Lifespan for a Person With HIV

There is no set life expectancy for individuals with HIV, as there are a number of factors that can shorten or lengthen their projected lifespan. Each case is unique, and advances in treatment have made it so that in many cases individuals with HIV can expect to live a normal life just like anyone else with a chronic but manageable disease.

Non-Progressors

• Roughly 10 percent of individuals who have HIV fall into a category known as non-progressors. These individuals can live for a significant period of time with no symptoms of HIV or measurable effects on their immune systems, even without antiretroviral treatment.

Long-Term Survivors

• Some individuals are still alive today who were diagnosed with HIV at the very start of the HIV epidemic in the early 1980s. It is believed that their immune systems have adapted to the HIV infection and though they are not able to purge their bodies of the infection, they are able to keep the infection from progressing into late-stage infection and AIDS.

HAART Treatment

• Highly Agressive AntiRetroviral Therapy, better known as HAART, uses powerful antiretroviral medications to fight HIV in the bloodstream. This therapy reduces overall viral load in the bloodstream, significantly slowing the progression of HIV infection and increasing projected lifespans.

Co-Infection

• Co-infection with other chronic illnesses such as Hepatitis C may slow an individuals overall immune responses to both infections. Because the immune system is unable to combat either infection effectively, this can greatly reduce their projected life expectancy.

Causes of Death

• The majority of deaths in HIV-positive individuals since the year 2000 have been attributed to heart attacks, strokes and other natural causes. Though the individuals were HIV positive, their causes of death were unrelated to their infection and thus did not suffer a diminished lifespan as a result of HIV infection.