can you live for a long time with AIDS? I hope I don't hurt anybody's feelings!?

Answer 1

Okay people... first off we have to make a distinction... I'm so sick of ignorance when HIV education has been around for 20 F-ing years.

HIV is the virus that infects you. Being HIV postive means you are infected with HIV. AIDS is the condition that occurs once HIV has damaged your immune system to the point that it is unable to fight off relatively simple diseases that shouldn't normally affect a person.

So the real answer to your question is NO, you cannot live a long time with AIDS. Once you've devoloped AIDS you've had HIV for a long time and you start to get sick with alot of opportunistic infections. These infections will generally be fatal for a person who has developed AIDS.

But I think the answer you wanted to hear was that YES you can infact live quite a long time with HIV. There are several classes of drugs that combat (but not cure) HIV and its reproduction in your body. When HIV is not allowed to reproduce there aren't as many copies in the body. Therefore the virus is unable to attack and destroy the immune system nearly as fast as is possible in an un-medicated person.

Answer 2

There is a new film out called "Living with AIDS, Dying from Cancer"..
it's all about how long people are living with HiV and AIDS.

that doesn't make it cool, and there are a ton of meds that you have to take, but you don't necessarily die in a couple years from it like people used to.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/03/AR2007120301622.html