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Effects of AIDS

AIDS is the fourth stage of HIV-disease. AIDS is diagnosed in HIV-positive people when the immune system can no longer fight off infection on its own, and is marked by four different types of conditions: opportunistic infections, wasting, cancers and neurological conditions.

  1. Cell-Mediated Immunity

    • Cell-mediated immunity is the immune system's ability to successfully fight off infection. HIV-disease attacks cells of the immune system (CD4 T-cells), leading to the loss of this capacity. This occurs when CD4 cell count drops below 200.

    OIs

    • The loss of cell-mediated immunity leads to disease from infections (called opportunistic infections or OIs) that do not cause disease in people with healthy immune systems or which cause worse symptoms in people with weakened immune systems. Common OIs include thrush (an oral fungus), toxoplasmosis (a brain disease caused by parasites), Pneumocystis pneumonia, herpesviruses and tuberculosis.

    Wasting

    • Wasting is a condition of severe weight loss. Both HIV-disease and the side effects of some antiretroviral drugs used in the managements of HIV-disease contribute to this effect.

    Cancers

    • Cancers found in AIDS include cervical cancer, cancers of lymph cells (lymphomas) and Kaposi's sarcoma, a skin cancer caused by opportunistic infection with human herpesvirus-8, according to HIV InSite.

    ADC

    • AIDS is also characterized by neurological conditions. The most significant of these is AIDS dementia complex (ADC), which HIV InSite reports can affect thinking, motor skills and behavior.

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