When does H.I.V become dangerous. And what is a C.D.H count?

Question

My younger sister has H.I.V and I don't know when I will loose her. She is also on a distructive path of using Crack Cocaine.

Answer 1

If she cleans up her act and gets medication she can live for a long time. I think the average now is 20some years with hiv. I think CDH is basically a measure of your immune system. The less you have the worse off you are. If you get too low you have AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, it won't kill her but the opportunistic infections will.

That said, I'd be more worried about the crack cocaine at first, there's a harsh lifestyle that goes with it. Plus she's probably using it to escape something in her life. Talk to her, see if at the very least she'll go to a counselor or a therapist, there's likely services for it in your community that will help her for free, just look in your phone book.

So don't think of when you will lose her, instead work to make the time you have now with her a happy healthy time. If she cleans up her act, with new research in medical technology and medicine development she may again live a fairly normal life and have her condition under control.

Answer 2

T-lymphocyte count less than 200 is concidered to be AIDS. The best I can find for CDH count is this web page http://www.cooley-dickinson.org/content/services/cancer_care/newsletters/OncologyNewsletter6-2004.pdf

Answer 3

if she has HIV then she needs to stop her lifestyle that brought her to this, if you want her to live then she need to clean up her act and start taking the cocktail of pills to prevent this from turning into full blown aids. good luck to you both, I hope she stops the crack and gets medical help, or she will become another statistic.