Treatment

The goal of treatment is to reduce HIV-related complications, improve quality of life, restore the immune system, control the amount of virus in the body and keep it as low as possible. Medications work by stopping parts of the virus so the virus can't make more copies of itself. Your doctor puts you on a combination treatment, using drugs from different classes to stop the virus.

While not a cure, new combinations of anti-HIV drugs can shut down HIV. These "drug cocktails" stop HIV from reproducing and can reduce how much of the virus you have. When these medications work, they reduce the chances the virus can mutate and work its way around the medications. In addition, maintaining a low viral load allows your immune system to improve (and raise your CD4 count).

You must stick closely to your doctor's directions for when to take the medications and how much. Taking drugs sporadically or stopping them too soon can cause the virus to become drug resistant.

The best time to start combination therapy is not yet known. Some studies show starting treatment before T-cell counts fall below 200-350 can help.

Because people with HIV are vulnerable to opportunistic infections, talk with your doctor about any vaccinations or prophylactic treatment you might need to protect you against other diseases. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) is one of the most common and deadly opportunistic infections associated with HIV. To prevent PCP, adults whose T-cell counts drop below 200 are given preventive therapy, along with antiviral treatment. Once a patient is on antiretroviral therapy and their CD4 count remains greater than 200 for 3 months, the physician can safely discontinue prophylactic therapy for PCP.

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This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.