How Long Can an HIV-Positive Person Live?

Answering the question of how long an HIV-positive person may live can be very difficult, even among professionals. There are a number of factors that can affect the lifespan of an HIV patient, and there are several things that are still not known about the disease. Though there is not a simple answer, treatment has progressed to the point that HIV infection is considered to be a chronic but manageable disease.

Non-Progressors

• A minority of HIV positive individuals have an HIV infection that progresses at a very slow pace. These individuals are referred to as "non-progressers" and stay healthy in spite of their infection. They are essentially simply carriers of the virus.

Long-Term Diagnosis and Treatment

• HIV and AIDS were only first identified and diagnosed in 1981. Some individuals who were diagnosed at the beginning of the epidemic continue to thrive today, proving that a life expectancy of 20 to 30 years or longer isn't an unrealistic estimate.

Changes in Viewpoint

• HIV today is not longer considered to be a "death sentence" as it was in the early days of the epidemic. It is now being termed a chronic but manageable condition, much like diabetes, with infected individuals being given life span estimates similar to standard human life span.

Other STD's and Their Effect on Life Span

• HIV tends to be a co-infection with other illnesses, particularly Hepatitis B and C. It is more likely that a person will die battling another infection that is being complicated by HIV than a typical AIDS-related illness.

Common Causes of Death

• People with HIV today are more likely to die of other natural causes (such as heart disease or stroke) than from AIDS-defining opportunistic infections.