• Question: What are the effects of AIDS

    Asked by stoblob to Betul, Bridget, Ceri-Wyn, Laurel, Maria on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Laurel Fogarty

      Laurel Fogarty answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      AIDS is an acquired immunodeficiency. It happens when HIV attacks the immune system and stops it working as well as it could. That means that people with AIDS are vulnerable to all kinds of infections that uninfected people would be able to fight off. People with AIDS could die of something as simple as a skin infection spreading that their immune systems just couldn’t fight.

    • Photo: Ceri-Wyn Thomas

      Ceri-Wyn Thomas answered on 20 Jun 2010:

      AIDS is a highly accelerated form of infection from the HIV virus. This virus attacks a number of different cells in the body including the central nervous system, which basically weakens the immune system and so someone with AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is at risk of many different infections that can cause tumour growth and cancers or diseases like pneumonia or tuberculosis. People without the AIDS virus can also experience these symptoms but their immune systems may be a lot better at providing a defence against these conditions.

      Other symptoms include fever, sweating, severe weight loss and weakness and numerous other horrible conditions. However, just because you might have these symptoms at any time in your life it DOESN’T mean you’ve contracted HIV! There are MANY symptoms associated with HIV/AIDS.

    • Photo: Bridget Waller

      Bridget Waller answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      This is an important question, but a bit beyond this topic. AIDS causes problems with the immune system, so sufferers can’t fight off infections. We have made lots of progress in the last few years to prolong life, but the drugs are expensive and so it is hard to reach the poorer countries that have huge HIV epidemics, like Africa. There are deep political and economic issues that affect the problem!

    • Photo: Betul Arslan

      Betul Arslan answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Apart from ultimate death, HIV virus (the actual cause of AIDS) can seriously lower your immune response – sort of hacking your immune system, therefore any little sickness (even a flu) can cause the death. HIV Virus is a bullet looking virus that is packed with a bunch of enzymes that is released into your cells once the virus (aka bullet) is attached to your cells. These enzymes then could sneak into your chromosome and mess up the way your cells make proteins.

Comments