Tag Archives: Blood transfusion

Straight, No Chaser: Blood Transfusions – Facts About Giving and Receiving

Hematology & Oncology/Blood Disorders/Cancer, , , , ,

donate_blood_1

When was the last time you saved a life? I’m not talking about an Internet game. There are many ways in which your efforts can make a significant difference in the life of someone whose life is at risk. One such instance is donating blood. This Straight, No Chaser reviews the basics of blood transfusion because it’s Patient Blood Management Awareness Week.
You have a greater chance of needing a blood transfusion than you may think.

donate blood faq

Each year, almost 5 million Americans need blood transfusions, meaning 5 million examples of active or potential people in the midst of imminent or potential life-threatening conditions. These can include any of the following:

  • Rapid loss of blood from injuries such as gunshot or stab wounds, motor vehicle collisions or broken bones;
  • Loss of blood during operations;
  • Severe anemia from disease such as cancer, sickle-cell anemia, kidney disease or iron deficiency;
  • Bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia or thrombocytopenia.

Let’s recap why blood is so vital.

donate how_much_blood

Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells of various tissues and organs throughout the body. Failure to have an adequate supply of either oxygen or nutrients causes damage and/or death to the cells affected. You recognize many diseases in which this occurs, including heart attacks and strokes. Blood itself has many components, including red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma. Whole blood contains all of these, but more often transfusions occur via individual parts.
Do you know your blood type?

donate blood

On a list of things you should know about yourself, that really ranks high on the list. When seconds count, being able to share that information can make all the difference. The blood used in a transfusion must work with your blood type. If it doesn’t, antibodies (proteins) in your blood attack the new blood and make you sick.

  • Everyone has one of the following blood types: A, B, AB, or O. Also, every person’s blood is either Rh-positive or Rh-negative. So, if you have type A blood, it’s either A positive or A negative; that classification combines the two components that measure incompatibilities between blood.
  • Type O blood is called the universal donor, meaning it’s safe for almost everyone. As such, Type O blood is used for emergencies when there’s no time to test a person’s blood type. Approximately 40 percent of the population has type O blood.
  • People who have type AB blood are called universal recipients, means they can get any type of blood.
  • If you have Rh-positive blood, you can get Rh-positive or Rh-negative blood. But if you have Rh-negative blood, you should only get Rh-negative blood. Rh-negative blood is used for emergencies when there’s no time to test a person’s Rh type.
  • All of this means if you’re AB positive, you’re in a good position to receive donor blood and are relatively less likely to have allergic reactions to blood. Any blood type is good regarding the ability to donate.

Is donated blood safe?

donation_questions

Blood banks collect, test, and store blood. All donated blood is meticulously screened for viruses, other infectious agents and other factors that could make you sick.
It’s helpful to know that not all transfusions require blood donated from a stranger. If you’re going to have surgery and if it’s surgery that is scheduled months in advance, your doctor may ask whether you would like to donate your own blood for potential use if needed during the surgery. Your blood would be drawn well in advance and stored in a blood bank. Even during surgeries, surgeons try to reduce the amount of blood lost so that fewer transfusions are needed. Sometimes blood lost can be collected and reused for the same patient.
Are there alternatives to blood transfusions?
It’s very interesting that of all the medical advances that have been made, there are still no man-made alternative to human blood. That said, researchers are trying to find ways to make blood. At this point, researchers have developed medicines that may help do the job of some blood parts. For example, some people who have kidney problems take a medicine called erythropoietin, which helps their bodies make more red blood cells. As a result, they may need fewer blood transfusions.
Will you donate blood?

donate-blood1

What this all boils down to is having sufficient blood supplies is vital to hospitals’ ability to take care of patients. Please consider this gift of life. You can easily check your ability to donate by contacting your local hospital or the Red Cross by visiting http://www.redcrossblood.org/give/drive/driveSearch.jsp. Besides, donating blood actually comes with plenty of benefits, including reducing cholesterol, improving circulation, reducing iron buildup and identifying any abnormalities you may have in your blood.
Feel free to ask your SMA expert consultant any questions you may have on this topic.
Order your copy of Dr. Sterling’s new book Behind The Curtain: A Peek at Life from within the ER at jeffreysterlingbooks.com, iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and wherever books are sold.
Thanks for liking and following Straight, No Chaser! This public service provides a sample of what http://www.SterlingMedicalAdvice.com (SMA) and 844-SMA-TALK offers. Please share our page with your friends on WordPress, like us on Facebook @ SterlingMedicalAdvice.com and follow us on Twitter at @asksterlingmd.
Copyright © 2017 · Sterling Initiatives, LLC · Powered by WordPress

Straight, No Chaser: How Do You Contract HIV/AIDS?

Infectious Disease, Genital/Urinary, , , , , , , , ,

HIV-AIDS-21

This isn’t 1983. The mystery of how HIV infection is contracted has come and gone. Yet HIV and AIDS awareness are still critical. You need to be knowledgable to be empowered.

This is the first blog in an ongoing series on HIV and AIDS.

  • For an explanation of what AIDS is, click here.
  • For an explanation of the signs and symptoms of HIV/AIDS is, click here.

First, let’s address a simple principle. The HIV virus can live and reproduce in high levels in blood other body fluids, including breast milk, rectal mucus, semen (and pre-semen) and vaginal fluids. If any of those fluids are infected and are transmitted to another’s body, that individual can become infected with HIV. In special circumstances (such as healthcare workers), individuals may become exposed to other areas that may contain high levels of HIV, including amniotic fluid (in pregnancy women), cerebrospinal fluid (from the brain and spinal cord) and synovial fluid (from various joints).
Now please take a moment and look at the lead picture. In addition to those circumstances listed, you should know that fluids such as feces, nasal fluid, saliva, sweat, tears, urine or vomit don’t by themselves contain high enough levels to transmit HIV. However, if those fluids are mixed with blood and you have contact with both fluids, you may become infected via these routes.
HIV is transmitted through body fluids in very specific ways:

  • During anal, oral or vaginal sex: When you have anal, oral, or vaginal sex with a partner, you will have contact with your partner’s body fluids in areas very likely to be high in HIV viral load if your partner is infected. HIV gets transmitted in these instances through small breaks in the surfaces of the mouth, penis, rectum, vagina or vulva. One of the reasons HIV infection rates are higher in individuals with herpes and syphilis is because those diseases cause open sores, creating additional opportunities for HIV-infected body fluids to enter the body.
  • During pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding: Babies have constant contact with their mother’s potentially infected body fluids. Means of transmitting HIV from mother to child include through amniotic fluid, blood and infected breast milk.
  • As a result of injection drug use: Injecting drugs puts you in contact with blood. If those needles and their contents are contaminated, you can be directly delivering HIV into your bloodstream.
  • As a result of occupational exposure: Healthcare workers must be constantly diligent against this method of transmission. Risks of HIV transmission to healthcare workers occur through blood transferred from needlesticks and cuts, and less commonly through contact of infected body fluids splashed into the eyes, mouth or into an open sore or cut.
  • As a result of a blood transfusion or organ transplant: Fortunately, these days, this is very rare given the stringency of screening requirements in the United States, but it is possible to transmit HIV through blood transfusions or organ transplants from infected donors.

hivaids

How does one get AIDS?
AIDS is a progression of HIV into its later stages and occurs after one’s immune system is severely damaged. You don’t “get AIDS” as much as HIV progresses to AIDS in certain circumstances. Many of us recall that HIV could progress in this way to AIDS in a matter of a few years a few decades ago. Fortunately, with the development of specialized medications in the 1990s, people with HIV are living much longer with HIV before they develop AIDS.
Feel free to ask your SMA expert consultant any questions you may have on this topic.
Order your copy of Dr. Sterling’s new book Behind The Curtain: A Peek at Life from within the ER at jeffreysterlingbooks.com, iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and wherever books are sold.
Thanks for liking and following Straight, No Chaser! This public service provides a sample of what http://www.SterlingMedicalAdvice.com (SMA) and 844-SMA-TALK offers. Please share our page with your friends on WordPress, like us on Facebook @ SterlingMedicalAdvice.com and follow us on Twitter at @asksterlingmd.
Copyright © 2016 · Sterling Initiatives, LLC · Powered by WordPress

Straight No Chaser: HIV Awareness Month – Can HIV Be Eliminated From the Body?

Infectious Disease, Hematology & Oncology/Blood Disorders/Cancer, , , , , ,

hiv-awareness

It’s HIV Awareness Month. Have you noticed there’s a lot less chatter about HIV lately? Don’t be lulled into a sense of false security; no, it hasn’t been eradicated. It is still being contracted and is still causing death. Straight, No Chaser will review the latest on HIV in the next few posts.

MAGIC-JOHNSON

Looking at the above picture, you would think it shows Ervin “Magic” Johnson donating blood. As most everyone knows, Magic famously retired from the NBA after contracting HIV. As we delve into this Straight, No Chaser, remember two important points.

  • He never contracted AIDS (we’ll get into the difference between HIV and AIDS in an upcoming post).
  • He is said to no longer have a detectable viral load of HIV. To paraphrase his words, “I’m cured of HIV.”

So does this mean it’s safe for certain “former” HIV(+) patients to donate blood and engage in activities others who are not HIV(+) can? HIV is a fascinating virus, and the more you know about it, the better off you are, particularly when it comes to protecting yourself from contracting the virus. Several Straight, No Chaser posts have addressed HIV/AIDS, and links are provided below.
In the meantime, consider the following. You’ve had many diseases over your life.

  • For those of you who have had pneumonia or the flu, did you forever stop kissing once you recovered?
  • For those of you who have had gonorrhea, syphilis or chlamydia, did you forever stop having sex once you were treated?
  • For those of you who have had chickenpox, did you forever stop hugging once the virus and rash disappeared?

I bring this points up to point out that at some point, once we truly discover a cure for HIV and actually are successful at eliminating the virus from the body of those infected, it makes sense that you could see someone who was HIV positive donating blood.
However…
That is not a picture of Magic Johnson donating blood. It could be him having blood drawn, or it could be a picture of someone else donating blood with Magic’s head photoshopped on the picture. How do I know this, even without going directly to the source?
In the news…
A case study exists that is about as close to this scenario as it gets. A baby thought to have been “cured” of HIV last year has now been diagnosed with the virus. After being born to a HIV(+) mother, a baby in Mississippi was pre-emptively treated with three antiretroviral drugs for 18 months. Doctors lost track of the infant until she was brought to a clinic for a visit after 10 months of receiving no HIV medication. The team involved found no evidence of the virus in her blood, and declared the girl “functionally cured.” Unfortunately, the virus has now returned. The child, now nearly 4, was recently found to have high levels of HIV in her blood during a routine visit to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she was originally discovered to be HIV(-). Decreased levels of CD4+ cells, the white blood cells targeted by HIV, along with the appearance of antibodies against the virus in her blood, suggest that her remission had come to an end, and that traces of virus remaining in her body had escaped from immune control.
There have now been several cases of cures and relapses. Here’s a bottom line consideration: the earlier that drugs are given, the easier it is for the body to keep the virus in check. However, one should not expect early treatment to completely eliminate HIV.

HIV_hiding_places

You may wonder how it’s possible for HIV to become undetectable or to relapse once seemingly “eradicated.” We know the HIV virus can hide away in tissues such as lymphoid and gut cells, as noted in the above picture. Medicines can only reach the virus located in the blood, and if therapy is halted, the virus can emerge from these other locations and relaunch its attack. This explains why most HIV patients need to take antiretroviral drugs daily over the course of their lives,.
The biggest hope for tackling the problem is to find drugs that flush latent HIV out of its hiding places in the body, so all the virus can be eliminated, effectively curing the patient so they don’t have to take more antiviral drugs.
This isn’t much of a surprise. Unlike the examples of disease being fully cured as in the scenarios listed above, other diseases simply go dormant inside the body. The classic example of this is the family of herpes viruses. Many of you are aware that a herpes simplex virus can reappear after decades of being absent. Similarly, chicken pox and shingles – diseases caused by the herpes zoster virus – can reappear after having run their course during the initial infection. At this point it appears that HIV appears to be more like the herpes viruses in this regard than examples of other infections and disease that can be completely eradicated.

transfusions2

Despite theoretically reasonable possibilities about the prospect of receiving blood from someone who had been HIV-positive, it is currently not prudent to do so, even as we know HIV loads can be completely eliminated from the blood of patients. That is not the same as eliminating HIV from the body. Thus, the American Red Cross and other blood donations involved in blood transfusions will not accept donations from anyone ever having been HIV(+).
For those in need of a life-saving blood transfusion, having individuals step up to donate is vitally important. Please consider doing so.
Feel free to ask your SMA expert consultant any questions you may have on this topic.
Order your copy of Dr. Sterling’s new book Behind The Curtain: A Peek at Life from within the ER at jeffreysterlingbooks.com, iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and wherever books are sold.
Thanks for liking and following Straight, No Chaser! This public service provides a sample of what http://www.SterlingMedicalAdvice.com (SMA) and 844-SMA-TALK offers. Please share our page with your friends on WordPress, like us on Facebook @ SterlingMedicalAdvice.com and follow us on Twitter at @asksterlingmd.
Copyright © 2016 · Sterling Initiatives, LLC · Powered by WordPress

Straight, No Chaser: Blood Transfusions – Facts About Giving and Receiving

Hematology & Oncology/Blood Disorders/Cancer, , , , ,

donate_blood_1

When was the last time you saved a life? I’m not talking about an Internet game. There are many ways in which your efforts can make a significant difference in the life of someone whose life is at risk. One such instance is donating blood. This Straight, No Chaser reviews the basics of blood transfusion because it’s Patient Blood Management Awareness Week.
You have a greater chance of needing a blood transfusion than you may think.

donate blood faq

Each year, almost 5 million Americans need blood transfusions, meaning 5 million examples of active or potential people in the midst of imminent or potential life-threatening conditions. These can include any of the following:

  • Rapid loss of blood from injuries such as gunshot or stab wounds, motor vehicle collisions or broken bones;
  • Loss of blood during operations;
  • Severe anemia from disease such as cancer, sickle cell anemia, kidney disease or iron deficiency;
  • Bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia or thrombocytopenia.

Let’s recap why blood is so vital.

donate how_much_blood

Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells of various tissues and organs throughout the body. Failure to have an adequate supply of either oxygen or nutrients causes damage and/or death to the cells affected. You recognize many diseases in which this occurs, including heart attacks and strokes. Blood itself has many components, including red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma. Whole blood contains all of these, but more often transfusions occur via individual parts.
Do you know your blood type?

donate blood

On a list of things you should know about yourself, that really ranks high on the list. When seconds count, being able to share that information can make all the difference. The blood used in a transfusion must work with your blood type. If it doesn’t, antibodies (proteins) in your blood attack the new blood and make you sick.

  • Everyone has one of the following blood types: A, B, AB, or O. Also, every person’s blood is either Rh-positive or Rh-negative. So, if you have type A blood, it’s either A positive or A negative; that classification combines the two components that measure incompatibilities between blood.
  • Type O blood is called the universal donor, meaning it’s safe for almost everyone. As such, Type O blood is used for emergencies when there’s no time to test a person’s blood type. Approximately 40 percent of the population has type O blood.
  • People who have type AB blood are called universal recipients, means they can get any type of blood.
  • If you have Rh-positive blood, you can get Rh-positive or Rh-negative blood. But if you have Rh-negative blood, you should only get Rh-negative blood. Rh-negative blood is used for emergencies when there’s no time to test a person’s Rh type.
  • All of this means if you’re AB positive, you’re in a good position to receive donor blood and are relatively less likely to have allergic reactions to blood. Any blood type is good regarding the ability to donate.

Is donated blood safe?

donation_questions

Blood banks collect, test, and store blood. All donated blood is meticulously screened for viruses, other infectious agents and other factors that could make you sick.
It’s helpful to know that not all transfusions require blood donated from a stranger. If you’re going to have surgery and if it’s surgery that is scheduled months in advance, your doctor may ask whether you would like to donate your own blood for potential use if needed during the surgery. Your blood would be drawn well in advance and stored in a blood bank. Even during surgeries, surgeons try to reduce the amount of blood lost so that fewer transfusions are needed. Sometimes blood lost can be collected and reused for the same patient.
Are there alternatives to blood transfusions?
It’s very interesting that of all the medical advances that have been made, there are still no man-made alternative to human blood. That said, researchers are trying to find ways to make blood. At this point, researchers have developed medicines that may help do the job of some blood parts. For example, some people who have kidney problems take a medicine called erythropoietin, which helps their bodies make more red blood cells. As a result, they may need fewer blood transfusions.
Will you donate blood?

donate-blood1

What this all boils down to is having sufficient blood supplies is vital to hospitals’ ability to take care of patients. Please consider this gift of life. You can easily check your ability to donate by contacting your local hospital or the Red Cross by visiting http://www.redcrossblood.org/give/drive/driveSearch.jsp. Besides, donating blood actually comes with plenty of benefits, including reducing cholesterol, improving circulation, reducing iron buildup and identifying any abnormalities you may have in your blood.
Feel free to ask your SMA expert consultant any questions you may have on this topic.
Order your copy of Dr. Sterling’s new book Behind The Curtain: A Peek at Life from within the ER at jeffreysterlingbooks.com, iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and wherever books are sold.
Thanks for liking and following Straight, No Chaser! This public service provides a sample of what http://www.SterlingMedicalAdvice.com (SMA) and 844-SMA-TALK offers. Please share our page with your friends on WordPress, like us on Facebook @ SterlingMedicalAdvice.com and follow us on Twitter at @asksterlingmd.
Copyright © 2016 · Sterling Initiatives, LLC · Powered by WordPress

Straight, No Chaser: Blood Transfusions – Facts About Giving and Receiving

Hematology & Oncology/Blood Disorders/Cancer, , , , ,

donate_blood_1

When was the last time you saved a life? I’m not talking about an Internet game. There are many ways in which your efforts can make a significant difference in the life of someone whose life is at risk. One such instance is donating blood. This Straight, No Chaser reviews the basics of blood transfusion because it’s Patient Blood Management Awareness Week.
You have a greater chance of needing a blood transfusion than you may think.

donate blood faq

Each year, almost 5 million Americans need blood transfusions, meaning 5 million examples of active or potential people in the midst of imminent or potential life-threatening conditions. These can include any of the following:

  • Rapid loss of blood from injuries such as gunshot or stab wounds, motor vehicle collisions or broken bones;
  • Loss of blood during operations;
  • Severe anemia from disease such as cancer, sickle cell anemia, kidney disease or iron deficiency;
  • Bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia or thrombocytopenia.

Let’s recap why blood is so vital.

donate how_much_blood

 
Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells of various tissues and organs throughout the body. Failure to have an adequate supply of either oxygen or nutrients causes damage and/or death to the cells affected. You recognize many diseases in which this occurs, including heart attacks and strokes. Blood itself has many components, including red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma. Whole blood contains all of these, but more often transfusions occur via individual parts.
Do you know your blood type?

donate blood

 
On a list of things you should know about yourself, that really ranks high on the list. When seconds count, being able to share that information can make all the difference. The blood used in a transfusion must work with your blood type. If it doesn’t, antibodies (proteins) in your blood attack the new blood and make you sick.

  • Everyone has one of the following blood types: A, B, AB, or O. Also, every person’s blood is either Rh-positive or Rh-negative. So, if you have type A blood, it’s either A positive or A negative; that classification combines the two components that measure incompatibilities between blood.
  • Type O blood is called the universal donor, meaning it’s safe for almost everyone. As such, Type O blood is used for emergencies when there’s no time to test a person’s blood type. Approximately 40 percent of the population has type O blood.
  • People who have type AB blood are called universal recipients, means they can get any type of blood.
  • If you have Rh-positive blood, you can get Rh-positive or Rh-negative blood. But if you have Rh-negative blood, you should only get Rh-negative blood. Rh-negative blood is used for emergencies when there’s no time to test a person’s Rh type.
  • All of this means if you’re AB positive, you’re in a good position to receive donor blood and are relatively less likely to have allergic reactions to blood. Any blood type is good regarding the ability to donate.

Is donated blood safe?

donation_questions

Blood banks collect, test, and store blood. All donated blood is meticulously screened for viruses, other infectious agents and other factors that could make you sick.
It’s helpful to know that not all transfusions require blood donated from a stranger. If you’re going to have surgery and if it’s surgery that is scheduled months in advance, your doctor may ask whether you would like to donate your own blood for potential use if needed during the surgery. Your blood would be drawn well in advance and stored in a blood bank. Even during surgeries, surgeons try to reduce the amount of blood lost so that fewer transfusions are needed. Sometimes blood lost can be collected and reused for the same patient.
Are there alternatives to blood transfusions?
It’s very interesting that of all the medical advances that have been made, there are still no man-made alternative to human blood. That said, researchers are trying to find ways to make blood. At this point, researchers have developed medicines that may help do the job of some blood parts. For example, some people who have kidney problems take a medicine called erythropoietin, which helps their bodies make more red blood cells. As a result, they may need fewer blood transfusions.
Will you donate blood?

donate-blood1

What this all boils down to is having sufficient blood supplies is vital to hospitals’ ability to take care of patients. Please consider this gift of life. You can easily check your ability to donate by contacting your local hospital or the Red Cross by visiting http://www.redcrossblood.org/give/drive/driveSearch.jsp. Besides, donating blood actually comes with plenty of benefits, including reducing cholesterol, improving circulation, reducing iron buildup and identifying any abnormalities you may have in your blood.
Thanks for liking and following Straight, No Chaser! This public service provides a sample of what 844-SMA-TALK and http://www.SterlingMedicalAdvice.com(SMA) offers. Please share our page with your friends on WordPress, Facebook @ SterlingMedicalAdvice.com and Twitter at @asksterlingmd.
Copyright © 2014 · Sterling Initiatives, LLC · Powered by WordPress

Straight No Chaser: Can HIV Be Eliminated From the Body?

Hematology & Oncology/Blood Disorders/Cancer, Infectious Disease, , , , , ,

MAGIC-JOHNSON

Looking at the above picture, you would think it shows Ervin “Magic” Johnson donating blood. This is a topic begging to be discussed. As most everyone knows, Magic famously retired from the NBA after contracting HIV. As we delve into this Straight, No Chaser, remember two important points.

  • He never contracted AIDS.
  • He is said to no longer have a detectable viral load of HIV. To paraphrase his words, “I’m cured of HIV.”

So does this mean it’s safe for certain “former” HIV(+) patients to donate blood and engage in activities others who are not HIV(+) can? HIV is a fascinating virus, and the more you know about it, the better off you are, particularly when it comes to protecting yourself from contracting the virus. Several Straight, No Chaser posts have addressed HIV/AIDS, and links are provided below.
In the meantime, consider the following. You’ve had many diseases over your life.

  • For those of you who have had pneumonia or the flu, did you forever stop kissing once you recovered?
  • For those of you who have had gonorrhea, syphilis or chlamydia, did you forever stop having sex once you were treated?
  • For those of you who have had chickenpox, did you forever stop hugging once the virus and rash disappeared?

I bring this points up to point out that at some point, once we truly discover a cure for HIV and actually are successful at eliminating the virus from the body of those infected, it makes sense that you could see someone who was HIV positive donating blood.
However…
That is not a picture of Magic Johnson donating blood. It could be him having blood drawn, or it could be a picture of someone else donating blood with Magic’s head photoshopped on the picture. How do I know this, even without going directly to the source?
In the news…
A case study exists that is about as close to this scenario as it gets. A baby thought to have been “cured” of HIV last year has now been diagnosed with the virus. After being born to a HIV(+) mother, a baby in Mississippi was pre-emptively treated with three antiretroviral drugs for 18 months. Doctors lost track of the infant until she was brought to a clinic for a visit after 10 months of receiving no HIV medication. The team involved found no evidence of the virus in her blood, and declared the girl “functionally cured.” Unfortunately, the virus has now returned. The child, now nearly 4, was recently found to have high levels of HIV in her blood during a routine visit to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she was originally discovered to be HIV(-). Decreased levels of CD4+ cells, the white blood cells targeted by HIV, along with the appearance of antibodies against the virus in her blood, suggest that her remission had come to an end, and that traces of virus remaining in her body had escaped from immune control.
The report of the baby’s relapse follows other similar news. Last March, two men in Boston were considered “cured” but were later found to have relapsed.
Research this year in monkeys showed that the earlier that drugs are given, the easier it is for the body to keep the virus in check. But the early treatment didn’t completely eliminate the HIV.

HIV_hiding_places

How is this possible, you may ask? We know the HIV virus can hide away in tissues such as lymphoid and gut cells, as noted in the above picture. Medicines can only reach the virus located in the blood, and if therapy is halted, the virus can emerge from these other locations and relaunch its attack. This explains why most HIV patients need to take antiretroviral drugs daily over the course of their lives,.
The biggest hope for tackling the problem is to find drugs that flush latent HIV out of its hiding places in the body, so all the virus can be eliminated, effectively curing the patient so they don’t have to take more antiviral drugs.
This isn’t much of a surprise. Unlike the examples of disease being fully cured as in the scenarios listed above, other diseases simply go dormant inside the body. The classic example of this is the family of herpes viruses. Many of you are aware that a herpes simplex virus can reappear after decades of being absent. Similarly, chicken pox and shingles – diseases caused by the herpes zoster virus – can reappear after having run their course during the initial infection. At this point it appears that HIV appears to be more like the herpes viruses in this regard than examples of other infections and disease that can be completely eradicated.

transfusions2

Despite theoretically reasonable possibilities about the prospect of receiving blood from someone who had been HIV-positive, it is currently not prudent to do so, even as we know HIV loads can be completely eliminated from the blood of patients. That is not the same as eliminating HIV from the body. Thus, the American Red Cross and other blood donations involved in blood transfusions will not accept donations from anyone ever having been HIV(+).
For those in need of a life-saving blood transfusion, having individuals step up to donate is vitally important. Please consider doing so.
In the meantime, get better informed about HIV with the following Straight, No Chaser posts:

Thanks for liking and following Straight, No Chaser! This public service provides a sample of what 844-SMA-TALK and http://www.SterlingMedicalAdvice.com (SMA) offers. Please share our page with your friends on WordPress, Facebook @ SterlingMedicalAdvice.com and Twitter at @asksterlingmd.
Copyright © 2014 · Sterling Initiatives, LLC · Powered by WordPress.

Straight, No Chaser: How Do You Contract HIV/AIDS?

Infectious Disease, Genital/Urinary, , , , , , , , , , ,

HIV-AIDS-21

Today is World AIDS day. This isn’t 1983. The mystery of how HIV infection is contracted has come and gone. You need to be knowledgable to be empowered.
This is the first blog in an ongoing series on HIV and AIDS.

  • For an explanation of what AIDS is, click here.
  • For an explanation of the signs and symptoms of HIV/AIDS is, click here.

First, let’s address a simple principle. The HIV virus can live and reproduce in high levels in blood other body fluids, including breast milk, rectal mucus, semen (and pre-semen) and vaginal fluids. If any of those fluids are infected and are transmitted to another’s body, that individual can become infected with HIV. In special circumstances (such as healthcare workers), individuals may become exposed to other areas that may contain high levels of HIV, including amniotic fluid (in pregnancy women), cerebrospinal fluid (from the brain and spinal cord) and synovial fluid (from various joints).
Now please take a moment and look at the lead picture. In addition to those circumstances listed, you should know that fluids such as feces, nasal fluid, saliva, sweat, tears, urine or vomit don’t by themselves contain high enough levels to transmit HIV. However, if those fluids are mixed with blood and you have contact with both fluids, you may become infected via these routes.
HIV is transmitted through body fluids in very specific ways:

  • During anal, oral or vaginal sex: When you have anal, oral, or vaginal sex with a partner, you will have contact with your partner’s body fluids in areas very likely to be high in HIV viral load if your partner is infected. HIV gets transmitted in these instances through small breaks in the surfaces of the mouth, penis, rectum, vagina or vulva. One of the reasons HIV infection rates are higher in individuals with herpes and syphilis is because those diseases cause open sores, creating additional opportunities for HIV-infected body fluids to enter the body.
  • During pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding: Babies have constant contact with their mother’s potentially infected body fluids. Means of transmitting HIV from mother to child include through amniotic fluid, blood and infected breast milk.
  • As a result of injection drug use: Injecting drugs puts you in contact with blood. If those needles and their contents are contaminated, you can be directly delivering HIV into your bloodstream.
  • As a result of occupational exposure: Healthcare workers must be constantly diligent against this method of transmission. Risks of HIV transmission to healthcare workers occur through blood transferred from needlesticks and cuts, and less commonly through contact of infected body fluids splashed into the eyes, mouth or into an open sore or cut.
  • As a result of a blood transfusion or organ transplant: Fortunately, these days, this is very rare given the stringency of screening requirements in the United States, but it is possible to transmit HIV through blood transfusions or organ transplants from infected donors.

How does one get AIDS?
AIDS is a progression of HIV into its later stages and occurs after one’s immune system is severely damaged. You don’t “get AIDS” as much as HIV progresses to AIDS in certain circumstances. Many of us recall that HIV could progress in this way to AIDS in a matter of a few years a few decades ago. Fortunately, with the development of specialized medications in the 1990s, people with HIV are living much longer with HIV before they develop AIDS.
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