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HIV life expectancy varies due to factors such as medical care, age, symptoms of AIDS, early diagnosis and treatment, pre-existing medical conditions, and lifestyle choices. Adequate healthcare and lifestyle choices can improve prognosis and prolong life expectancy. Highly active antiretroviral therapy can inhibit the virus’s reproduction, but carries potential side effects. In underdeveloped countries, life expectancy can be 50% lower than in other populations.
Not all patients diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) will have the same life expectancy. Many factors can affect HIV life expectancy, including the quality of medical care an infected patient receives. The age of the person who contracts the disease can also play a role in the life expectancy of an HIV patient. Another crucial factor in HIV life expectancy is whether the patient has symptoms of full-blown acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
HIV statistics have changed dramatically since the virus was first recognized. As AIDS became prevalent around the world, patients diagnosed with the disease were given a poor prognosis. It was almost always considered a fatal disease. While there is still no known cure for the virus that causes AIDS, HIV can be controlled with proper medical intervention and treatment. In regards to HIV life expectancy, adequate health care and lifestyle choices can improve prognosis and prolong life expectancy considerably.
One factor influencing HIV life expectancy is early diagnosis and treatment. Some medications can stop the virus from reproducing. Preventing the HIV virus from reproducing significantly reduces the risk of the infected person developing full-blown AIDS. AIDS is what causes the body’s immune system to weaken and become vulnerable to life-threatening infections.
In underdeveloped countries where HIV patients lack access to medical treatment for this disease, life expectancy can be 50% lower than in other populations. Patients who were in poor health before contracting HIV and had neglected to seek adequate health care may also have a shorter life expectancy.
HIV life expectancy can be shortened in a patient with a pre-existing medical condition, such as cancer. For example, if a terminal cancer patient were to contract the HIV virus, her life expectancy would most likely be reduced. Other pre-existing medical conditions, such as heart disease, will also affect life expectancy.
Many doctors and AIDS specialists believe that highly active antiretroviral therapy can affect HIV life expectancy. These groups of drugs can inhibit the reproduction of the virus, thereby prolonging the patient’s life. The drugs used in this form of therapy, however, carry a risk of potential side effects for some patients.
Other factors, such as unhealthy lifestyle choices, can also influence HIV life expectancy. Smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or recreational drug use can shorten the life expectancy of an HIV-infected patient. Conversely, healthy lifestyle choices such as getting adequate nutrition and exercising daily can lengthen life expectancy.
