Aids Term paper
While the free essays can give you inspiration for writing, they cannot be used 'as is' because they will not meet your assignment's requirements. If you are in a time crunch, then you need a custom written term paper on your subject (aids)
Here you can hire an independent writer/researcher to custom write you an authentic essay to your specifications that will pass any plagiarism test (e.g. Turnitin). Waste no more time!
Aids by sean ross
How is HIV Diagnosed?
You can get tested for HIV in a number of locations -- including public clinics, AIDS organizations, physicians' offices, and hospitals. Many locations give the test for free. You can choose between anonymous tests, in which you do not give your name to the HealthCare provider, or confidential tests, in which you do give your name. Test sites should provide trained counselors who can offer you support and guidance, no matter what the test result.(Balch-97)
An HIV test looks for the antibodies your immune system creates in response to the virus. These antibodies may not appear in your blood until three to six months after HIV infection. Therefore, a negative test for HIV does not necessarily mean you aren't infected. That's why if you are at risk for HIV infection you should get tested periodically in addition to practicing safer sex at all times.
T-cell counts
If you test HIV-positive, you should have frequent blood tests to determine the levels of healthy T cells. These cell counts help indicate how quickly the infection is progressing and which course of treatment is best. Normal T-cell count is 800 to 1,300 cells per cubic millimeter of blood. In the first
few months after HIV infection, T-cells may decrease to 400 to 650. As infection progresses, T cells drop to a second level of 200 to 499. At this stage you can expect to have late symptoms, although this too is variable. The most life-threatening AIDS illnesses happen when T-cell levels fall below 200.(Berkow-97)
Early Symptoms
Once HIV enters your body -- through semen, vaginal secretions, blood, or human breast milk -- it generally takes a month or two before creating symptoms, if any (not everyone has symptoms at this stage). These initial symptoms are similar to the flu and can last three to 14 days:
-Fever
-Chills
-Night sweats
-Skin rashes
-Headache
-Malaise
-Swollen lymph nodes (immune system organs
easily felt in the neck and groin)
-General discomfort(Hurst-96)
Within the several months following HIV infection, you may have repeated episodes of these flu-like symptoms. After that, an average period of five to seven years will pass without another sign of HIV infection -- though that delay can range from a few months to more than 10 years. However, even when you don't have symptoms, the virus is still multiplying in your body, and you can spread it to other people.(Tierny-98)
Later symptoms (months to years before onset of AIDS)
Symptoms may include:
-Fatigue
-Mild weight loss
-Frequent fevers and sweats
-Swollen lymph glands
-Persistent yeast infections
-Persistent skin rashes
-Pelvic inflammatory disease that does not
-respond to treatment
-Short term memory loss
-Frequent and severe herpes infections
causing mouth, genital or anal sores
-Painful nerve disease (shingles)
At this stage, you may have other disorders resulting from HIV infection: severe dermatitis, personality changes, intellectual impairment, peripheral neuritis (inflammation of one or more peripheral nerves), pneumonia, myocarditis (inflammation of the middle muscular layer of the heart wall), nephritis (kidney inflammation), and arthritis. (Taylor-98)
AIDS
As chronic HIV progresses, the immune system grows weaker and weaker until it can no longer prevent diseases and/or "opportunistic" infections those that would not usually happen in a person with a normal immune system). These include: Pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii HIV infection of the brain (encephalitis with dementia) Toxoplasmosis of the brain (a protozoan infection) Cryptococcosis infection (a fungal infection) HIV wasting syndrome (chronically active HIV infection) Candida (yeast infections of the vagina, mouth, esophagus, trachea, bronchial tubes, or lungs) Kaposi's sarcoma (a form of skin cancer) Tuberculosis and related infections Cryptosporidiosis infection of the intestine (a protozoan infection) Herpes simplex virus infections of mouth, esophagus, and lungs Lymphoma (a cancer of the immune system) Cytomegalovirus infections of the retina and other organs(HIV positive.com)
Conditions That May Be Mistaken for HIV and AIDS
HIV and AIDS may involve virtually every organ in the body. Therefore, many conditions can be mistaken for HIV/AIDS, including: Cancer, especially lymphoma (causing malnutrition or weight loss) Senile dementia Gastrointestinal infection (especially parasitic) Colitis Inflammatory bowel disease Depression.
Causes
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes AIDS. HIV not only attacks and destroys the white blood cells that are key to fighting infection (T4 or helper T cells), it...
MLA Style
. EssayMania.com. Retrieved on 26 May, 2012 from
<http://essaymania.com/64251/aids>
More College Papers
Multiple Causation Theory Of Leukemia essay
Leukemia is a malignant disease of the bone marrow and blood. It is characterized by the uncontrolled growth of blood cells. The term leukemia has a Latin derivation. Leuko means white and heme is blood. Therefore the word leukemia literally means white blood. The common types of leukemia are divide
Tetanus essay
Tetanus
Tetanus is a serious, sometimes fatal, disease caused by the
infection of a puncture wound in the skin by spores containing
the bacterium, Clostridium tetani. These bacterial spores are
commonly found in soil, animal excrement, house dust, operating
rooms, contaminated heroin, and most
Neurofibromatosis essay
Neurofibromatosis is a disorder affecting the chromosomes of the human body. It is a hereditary disorder affecting the nervous system. The term neurofibromatosis actually refers to two different genetic diseases. The most common type is NF 1, and the less common type is NF 2. Both disorders are tran