Treat HIV as long as you live. How long do people live with HIV infection with and without treatment? How long do people with HIV infection live: statistics from the last decade

Infection with the immunodeficiency virus is a diagnosis that sounds like a death sentence. Is this true, and what is the life expectancy of HIV-infected people? It is important for patients and their loved ones to know the answers to these questions.

Type 1 HIV is common on the Eurasian continent and in North and South America. This is what we will talk about.

The physiological and anatomical characteristics of the body determine how quickly the virus will progress and how long the carrier can live after infection. The prognosis depends not only on the age of the patient, but also on the mood to fight. Patients are known to live long and happy lives with a diagnosis of HIV.

How many years do children live with HIV infection?

A disappointing prospect awaits children who inherited HIV from their parents.

• The prognosis is most dire for infants who contracted the virus from their mothers in utero. In this case, symptoms appear almost immediately after birth. The disease progresses rapidly. The death of the patient or the stage of AIDS occurs within 3 years. (15-20% of HIV-positive children).
• The virus is transmitted to the baby during childbirth or through the mother's breast milk. Children infected at an early age live for about 10 years in 75-80% of cases.
• In 5% of HIV-positive children, with high-quality treatment, symptoms do not appear at all.

The lifespan of children with HIV largely depends on the efforts of their parents. To avoid dire consequences, the disease must be detected as early as possible. When registering, all pregnant women are given a referral for a blood test to detect HIV infection. In case of a positive result, the expectant mother is observed by an infectious disease specialist.

To avoid infection of the fetus in the womb, a woman is prescribed treatment during pregnancy from the 2nd trimester. Following your doctor's recommendations exactly increases your chances of having a healthy baby by up to 75%. If infection of the fetus cannot be avoided, parental adherence to treatment allows the child to prolong the asymptomatic phase of the disease.

How long do HIV-infected adults live?

Many adults live with HIV infection for 5-10 years after infection without even knowing they are infected. Then the disease begins to progress, sometimes quite quickly. AIDS is the final stage of development of HIV infection. At this stage, the immune system is completely suppressed. Without qualified medical care, people with AIDS live from 6 to 18 months. This is the time of onset of painful consequences of the disease. The period of quiet existence largely depends on the patient. Patients who persevere in the fight for years gain active longevity. By following dietary recommendations, taking medications, and adhering to a healthy lifestyle, carriers live to be 75-80 years old. Moreover, the average life expectancy of healthy people in Russia is 70 years.

To maintain the health of infected people, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is practiced, which involves:

• continuity of the course;
• simultaneous use of several drugs (3-4 names);
• constant monitoring of viral load.

How long do older people with AIDS infection live?

Before the advent of modern drugs to combat HIV, it was noted that those who were infected in old age had a faster progression of the disease. As we age, the immune system naturally weakens. ART drugs blur this distinction. High-quality treatment slows down the progression of the disease in old age.

Older people are more responsible for their health than young people. In high-income countries, pensioners can afford natural and fresh products, expensive medicines and vitamins. This allows you to significantly extend life and preserve its colors.

How long can you live with HIV infection depending on gender?

Gender (sex) differences were noted before the advent of effective therapy. It was found that with the same concentration of the virus in the blood of women, the disease progressed faster.

This was explained by lower immune status - an indicator of the number of CD4 receptors. Immune status indicates how many T lymphocytes are present in the body. These cells fight viruses and bacteria and are the first to die when they encounter HIV molecules. The defense system of the fairer sex reproduced lymphocytes in smaller quantities. The immune status decreased faster.

By selecting antiretroviral therapy depending on the gender of infected people, doctors were able to extend the lifespan of both women and men by several decades. With adequate medical support, there are no differences in life expectancy with HIV infection by gender.

Depending on the stage of the disease, how long can you live with AIDS?

The first stage occurs shortly after the virus cells enter the body. The duration depends on the individual characteristics and the amount of viral protein. Vivid manifestations of symptoms develop 1 to 4 weeks after infection:

• viral or fungal diseases in the oral cavity;
• diarrhea;
• elevated temperature;
• headaches, etc.

1. After the virus invades, an adequate immune response occurs. A sufficient amount of antibodies to HIV is formed in the body. The defense system copes with the primary manifestations, after which the hidden stage begins. It is important not to miss dangerous symptoms and start antiretroviral therapy as early as possible.
2. When HIV infection enters the latent stage, clinical symptoms disappear. This is the main danger. The asymptomatic stage can last ten years. Then the disease, untreated, begins to develop rapidly. Only a doctor can predict the duration of the latent phase.
3. AIDS is the last phase of the development of HIV infection (stage 4). At this stage, the immune system cannot cope with its functions. The body no longer fights attacking viruses. A person suffers from inflammation of the lymph nodes, pneumonia and many other diseases. This phase is short-lived (from several months to several years) and fills the patient’s days with suffering. An infected person must make every effort to delay its onset or avoid it altogether.
4. Another rapidly progressing form of the disease is turbo HIV. This is the name for the combination of the extreme stage of development of HIV with tuberculosis. When these diseases are combined, patients “burn out” before our eyes. But there are cases of successful fight even in such a difficult situation, when the patient’s adherence to treatment allowed him to gain time.

How many years do AIDS infected people live without treatment?

Life expectancy with AIDS largely depends on the patient's lifestyle. The length of a measured life depends on the attitude to the situation.

If an infected person does not want to visit a doctor and refuses help, he reduces his carefree days. The procedures that therapy involves should be carried out in a continuous course, and not episodically. The end is rapidly approaching when taking drugs and alcohol. It happens that a patient can live for 10 years without treatment. But once the virus becomes active, the onset of AIDS is difficult to prevent.

If you start antiretroviral therapy late, its effect is reduced. It is difficult to answer how many months or years you will be able to live.

There are no drugs against HIV yet that completely eradicate the disease. But doctors work every day to create new treatment methods. Every month and year spent with a fatal disease gives hope for healing. It is important not to give up and be firm in the fight for the future.

It is impossible to cure HIV completely, but there are ways to stop the development of the infection for a long time. A responsible approach to health gives hope of living to deep gray hairs, avoiding the painful consequences of illness.

In this article we will consider the question: “Can HIV infection be cured?” You will learn about the types, diagnosis and prognosis of this pathology. Let's start with the fact that the disease is possible when the body is infected with the immunodeficiency virus. HIV infection is dangerous because the patient experiences a strong suppression of the body's protective properties, which can lead to a number of problems. This list includes secondary infections, malignant tumors, and so on.

The disease can take different forms. HIV infection is detected in the following ways:

• antibody detection;
• detection of viral RNA.

Treatment is currently provided in the form of a complex of special antiretroviral drugs. The latter are able to reduce the reproduction of the virus, which promotes a speedy recovery. You can learn more about everything that was said in this part by reading the article to the end.

HIV infection

In order to answer the main question (“Can HIV infection be cured?”), you need to understand what kind of disease it is. One thing that can be said about this virus is that it progresses very slowly, and the entire threat comes from the cells of the human immune system. For this reason, the immune system is slowly but surely suppressed. As a result, you can “earn” acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (popularly called AIDS).

The human body ceases to resist and protect itself from various infections, resulting in diseases that do not develop in a person with a normal immune system.

Even without medical intervention, a person infected with HIV can live up to 10 years. If the infection has acquired the status of AIDS, then the average life expectancy is only 10 months. It is also important to point out that when undergoing a special treatment course, life expectancy increases significantly.

The following are factors that affect the rate at which the infection develops:

• state of the immune system;
• age;
• strain;
• presence of concomitant diseases;
• nutrition;
• therapy;
• medical care.

In older people, HIV infection develops more rapidly; insufficient medical care and concomitant infectious diseases are another reason for the rapid development of the disease. So, can HIV infection be cured? It is possible, but it takes a lot of time for the treatment process itself and even more for rehabilitation.

Classification

HIV infection is considered the plague of the 21st century, but virologists already know that there is no single causative agent of this disease. In this regard, many scientific works are being written, which may subsequently give results and allow us to answer in detail the question: “What are the types of HIV infection?”

What is known so far? The types of terrible disease differ only in the location of the source in nature. That is, depending on the region, there are types: HIV-1, HIV-2, and so on. Each of them spreads in a specific area. This regional division allows the virus to adapt to local unfavorable factors.

In science, the most studied type of HIV-1 is, but how many of them there are is a question that remains open. This happened because there are many blank spots in the history of the study of HIV and AIDS.

Stages

Now we will try to understand the question of how many people live with HIV infection. To do this, we will look at the stages of the disease. For convenience and better clarity, we will present the information in the form of a table.

Thus, with proper and timely treatment, proper nutrition and lifestyle, you can live a full, long life (up to 70-80 years).

Symptoms

Now we will talk in more detail about the symptoms that accompany this disease.

Early symptoms of HIV infection:

• fever;
• rashes;
• pharyngitis;
• diarrhea.

At later stages, some other diseases may appear. They arise as a result of decreased immunity. These include:

• angina;
• pneumonia;
• herpes;
• fungal infections and so on.

After this period, the latent stage will most likely begin. It leads to the development of immunodeficiency. Now immune cells are dying. On the body you can notice signs of the disease - inflamed lymph nodes. It is also important to note that each organism is individual; the stages may occur in the order given above, but some steps may be missing. The same can be said about symptoms.

HIV in children

In this section you will find out whether HIV infection in children can be cured. First, let's talk about the causes of infection. These include:

• infection in the womb;
• use of unprocessed medical instruments;
• organ transplantation.

Regarding the first point, the probability of transmitting the infection is 50%. Treatment during pregnancy is a condition that significantly reduces the risk of infection. Now about the risk factors:

• lack of treatment;
• premature birth;
• natural childbirth;
• uterine bleeding;
• taking drugs and alcohol during pregnancy;
• breast-feeding.

Considering these factors, you can reduce the risk to 10-20 percent. Treatment for HIV infection is certainly necessary. At this stage of medical development, there is no medicine that completely eliminates HIV. However, proper treatment can significantly improve the patient’s condition and make it possible to live a full and happy life.

Diagnostics

Why is disease diagnosis needed? Of course, to make a final and accurate diagnosis. If your fears are confirmed, you should immediately go to the doctor. There is no need to hesitate here: the sooner you start treatment, the fewer problems there will be in the future. Under no circumstances should you self-medicate.

It is also important to know that many diseases can be hidden under the mask of HIV infection, which can be eliminated quite quickly with the help of medicine. In which country is HIV treatment treated? In all cases, you just have to go to a special institution where you need to get tested. When you receive an answer in your hands, if the result is positive, do not hesitate, go to a specialist.

To confirm the diagnosis, you need to undergo a rapid test to detect infection. If it gives a positive result, then further research is carried out in the laboratory, where the stage is detected using ELISA or PCR methods.

Express test

A rapid test for HIV infection is currently the most common method that allows you to identify the disease at home yourself. Remember, until recently it was necessary to donate blood from a vein, but now you go to the pharmacy and find out the result 5 minutes later. You can also order a rapid HIV test via the Internet.

The test requires just a drop of blood from your finger. Don’t forget that you need to wash your hands, for a puncture it is better to use a “doll” (purchased at a pharmacy), wipe your finger with alcohol. The HIV test is a real breakthrough in diagnosing this disease. The thing is that HIV may not manifest itself at all. The infection penetrates the cells and begins to destroy them, and when there are few healthy ones left, the body is no longer able to resist. This stage is called AIDS, and this disease is very dangerous.

• wash your hands with soap;
• wipe dry;
• open the package with the dough;
• massage the finger you will be piercing, treat it with alcohol;
• make a puncture and place your finger over the blood reservoir;
• drop 5 drops of solvent into a special container;
• We wait 15 minutes.

Treatment

Treatment of HIV infection is carried out using special antiretroviral drugs. It is necessary to start treatment as early as possible, this helps to delay the development of AIDS. Many people ignore treatment because the virus has not shown itself for a long time. This should not be done, because sooner or later the body will give up. It should be remembered that the virus has the most negative impact on the immune system; without treatment, you will soon have to wait for a whole series of serious and unpleasant diseases.

To prevent the development of AIDS, doctors try to suppress the virus. From the first day of detection of the disease, the patient must take special antiviral drugs that adversely affect the life cycle of the pathogen. That is, under the influence of antiretroviral drugs, the virus cannot fully develop in the human body.

A feature of HIV infection is rapid adaptation to an unfavorable environment. For this reason, after taking the same medicine for a long time, the virus gets used to it and adapts to it. Then doctors resort to a trick - combining antiviral drugs. This is necessary so that it is impossible to develop resistance to them.

Drugs

In this section we will talk about what drugs are used to treat HIV infection. It was previously mentioned that therapy is carried out using antiretroviral drugs. In total, there are 2 types of them:

• reverse transcriptase inhibitors;
• protease inhibitors.

The standard treatment regimen involves taking two drugs of the first type and one of the second. They are prescribed only by a qualified experienced doctor. The first type includes the following drugs:

• "Epivir."
• "Retrovir".
• "Ziagen".

The second type includes:

• "Norvir."
• "Ritonavir."
• "Invirase".

Do not self-medicate; take medications in the dosage and according to the regimen prescribed by your doctor.

Is it possible to fully recover?

So, can HIV infection be completely cured? At the moment, no remedy has yet been developed that would get rid of the virus 100%. However, medicine does not stand still; perhaps a miracle drug for HIV infection will soon be developed.

Currently, medicine will help those infected to live a long and happy life by maintaining their health with antiviral drugs.

Which doctor should I contact?

A doctor who treats HIV infection is an infectious disease specialist. If you suspect immunodeficiency, you should contact this specialist. Where can I find it? Reception should be carried out in each clinic. If the medical institution to which you are geographically attached does not have this doctor, then feel free to contact the regional hospital.

You can list all your complaints to an infectious disease specialist, and he will prescribe special blood tests. Further clinical observation will be carried out. This is a mandatory part if the diagnosis is confirmed.

It is also important to know that there are anonymous AIDS centers everywhere. Help and initial consultation with an infectious disease specialist can also be obtained there.

Forecasts

How long do people live with HIV infection? If treated, it is possible to live up to 80 years with this disease. The earlier you start treatment, the easier it is to prevent the development of AIDS, which is the cause of death in this disease.

There is currently no drug that eliminates HIV infection 100%. The average life expectancy of HIV-infected people is 12 years. But it is worth remembering that a lot depends on your efforts.

Prevention

Above we described how HIV-infected people are treated in Russia, and now we will name the main preventive measures. In Russia, as in other countries, an integrated approach is used. The main means of therapy are antiviral drugs.

• lead a safe and orderly intimate life;
• be sure to treat sexually transmitted diseases;
• avoid contact with other people's blood;
• use disposable sealed syringes (do not use if packaging is damaged).

These simple rules will help to avoid such a serious disease as AIDS. Follow them and stay healthy!

Let's discuss and share information about life expectancy with HIV in this topic. I think this is the most frequently asked question in our lives. There are still many phobias and stereotypes.

Life expectancy with HIV is one of the most troubling questions facing everyone to whom a doctor informs about the presence of HIV infection. And there are a huge number of such people in any country. There are many HIV-infected people in Russia. The most vulnerable population is people aged 18 to 30, which is associated with an irresponsible attitude towards sexual contacts and drug use.

The prevalence of this dangerous infection has taken on the character of an epidemic, or it would be more correct to call it a pandemic, sweeping across all continents. Over 25 million lives worldwide have been claimed by the infection during its march across the planet over the past 30 years. It is not for nothing that HIV infection is sometimes called the “plague of the 21st century.”

With HIV infection, how long you can live is difficult to predict in advance: too many factors influence the length of life with HIV infection.

Even average statistical data cannot be reliable for the reason that the virus does not manifest itself for a long time, and therefore in many patients it is impossible to determine exactly when the infection occurred and how long they have already lived with HIV.

It is known that many of the first identified infected individuals are currently alive, that is, they have lived more than 30 years with HIV. And how much longer they will live is also unknown. Therefore, 30-35 years of life expectancy for an HIV-infected person cannot be considered the limit.

There are many other cases where AIDS developed 3-4 years after infection with the virus, and the infected patient died from an opportunistic infection. After all, it is known that AIDS is not a disease with specific, unique symptoms.. This is a state of significantly reduced immunity or complete defenselessness of the body against any disease (infection or oncology) due to the destruction of immune cells by the virus in HIV. Any of the developed diseases can lead to death.

Factors influencing life expectancy

Life expectancy depends on many conditions and factors:

• type of HIV;
• viral load;
• lifestyle of the infected person;
• presence of bad habits;
• regularity of medical supervision and examination;
• carrying out antiretroviral therapy;
• presence of concomitant diseases;
• living conditions of the patient;
• nature of nutrition;
• psychological mood and the presence of stressful situations and other factors.

Thus, the type 2 virus is less virulent, the viral load upon infection with HIV-2 will not be as high as with HIV-1, because the virus of the second type requires 6p to replicate. longer than the first type of virus. This means that the infection with HIV-2 will develop more slowly, there will be no clinical manifestations for a longer time.

With regular visits to the doctor and examination, a decrease in T-lymphocytes will be detected in a timely manner and antiretroviral therapy (ARVT) will be prescribed.

It is antiviral treatment that allows:

• slow down the reproduction of the virus;
• reduce viral load to undetectable;
• gradually restore the patient’s original immune status;
• prevent the disease from progressing to the AIDS stage.

The higher the viral load and the lower the cell count, the more diseases a patient can develop.

The most common opportunistic infections are:

• tuberculosis;
• Pneumocystis pneumonia;
• toxoplasmosis;
• herpetic infection;
• fungal, etc.

When prescribing ART (even timely), adherence to treatment in a patient is of great importance for success - strict adherence to the schedule and all conditions for taking medications.

The patient's bad habits (smoking, alcohol abuse, drug use) have an adverse effect on life expectancy. Narcotics are incompatible with most antiviral drugs. Alcohol abuse and drug addiction can cause poor adherence to treatment.

Many infected people are interested in the question: how long can you live with HIV without treatment? According to average statistics, life with HIV without ART lasts about 10-12 years. But if we compare the current situation with the situation 15 years ago, the life expectancy of those infected has become longer. And this is due not only to the improvement of drugs, but also to patients’ acceptance of the need to change their lifestyle

How to live longer

How to live with HIV infection? Despite the fact that the virus has not been completely defeated, the diagnosis of HIV infection has ceased to be a death sentence; scientists have learned to control the virus and delay the development of immunodeficiency. But HIV infection continues to be a serious disease that cannot be ignored.

Of course, people living with HIV themselves can have a significant impact on both the length and quality of life. It is clear that living with HIV is not easy, to maintain health you need to make more efforts, give up something, introduce something into your life rhythm. But life is worth it.

What rules should an infected person live by?

The rules are:

• Constantly monitor the viral load and the number of T-lymphocytes. Normally, there should be 500-1500 immune cells in 1 ml of blood. With a decrease in the number of immunocompetent cells below 400, tuberculosis, pneumocystosis, and other infections may develop. And if there are less than 200 cells, then the body is completely unprotected, any disease is life-threatening.
• Timely start a course of ARVT and strictly follow the schedule of taking medications, doses. Only a doctor can select a treatment regimen. Under no circumstances should you self-medicate. Due to the mutant nature of the virus, drug resistance may develop. In this case, the doctor will select a different treatment regimen.
• It is important to set yourself up for a good treatment outcome. The psychological state of the patient is of particular importance. You can use the advice of a psychologist, attend special trainings, communicate with social workers of special organizations.
• Eliminate or at least minimize bad habits.
• Provide a rational balanced diet with sufficient protein content. Experts believe that the use of delicacies (shark meat, red caviar, etc.) helps to strengthen the immune system.
• Use barrier contraceptives that prevent additional entry of viruses into the body, among which there may be strains resistant to antiviral drugs.
• Avoid contact with patients with any infectious disease. During periods of SARS epidemics, use a mask that must be changed every 2 hours.
• Carefully follow hygiene rules. When cleaning the premises, use disinfectants weekly.
• Do physical exercise or at least do morning exercises every day.
• Take vitamin and mineral complexes that help strengthen the body.

No one can calculate how long a person with HIV infection will live.

It depends on many factors, on the individual characteristics of each organism. And it’s hard to say how an unpredictable virus will behave - it depends on its aggressiveness, virulence, type.

Antiviral therapy, prescribed in a timely manner and carried out correctly, actually lengthens life by preventing the development of AIDS. The infected person needs to show patience and perseverance in the fight against this serious disease in order to emerge victorious. And keep faith in the future. After all, scientists around the world are looking for ways to completely get rid of the virus. There is a high probability that such a method will be found soon.

HIV infection is one of the most terrible diagnoses of our time, which completely changes a person’s life and forces him to give up his usual lifestyle. One of the most common questions that patients ask their doctor is how long they can live with this pathology. Unfortunately, it is impossible to answer this question accurately, since life expectancy with HIV is influenced by many factors, including timely diagnosis and treatment.

To understand how long a person infected with HIV can live, it is necessary to understand what it is and how the virus affects the human body.

The human immunodeficiency virus is HIV. It enters the human body primarily through sexual contact. About a third of infected people acquired the virus during a blood transfusion or blood donation. The list of especially dangerous procedures also includes:

• haircuts, eyebrow correction;
• tattoo;
• dental treatment;
• visiting the treatment room to donate blood.

Despite the fact that disposable needles and syringes are used for blood sampling for analysis, the minimum percentage of infection still remains, and is less than 1%. Much more risky in this regard is treatment at the dentist. Here, a favorable outcome depends on the accuracy, responsibility and conscientiousness of the medical personnel who are responsible for the disinfection and processing of instruments. The rules and norms of asepsis are strictly regulated by sanitary standards and job descriptions, therefore, if they are observed, the likelihood of getting HIV and other infections (herpes, hepatitis, etc.) is completely excluded.

Many people are concerned about the possibility of contracting HIV through domestic means. The risk of this is minimal, but still it persists, provided that a healthy and infected person has abrasions, cracks and cuts on the skin. In this case, infection may be transmitted during a handshake, using shared hygiene items, or by kissing.

Important! Considering the level of prevalence of HIV infection, it is necessary to be very attentive to your own health and carefully monitor any damage or violation of the integrity of the skin and mucous membranes. When visiting treatment rooms, you must ensure that needles and syringes are disposable and removed from the packaging immediately before the patient.

Mechanism of action and development

After entering the body, the virus infects T-leukocytes, the main structural component of the human immune system. The virus does not begin to develop and multiply immediately, but after 10-14 days. The period from penetration of the virus into the blood to the production of antibodies lasts about 1 year. In people with chronic diseases, this stage (window period) can be reduced to 6-8 months. The same picture is observed among those who lead a wild lifestyle, often change sexual partners, and abuse smoking and alcohol. The immunity of such patients is greatly weakened, so it is easier for viral agents to destroy healthy cells that cannot resist pathological attacks.

After 6-12 months, the first symptoms of pathology appear, indicating the stage of primary infection. Signs of HIV infection at this stage include:

• periodic increase in temperature to 37.0-37.5°;
• formation of dental ulcers in the oral cavity;
• enlarged and painful lymph nodes.

Important! By the end of this stage, the concentration of antibodies and the amount of HIV are at their maximum values. A laboratory blood test during this period will help to 100% determine the infection and make the correct diagnosis.

Further development of the pathology and stage of infection are presented in the table below.

Important! When HIV infection reaches the terminal stage, immunity drops to almost zero. During this period, death can occur even from the flu or a protracted acute respiratory infection, so it is important to undergo the necessary examinations on time and follow all the recommendations prescribed by the doctor. This will significantly increase your life expectancy and help improve your quality of life (as much as possible).

Video - Everything you need to know about HIV

How long do people live with HIV?

It is impossible to say exactly how long each specific patient will live after infection. Life prognosis is influenced by many factors, including:

• patient's age;
• lifestyle (motor activity, nutrition, smoking and alcohol abuse);
• emotional state (susceptibility to stress);
• area of ​​residence (sufficient amount of sunlight, favorable climate, proximity to industrial production);
• history of chronic diseases, etc.

It has been noticed that people living in cities located near the sea live longer compared to those who are constantly in areas with an unfavorable climate (regions of the Far North and similar areas). The life forecast for rural residents is also quite favorable, since most villages and villages are located at a sufficient distance from large industrial facilities, factories and plants. The soil, air and water in rural areas are much cleaner than in large cities, so the adverse effects of the environment are practically eliminated, and the quality of food in villages is higher.

Fact! Village residents have the lowest percentage of infection among the total number of infected people (less than 7%). Doctors attribute this to good environmental conditions, lack of chronic stress and a healthy diet.

The average life expectancy of AIDS patients is about 5-10 years from the moment of infection. These figures only approximately reflect average statistics, since there are known cases where people lived with this diagnosis into old age. Failure to comply with the recommendations of the attending physician regarding the regimen and treatment shortens life expectancy to 2-5 years, therefore the most important condition for a favorable prognosis is the correction of living conditions and lifestyle.

Maximum life expectancy with HIV

To date, there is no data on how long a person infected with the human immunodeficiency virus can live. This is due to the fact that the first infected patients are still living. HIV was first discovered in 1983 (according to some sources - in 1981) by French scientists. Some patients who have antibodies to this virus in their blood are alive, that is, their life expectancy is almost 40 years from the moment the infection was detected. However, it is impossible to say exactly how long they were carriers of the virus before detection, so it is impossible to predict the maximum number of years of life in AIDS patients today.

Important! Doctors are sure that with HIV infection you can live much more than the average 10 years. With timely treatment, complete abandonment of bad habits and careful attitude towards one’s own body, life expectancy can be more than 40 years from the date of diagnosis.

How long can you live without treatment?

Recently, the theory has been gaining popularity that the immunodeficiency virus does not exist, and it was invented by scientists in collusion with the largest pharmaceutical concerns. Even people far from medicine understand the absurdity of such statements, but a person who has been diagnosed with AIDS or the initial stage of HIV infection clings to any straw that gives a chance for a medical error.

Refusal of the proposed treatment is fraught with the most unfavorable consequences. Already 1-2 years after the virus enters the blood, an attack begins on the cells of the immune system, which are destroyed under the influence of the viral agent. Even a common cold can cause serious complications and death of the patient at this stage, so the average life expectancy for patients who refuse treatment or try to overcome the disease using unconventional methods does not exceed 3-4 years (in exceptional cases, these figures may be slightly higher - 5-7 years).

How long do children with HIV live?

Diagnosing a child with HIV infection is a terrible disaster for his parents and other relatives, but one should not despair and give up. With the modern level of medicine, it is possible to prolong the life of a sick child and make it quite comfortable, but for this it is necessary to undergo timely courses of drug therapy. Medicines that can suppress the activity of the pathogen are selected experimentally - parents should not be afraid of this. Based on the results obtained, specialists will prescribe 2-3 drugs, which will need to be alternated and combined according to an individual regimen. This is necessary to prevent the virus from developing resistance to the active substances. If the child shows positive dynamics, the drugs are prescribed for life.

Additionally, parents should follow the following recommendations:

• provide high-quality, complete and balanced nutrition;
• frequently ventilate the room and carry out its treatment and disinfection;
• prevent the child from becoming overtired;
• maintain a sleep and rest schedule;
• introduce additional daytime sleep (regardless of the child’s age).

The life expectancy of a child receiving competent therapy and proper care reaches 15-20 years, but no doctor can give exact figures.

HIV infection is considered to be a fatal diagnosis, but in most cases the quality of his life and its duration depend on the efforts of the patient himself and his approach to his own health. Modern treatment methods provide good therapeutic results, but even the most expensive and effective drugs will not be able to help if a person does not adjust his lifestyle and give up bad habits, if any. , read on our website. study at the link.

Video - How long can you live with an HIV diagnosis?