Physiological Effects of HIV AIDS

The physiological effects of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) can be divided into a number of periods. After primary (acute) infection, some people experience a brief flulike illness and then no symptoms again until the infection worsens, approaching an AIDS diagnosis. After AIDS has appeared (when the immune system's response has been depleted by HIV), a group of four different types of conditions, called AIDS-defining illnesses, appear.

Acute Infection Effects

• Within the first month after HIV infection, some but not all people develop a brief flulike illness that may last for about two weeks. After these symptoms clear up, most people experience an asymptomatic (latent) period for several years.

Symptomatic HIV Effects

• As the immune system is weakened, symptomatic HIV infection begins to occur (before the disease progresses to AIDS). Symptoms at this stage include night sweats, persistent swollen lymph nodes, diarrhea, fever, headaches and fatigue, weight loss, and breathing problems.

Opportunisitc Infections

• Opportunistic infections are one type of AIDS-defining illness. These are infections to which people are commonly exposed but do not develop disease with a healthily functioning immune system. They include thrush, Pneumocystis pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, and many others.

Neurological Problems

• A second type of AIDS-defining illness is neurological problems. The most common of these is AIDS dementia complex, which affects cognition, memory, and motor skills.

Cancers

• Another group of AIDS-defining illnesses are cancers, including Kaposi's sarcoma (a skin cancer), Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and cervical cancer.

Wasting Syndrome

• In wasting syndrome, one of the AIDS-defining illnesses, 10 percent of body weight is lost; this may be accompanied by diarrhea, weakness, and fever.