CD4'S

[sorryass]

Hey folks,

             This may seem strange, but I do not know what CD4'S stand for.  I do know they stand for a cell count in our blood.  The higher, the better.  But  that is all I know.  I pretty much leave my health to the professionals, and they seem to have done a good job for me so far.  My only real problem is the neropathy in my hands and feet.
             Today I met my new GP.  She had ordered up a whole range of tests, before we had actually  met!   I think we will be getting along fine.  She was impressed that my CD4's were 740.   So was I ! LOL ! She said that basically, seeing as my viral load was also undetectable, my blood would be "pretty much"  harmless, if someone were to come into contact with it.  Anyone have any thoughts on that?         

[Theyer]

Fab ,lovely no,s nice one sorryass  {would like to be calling you something else}

CD4 from my years off hearing them with varying degrees of emotion, I can tell you its what the DR reads out >he reads it from info the lab sent him, if it its below {in the U/K ] 350 or 200 or you can name them the session with the DR goes on longer and always ends with more things to do unless you say no. Oh and its a part off your blood theres CD 4 and 8 ,  it can be very unreliable. so I am Glad I am not the only one to just know it as a health marker.

love t

[denb45]

Fab ,lovely no,s nice one sorryass  {would like to be calling you something else}

CD4 from my years off hearing them with varying degrees of emotion, I can tell you its what the DR reads out >he reads it from info the lab sent him, if it its below {in the U/K ] 350 or 200 or you can name them the session with the DR goes on longer and always ends with more things to do unless you say no. Oh and its a part off your blood theres CD 4 and 8 ,  it can be very unreliable. so I am Glad I am not the only one to just know it as a health marker.

love t

Well, My CD4's have ever been over 300 or 400, and after 20 yrs. my Doctor says they probably won't, but I'll take the UD, @ least that's a good thing

[aztecan]

I had to check. I graph my labs using the tool here. Very handy.

Anyway, the last CD4 count I had was 1,064. But, that was in June 2010.

I could swear I have had them done since then. I will check when I get back home. I am on the road again.

Anyway, they bounce from 900 to 1,400.

I have noticed that the lab we use for CD4s and Viral Loads is now using the more sensitive test that shows people as undetectable at less than 20 copies. Neat.

CD4 is a specific type of blood cell. the CD4 helper lymphocyte. It is a type of white blood cell.

It is the cell responsible for sounding the alarm when an infection or foreign agent is spotted in the body. That is why, whe the CD4s are wiped out, we can get everything under the sun because there is no way for the alarm to be sounded.

Back in the olden days, when I was a tad younger, we called them TC4 cells. I am not sure why they changed the designation.

HUGS,

Mark

[sorryass]

Thanks for your help everyone, Mark, very informative.  A member of the site happened to catch my post, (SunnyFlorida), since he is not a LTS, he could not post.  However, he did send a PM with the answer to my question.

"What are CD4's?"

The answer can be found by going to "Wikipedia", Search CD4, and it go's into detail about exactly what a cd4 is.  I found it to be very informative. 
Wikipedia, now why didn't I think of that?

Bertram
xo

[leatherman]

the AidsMeds "Lessons" section (http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/Introduction_4702.shtml) is filled with great information too - really, just about anything HIV/AIDS related that you could ever possibly want to know.

the section about CD4s is right here http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/TCellTest_4727.shtml
If you hover over the word TREATMENT in the gray menu bar, LESSONS is the first item in the second column.

[Theyer]

Bertram
I  for one am glad you found wiki via hear because  now I have done my homewok