HIV and AIDS: What's the difference?

Many of us, me included, use the terms AIDS and HIV interchangeably, not fully realizing how very different the two are. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that can evolve into AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), while AIDS is the syndrome in which the sufferer’s immune system stops working which often proves fatal to the carrier. Without any type of medication, the average time for HIV to develop into AIDS is approximately nine or ten years. Once a patient is diagnosed with AIDS, the average survival span is just over nine months. So, at what point does HIV spiral into AIDS?

Research from an August 2007 study done by UC Irvine demonstrates how HIV transitions into AIDS and offers a way to perhaps halt this transition in HIV patients. One breakthrough involves how HIV evolves within a patient. Most scientists subscribe to the belief that AIDS develops as the HIV virus begins to evolve and starts spreading at the cellular level in a more efficient manner; however the UC Irvine suggests the opposite is true. Their research indicates that once the virus has evolved into a state where it is spreading less efficiently at a cellular level, then AIDS has the chance to truly develop. In addition, a process called co-infection must occur. What this means is that several HIV units must infect singular cells to turn HIV into AIDS. If only one HIV unit infected a singular cell, more than likely, AIDS will not be able to evolve. What this suggests is if researchers are able to stop more than one HIV unit from infecting a singular cell, AIDS could be stopped dead in its tracks. Dominic Wodarz, a UC Irvine biologist working on this study explains, “If this is true, a new approach to therapy could be used to block the process of co-infection in cells. This would prevent deadly HIV strains from emerging and the patient would remain healthy, despite carrying the virus.”

When a person contracts HIV, there are three phases that occur. The first phase takes place in the initial weeks of infection. At this point, the level of the virus within the infected person’s system spikes and symptoms very much like the flu begin to appear. The second phase is called the asymptomatic phase. During this second phase which lasts anywhere from eight to ten years, the level of the virus in the system begins to diminish. In the third and final phase, the transition to AIDS begins and the infected person’s immune system begins to disintegrate. With no immune system, a person is susceptible to many types of infections and death usually occurs.

Research studies to this point had not definitively determined at what point the asymptomatic state progresses into the final phase of AIDS. As mentioned earlier, many scientists believed that as in evolution, the virus grew stronger and was better able to grow, thereby causing HIV to transition. The model developed by Wodarz, however, counteracts this belief. His model which demonstrates the virus spreading and the speed at which it destroys cells suggests that when HIV turns deadly, the strains that kills are not the ones that are the fastest spreading, but rather the slower spreading ones. Wodarz proposes that with further positive testing of this theory, AIDS researchers may be able to devise a drug that prohibits more than one HIV unit from infecting a cell. Thus, the transition to AIDS would not occur.

Safe Sex Educational Sources

As sex has started to become a topic of discussion amongst progressively younger populations, there has been a lot of discussion recently regarding the sources of sex education. This is perfectly valid discussion material as questions regarding best condoms or where to get the best condoms might be questions that would be answered differently by a health scientist and a person that is against the idea of utilizing any kind of birth control even if they are the best condoms on the market. For this reason, people are starting to realize that sources do matter and for that reason here are some suggestions as to which sources might be good ones to consult insofar as the sexual education issue is concerned.
Teachers
Generally speaking, one would have to say that teachers are probably the best traditional source for good information about sex and sex education. Teachers do not have the same authoritarian view about sex that most parents by default have and in addition to that teachers can usually be relied upon to put their political views aside and recognize with a level of pragmatism that information regarding safe sex is essential for many teenagers in order to prevent unwanted pregnancy as well as the spread of disease. If teachers advise kids on buying the best condoms for example, it can be trusted that they do this out of experience or knowledge rather than any particular agenda. At the same time however, a teacher needs to have a trusting relationship with a student before this type of conversation can be had, which usually makes them a good, yet implausible source as most students do not have close relationships with their teachers at the high school level.
Parents
Parents have to be included in this list because of the fact that they are the primary caregivers to children regardless of how old those children happen to be. That having been said however, there are many circumstances where going to parents for advice on safe sex, where to get the best condoms or which birth control methods to use is not really something that can be done. This is because parents might be draconian in their measures, because they have a particular political viewpoint or because they follow a particular interpretation of a religious creed. All of these are reasons as to why getting safe sex information from parents might not be plausible, but there are still many circumstances in which they are the best source to go to for that type of information. If for no other reason, this is true because of the implicit trust that exists between parents and their children.
The Internet
One final source worth mentioning is the internet, but this source needs to be taken with a grain of salt. There are many fantastic websites on the internet that have high quality information regarding sex education, safe sex and the best condoms. However, there are many sites that have terrible information. The tone used in the discussion is usually a good indicator, but for the internet to be a useful source you need to be able to tell the good from the bad in terms of quality.