Strategies for HIV therapy

April 2008    View PDF    En español

The challenges of therapy

Unless HIV replication is controlled, trying to rebuild immune health will ultimately fail — at least most of the time. Although using therapy hinders HIV from replicating, it does not eradicate the virus from your body. Many scientists fear that it’s not possible to fully eliminate it. Others don’t share this pessimism, pointing to newer and better drugs as well as an ever-growing understanding of HIV disease and its effects on the immune system.

Over time, HIV can mutate or change enough so that it’s no longer fully blocked by these drugs. This process is called viral resistance and it can happen to some degree with all HIV drugs. However, keeping HIV under control lengthens a person’s life, and it may be possible — with truly effective therapy — to live out a normal lifespan despite HIV.

Abundant evidence shows that using potent HIV therapy has dramatically lowered death rates. It has also increased life and quality of life for people living with HIV. However, the drugs are not without their risks of side effects. When deciding on therapy, the possible short- and long-term side effects must be weighed against possible short- and long-term benefits, particularly as you consider when to start.

There’s little research on using HIV drugs in the earlier stages of HIV disease. Many, if not most, people don’t have to decide this immediately after learning they have HIV. Assessing your risk of disease progression and making decisions that you feel comfortable with are important parts of building a successful long-term HIV strategy.