Article Medically Reviewed By:
Sharon D. Allison-Ottey, MD
Executive Director of The COSHAR Foundation Health Strategist, Advocate, Author and Speaker Lanham, MD
Overview
What Is It?
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS attacks the body's immune system. AIDS is a disease that attacks the body's immune system. The immune system is our body's natural defense system and allows us to fight off viruses, bacteria and other diseases.
HIV was first reported as a threat by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1981 and now is a worldwide problem. When HIV was first recognized, it was diagnosed almost entirely in men. Now, however, more than a quarter of people living with HIV are women.
The good news is that HIV is much more manageable these days than in the past. When HIV emerged, it was practically a death sentence. Few drugs were available to treat the virus and resulting infections that attacked the weakened immune system. Since then, a number of drugs have been developed and approved to treat both HIV and its related infections. These medications have extended the lives of many people living with the disease.
But the drugs used to manage HIV certainly aren't foolproof. And they come with a whole host of unpleasant side effects, from nausea and vomiting to potentially life-threatening reactions. Therefore, all people—men, women, teenagers and even people over 50—need to be vigilant about protecting themselves from being infected with the virus in the first place.
What distinguishes HIV from most other viruses is that antibodies produced by the immune system cannot kill HIV. Once a person is infected, HIV remains in the blood forever. After a silent but intense battle that can last 10 years or more, the virus weakens the immune system to the point that it can no longer protect the body from infections. These opportunistic infections, such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and cytomegalovirus (CMV), are a few of the late-stage conditions that define AIDS. In addition, patients with HIV face an increased risk of contracting certain cancers and neurological disorders.
Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the mid-1980s, HIV infections among U.S. women have increased, especially in women of color. In 1985, only a small percentage of people living with AIDS were female. Today, women make up 26 percent. The good news is that infections among U.S. women began decreasing in 2001.
Even though the rate of diagnosis for African American women has decreased significantly since 2001, it remains 20 times the rate for white women. African-American women represent less than 13 percent of all U.S. women and, yet, account for 64 percent of AIDS cases in women. Hispanic women, who rep...
Click here to read more from Healthy Women
