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AIDS Gallery & Facts

AIDS is the fourth stage of HIV-disease. It occurs once the effects of HIV have severely damaged the body's immune response. AIDS is a syndrome, meaning that it is accompanied by a number of different conditions.

  1. Opportunistic Infections

    • Opportunistic infections (OIs) are bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections that cause disease only when the immune system has become severely weakened. Common OIs include thrush (an fungus in the mouth), toxoplasmosis (a parasitic brain disease), cytomegalovirus (which can lead to blindness), and Pneumocystis pneumonia (AIDS.org).

    Wasting and Lipodystrophy

    • Two different conditions can cause weight loss and the redistribution of weight in people with advanced HIV-disease. These including wasting, which leads largely to the loss of muscle mass, and lipodystrophy, which leads to the loss and redistribution of fat tissue (AIDS.org).

    Cancers

    • Three different major types of cancers are found in advanced HIV-disease: lymphomas (cancers of immune system), cervical cancer and Kaposi's sarcoma, a skin cancer with purple lesions (HIV InSite).

    Neurological Conditions

    • AIDS can also cause damage to the nervous system. Neurological problems associated with AIDS include AIDS dementia complex (ADC), which can impact a sufferer's thinking, motion and behavior (HIV InSite).

    Considerations

    • To discover HIV infection before symptoms appear, people who believe they may have contracted the virus should be tested at least one month after possible exposure. HIVTest.org helps individuals locate testing centers in their area (see Resources).

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