HIV vs. AIDS life span ?

[SASA39]

I`m sorry but I just have to ask this  and I have forgot to pinn it with my revious post.................the more we know , the better we become !
                                        Al

[Val]

I voted "yes" 'cause the difference is the following:

1) We, Hiv+,  all live  the the virus that causes AIDS.  My doctor, for example, talks about Hiv infection when he refers to most of his patients. Not AIDS patients!

2) The dull-witted decision that classified people as having AIDS, as opposed to being asymptomatic, some years ago was based on the low number of T-cells (CD4) a person had.
And this norm has become something used by all countries nowadays.  It is usually when one's T-cells fall below the 200 mark that the person is regarded as having AIDS.  Moreover,  a lot of Hivers have been down that road before, so we all have AIDS anyway!

3) My doctor once told me that he had a patient from Africa that lived a normal life with 3 T-cells for some years, before her T-cells finally jumped over the 200 mark.

4) Today every Hiver  is supposed to know his/her  "nadir" (lowest) number of T-cells.  My nephew, for examplle, spent more than four years below the 200 mark after he started treatment with only 16 T-cells (CD4).  They are right now around 350!

Hope this helps, Sacha!  We'll talk more about this tomorrow over the phone.

Val
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