There is no permanent cure for HIV infection or AIDS. However, availing treatment can stop the progress of the disease and allow infected people to live a relatively healthy life.

Since getting rid of HIV is impossible, treatment will be focused on slowing down the progression of the virus in the body and addressing the symptoms.

The regimen focused on controlling HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. ART can keep infected people healthy for many years. It lessens the “viral load” – the amount of virus in the blood and other body fluids. ART is prescribed to anybody who is infected, irrespective of how long they have had the virus or the state of their health. Treatment should be started immediately after the diagnosis, so that the progress of HIV can be slowed down. High viral load is linked to bad outcomes. If the virus is drug-resistant, then the physician needs to elect different drugs for the treatment.

There are many antiretroviral drugs in the market, and a combination of drugs is usually prescribed to a single person. Each person responds to the drugs differently, so it is imperative that the progress of HIV be monitored constantly to determine which combination of drugs are the most effective.

There are mainly two categories of drugs used in ART. One category uses certain proteins that inhibit the virus from multiplying. The second category inhibits the virus’s ability to insert its genetic material into the CD4 T-cells. A combination of 3 drugs is normally used in ART; this eliminates the chance of the virus becoming drug resistant.

The treatment plan, guidelines, and instructions should be closely followed. Medications should be taken at specific times of the day. Instructions include foods that can be consumed and those that need to be avoided. If a dose of the medication is skipped it is imperative that a patient talks to their healthcare provider to understand how to proceed. In most cases, the medications should be taken immediately on remembering, and the next dose should be taken at the specified time. Even if the measured viral load has decreased, the prescribed medications should be continued to ensure the virus load does not increase again.

Adhering to the treatment plan involving ART is beneficial, in that it keeps the virus load in the body at low levels, prevents transmission of HIV to other individuals, and prevents drug resistance – the condition where the virus becomes resistant to the prescribed drugs.

It is important to remember that medications will have side effects. These could be ongoing fatigue, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, headache, pain, rash, diarrhea, and difficulty sleeping. Sometimes more serious conditions like abnormal cholesterol levels, high blood sugar, weakened bones, rhabdomyolysis (the breakdown of muscle tissue), and heart disease may appear. The healthcare provider should be consulted to discuss these side effects.

With the lowering of the body’s defense against infection, other complications may arise. There is a heightened possibility of contracting active tuberculosis, hepatitis, liver and kidney damage, urinary tract infection, toxoplasmosis (infection by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii), and sexually transmitted diseases. Consulting your physician is the most preferred option while tackling these complications.