Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Protein also helps prevent muscle wasting in HIV patients

Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, also known as AIDS. Patients with HIV are more susceptible to frequent infections because the virus destroys the body's immune system. Patients with HIV must be mindful about what they ingest as contaminated foods can cause serious illnesses. Proper nutrition in HIV patients is important to maintain general health.

Patients with HIV are advised to eat low bacteria foods to prevent transmission of serious infections, according to University of California. Patients should avoid raw foods such as raw eggs, raw meat or raw seafood such as sushi, oysters and shellfish. Raw fruits and vegetables should be washed thoroughly. A separate cutting board should be used for cutting raw meat to avoid transmission of microorganisms to other foods.

Proteins and Carbohydrates:

Patients with HIV should be on a high-protein and high carbohydrate diet. Protein build muscles and maintain a strong immune system. Protein also helps prevent muscle wasting in HIV patients. Carbohydrate-rich foods provide energy needed to fight HIV infection. Increased intake of carbohydrates also helps prevent the breakdown of proteins in the body to produce energy. Examples of high-protein and high-calorie foods suitable for HIV patients include include protein drinks, milk shakes, powdered milk, shredded milk, yogurt, meat, fish and milk. Patients with HIV are advised to drink 8 to 10 cups of filtered water everyday. Extra water helps reduce the side effects of medications and flush out extra medications and toxins from the body, according to the University of California. Water also helps prevent dehydration and constipation. Patients with nausea and vomiting should avoid drinking water with meals. HIV patients should avoid caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea, cocoa and chocolate milk because they contain caffeine which can worsen dehydration.

HIV patients with decreased appetite should try to eat six to eight small meals rather than three large meals. Patients experiencing painful mouth sores that prevent food intake can benefit from high-protein drinks. Patients with mouth sores should avoid citrus fruits and spicy foods. A BRAT diet can also be useful for HIV patients experiencing diarrhea. BRAT diet foods are bananas, rice, apples and tea. HIV patients with diarrhea should avoid fried foods, high-fat foods and high-fiber foods. Consult the doctor about taking a multivitamin everyday to supplement nutrients as HIV causes reduced absorption of nutrients.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Possible ways of transmission HIV in sport

Athletes are at risk of blood borne infections through bleeding injuries or injection of drugs with contaminated syringes. Prevention should focus on reducing non-sport associated risky behavior, as well as dealing appropriately with bleeding injuries. The risk of transmission of hepatitis B virus is particularly high in athletes in contact and collision sports, those who live in or travel to endemic regions, injecting drug abusers, and those who practice first aid when there is no healthcare practitioner available. It is recommended that such athletes and also adolescent athletes, should be vaccinated against the virus as a routine. Blood borne infections such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and HIV are all major health problems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 34–46 million people with HIV world wide, about 5million of them newly infected. Approximately 3 million people died of AIDS in 2003. Who also reported that “Hepatitis B is one of the major diseases of mankind and is a serious global public health problem”. There are more than 350 million people who have chronic, lifelong, infections of HBV world wide. These carriers are at high risk of serious diseases such as liver cirrhosis and primary liver cancer which kill more than one million of them a year. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine have suggested that these infections are increasing among athletes, and they create important and complex problems for sports medicine practitioners. News of infected athletes with HIV, especially well known athletes, causes concern among other athletes.

HIV is transmitted through sexual contact, parenteral exposure to blood and blood components, contamination of open wounds or mucous membranes by infected blood, and perinatal from an infected mother to fetus or infant. Hepatitis B and C are spread through the same routes as HIV. There is a theoretical risk of blood borne infections being transmitted during sporting activities, from bleeding wounds or exudate skin injury of an infected athlete to the injured skin or mucous membrane of other athletes. It is generally reported that this risk is extremely low.

This risk may be higher in contact and collision sports, especially wrestling, boxing and tae know do, because of the higher risk of bleeding injuries and prolonged close body contact. Athletes taking part in these sports should be aware of these small theoretical risks. Players of basketball, field hockey, ice hockey, judo, soccer, and team handball are at a moderate risk, and those who participate in sports that require little physical contact such as baseball, gymnastics and tennis are at the lowest risk.

According to researchers in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), the risk of transmission of HIV during sports, except boxing, is small—less than one potential transmission in one million games. This risk is calculated by other researchers to be one transmission in 43 (range 1–85) million games, based on the following factors: (a) the estimated prevalence of HIV among athletes the risk of per cutaneous HIV transmission in health care, the risk of a bleeding injury in American football. However, this calculated risk may still be an overestimate because it has been back calculated from the risk through needle stick injuries, and this is probably much greater than the risk resulting from skin injury in sports.

There are no confirmed reports of HIV transmission during sport. Torre et al reported one case of seroconversion of HIV as a result of a bleeding injury during a football match in Italy. However, it was later suggested that this report was not sufficiently well documented to confirm that the transmission occurred during sports activity. Transmission in a non-sports setting for this man, who worked in a drug dependency rehabilitation center, could not be ruled out.

Transmission of HIV during bloody street fights has been reported in the literature. Generally, street fist fights can be considered similar to contact sports. However, the manner of physical contact—for example, repeated banging of the forehead of one fighter against the face and forehead of the other in a vigorous street fight—is less likely in typical sports settings. HIV cannot be transmitted through normal body contact such as touching and sharing sports equipment or using facilities such as locker rooms or bathrooms or contact with contaminated surfaces such as wrestling mats or toilet seats.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Antibodies in your blood against HIV positive results

Soon after HIV infection, the corpse begins to build antibodies that fight the virus. The HIV trial looks for these antibodies in your blood. After about three months, most people have enough anti-HIV antibodies to test positive on standard HIV tests. Some people don’t test positive for six months or even a year, so repeat testing is needed.

The HIV test is plain. Home tests are available. You can also get tested at labs that keep your identity private. You can also get tested by your doctor, and at your public condition department. If you are doing a home exam, or if you order a test from a lab, a positive effect means you should see a doctor to confirm that you’re really infected. If you know you are at high danger of HIV infection and come down with a bad case of the flu, see a doctor right away. It could be the early signs of HIV infection. Tell your doctor about your risk behavior. There are very sensitive tests that can tell if you’ve got HIV and treatment during this very early stage of infection works best.

Before getting tested, think about what your test effect will mean. Most people need help with this, so see a counselor, psychologist, or doctor for advice - or call your local AIDS hotline. Prepare for your result. If you test negative, you may want to talk about how to reduce your future risk. There are many private AIDS organizations that can give you this kind of help. Usually these organizations have "been-there, done-that" counselors you can relate to. If you test positive, you’ll need help deciding what to do. HIV infection isn’t a death sentence. It does mean that you will need to take special care of your health. It also means that you will have to take specific care not to infect anybody else with the AIDS virus.

If you test positive for HIV, you must have medical care. If you don’t have a doctor, a local AIDS organization or AIDS hotline can help you discover one. Get some help from a person you trust. If you don’t have a person like this in your life, get help from a educated counselor. Have this person go with you to the doctor. If you test positive, you have to tell your sex and/or needle-sharing partners that they, too, need to be tested. But you don’t have to tell everybody else. Tell only those people who can support you. If you have children, talk with a counselor about what to tell them and when.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Anabolic Steroid and HIV treatment

An important aspect of providing care for HIV-infected patients is obtaining a baseline history that includes the most detailed information possible regarding patients’ health, ongoing health risks and previous HIV treatment. Because of the complexity of a comprehensive history, as well as the complexity of ongoing HIV care, effective communication between the patient and provider is essential. Patients should receive information that is well organized and easy to understand. All members of the healthcare team should use vocabulary that optimizes patient education and patient-provider communication.

Patients should be informed about the importance of the baseline history for establishing a framework for their ongoing HIV care. This may also include asking a patient to repeat back information in his/her own words to identify areas requiring increased health literacy.  When language or hearing barriers exist, clinicians should use an interpreter. For patients who have received HIV care from previous providers, past medical records should be obtained whenever possible. A member of the healthcare team may encourage patients to bring their past medical records; however, clinicians should be aware that patients may not wish to disclose to their previous providers that they are changing providers, and fees may be associated with such requests.

Anabolic steroids are a collection of drugs that feature testosterone to treat conditions such as impotence, delayed puberty or low muscle tone due to illness and HIV. When taken by healthy individuals, the substance can have serious side effects and lead to dependency. For users of steroids, a steroids addiction treatment program can increase the chances of successfully stopping the usage.

Unlike many other drugs used non-medically, steroids do not provide a physical high for the user. There is no euphoric response after taking steroids, or any other immediate reaction to the drugs. The exact reasons behind steroids use vary with each individual, but there are a few common reasons given by users for starting the drugs. Many users entering into a steroids addiction treatment facility report utilizing steroids as a physical performance enhancer. When taken for this reason the steroids improve muscle tone and makes building up additional muscle mass throughout the body easier and quicker than if it were done without the use of steroids. Because of the increase in the ease in muscle development when using steroids other users have claimed their use as a way of enhancing their physical appearance. Regardless of the reasons behind steroid use, long-term usage of the drugs can result in serious physical issues. To avoid these issues, finding steroids addiction treatment as soon as possible is an important step towards returning health.

Most people who are infected with HIV experience a short, flu-like illness that occurs two to six weeks after infection. After this, HIV often causes no symptoms for several years. The flu-like illness that often occurs a few weeks after HIV infection is also known as seroconversion illness. It's estimated that up to 80% of people who are infected with HIV experience this illness.

The most common symptoms are:
    fever (raised temperature)
    sore throat
    body rash

Other symptoms can include:
    tiredness
    joint pain
    muscle pain
    swollen glands (nodes)

The symptoms, which can last up to four weeks, are a sign that your immune system is putting up a fight against the virus.  These symptoms can all be caused by conditions other than HIV, and do not mean you have the virus. However, if you have several of these symptoms, and you think you have been at risk of HIV infection, you should get an HIV test.
After the initial symptoms disappear, HIV will often not cause any further symptoms for many years. During this time, known as asymptomatic HIV infection, the virus continues to spread and damage your immune system. This process can take about 10 years, during which you will feel and appear well. It is important to remember that not everyone with HIV experiences early symptoms, so you should still take an HIV test if you have put yourself as risk, even if you experience no symptoms.