in taking drugs and in case they do, it is wise to warn them not use in needles and not to share the equipment. This education is important to my older siblings because three of the five siblings are victims of drug abuse, both hard and soft drugs. The discussion was easy because they know how concerned I am about how they chose to live their life. They also know I am member of a HIV campaign group that educate the youth on HIV and AIDS. I opted to leave out the information on the unsafe sex because I felt that they would feeling uncomfortable listening to me about sex since am much younger than them. There are several myths about HIV/AIDS. One of the myth is that people should not take the drug therapy until they are very sick. This is a myth which existing among most people who do not go to any clinic or who do not have any medical support. Most people who are not sick at all even after being tested positive tend not to take the drugs. This is not good because the HIV will be duplicating itself and attacking the patient body. Taking medication only when the patient starts feeling seeking would mean that the virus will have already attacked the immune system. This is a critical point because nothing can be done to rejuvenate the immune system. The experts believe and always advice patients to take the HIV medicines immediately they tested and confirmed HIV positive. The drugs usually reduce the viral load. This will mean that there are a few virus in the patient’s body. The drugs also reduce the chances of one passing the virus to another person. However, it is imperative for a patient to regularly visit a doctor who will then decide the best time to start the medication. One of the main threat of HIV/AIDS is the fact of denial. Most people live thinking that they are safe from getting HIV even if they engage in the risky sexual actions. In fact, it is in human trait for people to live in denial of danger (Duffy, 2005). For example, many people do not wear seatbelts and other still continue smoking against the doctor’s advice. Additionally, many people believe that HIV is a disease that only threatens the gay people. It is therefore very important to create HIV/AIDS preventionprograms and messages that personalizes the real risk for getting HIV. It would be difficult to explain why partners who are HIV positive would need to use a condom. People think that since both the partners are positive could just have unprotected sex. What people fall to under is that there are HIV virus exits in different strands. If these partners practiced unsafe sex would result to them acquiring drug resistant HIV strains. This could make it very difficult for the patient to get treatment. There it is important for the partners who are HIV positive to practice safe sex. It would also be difficult for women to transfer HIV to men, however it does happen. It should be known that HIV does last long outside the body of a human being. The only time a man is exposed to the virus is when he is inside someone’s body. This deducts that that women are at advanced risk of getting the virus as compared to men (Lather & Smithies, 1997). It istough to explain the phenomenon that not every HIV patient has AIDS. A person can live for a very long time with HIV without having AIDS. The only time a HIV patient gets AIDS is when the patients CD4 drops below 200 counts. This also happens when the patient gets certain infections or suffers from cancer (Friedland, Renwick, & McColl, 1996). On educating the younger siblings on HIV I would ensure that I start from the basic information about HIV. First, I will explain what type of a disease it is. This would ensure that they understand the disease in broad context. Secondly, I will explain how people contract the disease, and how to be safe from getting the virus. The most important thing in educating the young siblings is showing them how engaging in careless drinking and sharing of sharp objects can affect them. The siblings should be in their teen age. This is because during this stage most of them involve in doings such as alcohol consumption and a lot of partying as a result of peer pressure (Brooks-Gunn, Boyer, & Hein, 1988). The education program could take a few hours but I would always follow up on them once in a while. Topic 4 Financial constraint is one of the foremostdifficulties facing groups which support HIV concerns. HIV patients need a lot of attention especially regarding their nutritional intake. The patient must eat healthy and nutritious food which in most cases are expensive. On the other hand, the caretakers needs to be compensated for their work. The other problem that I see facing the groups is that HIV patients do not turn out in large numbers. Most of them are facing stigma problems. They feel that if they exposed their status people would treat them differently and judge them. However, it is important to state that AIDS discrimination and stigma is present in almost all places in the world, and it exists differently across groups, countries and individuals. This problem not only makes it hard for patient who are getting into terms with HIV and in managing the illness (Nyblade, Stangl, Weiss, & Ashburn, 2009). This problem acts as the main problem as to why many people are afraid to join support groups and to see a doctor. People are afraid of social disgrace when they speak about it. Ethics, Cultural beliefs and religion has a substantial contribution to prevention of spreading HIV. Various groups including religious ones have been on high focus to educate on the prevention and treatment strategies. Due to this, society has been regarded as one of the essential contributors in the HIV fight. Churches have been encouraged to preach on behavior change, use of condoms, and HIV testing. Churches have always had a dominant role in welfare, social life and education (Cotton, Puchalski, & Sherman, 2006). Although, issues such as condom use and sex may be against the doctrines of churches, most religious groups are preaching it in order to reduce the number of cases of people dying from HIV. HIV cannot be ignored in either way. Topic 5 I would be surprised on learning that my best friend had been tested HIV positive but I would have to gain all the courage to be strong for her. I would do as many research as possible on HIV and AIDS, HIV clinics and groupsin order to assist her in the best way possible. In case she has no personal doctor. I would walk her to my doctor and explain the situation on her behalf if she is shy. I know it would be a very hard moment for her so I would ensure that I do not reveal her confidentiality to anybody, even her family members unless she wants me to. My main worry would be how she contracted the virus and whether she has shared that information with the partner. I would greatly advise her to notify the partner. This is aharmless way to guarantee that the virus does not spread further. My care and support will be very necessary to my friend because this would assist in reducing stress. Stress can affect the immune system of an HIV patient, and could lead to stress related issues such as depression and anxiety (Leserman, 2008). I therefore, feel lucky to assist my friend who feels the need to confide in me. I would not pretend that it is not a problem and I would not avoid asking questions. This is because avoiding the topic would send a sign that I am also ashamed of her. I would always ask whether she wants to talk about the issue. I would also understand that it would be normal for her to feel angry and sad. At the times when I feel like it is too much for her to tackle, I would recommend her to counselor or a therapist who will be able to assist her. I would also advise her to visit HAART center for advice and medical attention before the virus destroys her system. Observing medication early enough is very vital(Collaboration, 2003) Conclusion HIV patients are in most communities look down upon. This type action not only cause stigma to the patient but it also leads to spread of the virus. This is because people are not brave enough to seek medical attention and support. It is important to understand the best means to share this kind of information and how to handle it, either with the family members or close friends. People with HIV tend to share their results with their close friends first, and when this information is entrusted with the friend it is important to support the patient. References Ariën, K. K., Vanham, G., & Arts, E. J. (2007). Is HIV-1 evolving to a less virulent form in humans?. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 5(2), 141-151. Brooks-Gunn, J., Boyer, C. B., & Hein, K. (1988). Preventing HIV infection and AIDS in children and adolescents: Behavioral research and intervention strategies. American Psychologist, 43(11), 958. Collaboration, C. (2003). Determinants of survival following HIV-1 seroconversion after the introduction of HAART. Lancet, 362, , 1267-1274. Cotton, S., Puchalski, C., & Sherman, S. N. (2006). Spirituality and religion in patients with HIV/AIDS. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(S5), S5-S13. Duffy, L. (2005). Suffering, shame, and silence: The stigma of HIV/AIDS. . Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 16(1), 13-20. Friedland, J., Renwick, R., & McColl, M. (1996). Coping and social support as determinants of quality of life in HIV/AIDS. AIDS care, 8(1), 15-32. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Staff, World Health Organization, & World Health Organization Staff. (2006). AIDS epidemic update, December 2006. World Health Organization. Kendall, J. (1991). Promoting wellness in HIV-support groups. . The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care: JANAC, 3(1), 28-38. Lather, P., & Smithies, C. (1997). Troubling the angels: Women living with HIV/AIDS. Westview Press, Inc. Leserman, J. (2008). Role of depression, stress, and trauma in HIV disease progression. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70(5), 539-545. Nyblade, L., Stangl, A., Weiss, E., & Ashburn, K. (2009). Combating HIV stigma in health care settings: what works? Journal of the International AIDS Society, 12(1), 15. Read More