Some people with HIV are starting to live as long as people without it

The publishers of the new research studied the results of 18 studies about patients living with HIV in Europe and in North America. Factors such as the amount of virus that iswas present (lower is better) and CD4 white blood cell count (higher is better), which are normally used to measure the severity of the infection was considered. These measures improved in people who started treatment in cohort groups that started treatment afterwards.
The real difference appears to come from the medications that have been not very harmful over time, and better devotion to taking them. However, people living with HIV may experience other complications, warns Scott Turner, a neurologist at Georgetown University who studies HIV and is not affiliated with the new research. For instance, he says, “Since aging is a major risk factor for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), we may expect to see a parallel increase in HAND in coming years.” Turner has treated more than a few patients who have lived with HIV long enough to have Alzheimer’s even though they may have presented it earlier than usual as a result of the HIV virus and treatment.

https://article.wn.com/view/2018/03/13/Some_people_with_HIV_are_starting_to_live_as_long_as_people_/

The Stages of HIV Infection

Without treatment, HIV infection advances in stages, getting worse over time. HIV gradually destroys the immune system and eventually causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
There is no cure for HIV infection, but HIV medicines (called antiretrovirals or ARVs) can prevent HIV from advancing to AIDS. HIV medicines help people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. HIV medicines also reduce the risk of HIV transmission (the spread of HIV to others).



There are three stages of HIV infection:

1. Acute HIV Infection
   Acute HIV infection is the earliest stage of HIV infection, and it generally develops within 2 to 4 weeks after a person is infected with HIV. During this time, some people have flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, and rash. In the acute stage of infection, HIV multiplies rapidly and spreads throughout the body. The virus attacks and destroys the infection-fighting CD4 cells of the immune system. During the acute HIV infection stage, the level of HIV in the blood is very high, which greatly increases the risk of HIV transmission.

https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv-aids/fact-sheets/19/46/the-stages-of-hiv-infection