No. it is not true that ARVs cure HIV/AIDS. Antiretroviral medicines (ARVs) are not a cure for HIV/AIDS and cannot prevent HIV infection but can significantly improve the quality of life of people living with the HIV virus. ARVs taken correctly reduce the ability of the HIV virus to replicate or multiply. This in turn increases the ability of the body to fight diseases.
ARVs therefore change HIV from a terminal (fatal) disease to a chronic disease like diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma. A chronic disease is one which can not be “cured” but can be controlled.
HIV uses CD4 cells (infection-fighting white blood cells) as an HIV factory to replicate or multiply. ARVs get into the CD4 cells at different places and reduce the ability of the HIV virus to replicate so less HIV virus can be made. Because of the nature of the replication cycle of the HIV virus, ARVs usually work in a combination, each acting at a different stage and in a different way to prevent HIV replicating with the CD4 cell.
The amount of HIV in a person’s blood is called viral load. People with a high viral load are more likely to progress rapidly to AIDS than people with a low viral load.
A person on ARVs should not stop even if he or she feels better. It is extremely important for the person on ARVs to adhere to a course of ARV treatment as recommended by the health care adviser. Adherence means to take the correct combination of the ARVs, the correct dose, the correct frequency and at the correct time. A person on ARVs needs a support network (friends, family, HIV+ peers) to encourage and remind him or her to adhere to the course of ARV treatment.
If a person on ARVs misses a dose, it becomes easier for the virus to change its form (mutate) inside the body. Once this happens, the original ARV course will not be effective against the new virus that has mutated or changed form.
Frequent poor adherence, may lead to greater risk of transmission, susceptibility to other infections, increased health costs, drug resistance, limited future ARV treatment options and faster progression to AIDS.
Dear young friend, it is a myth to say that ARVs cure HIV/ AIDS. The purpose of these drugs is to prevent the virus from multiplying very fast but as long as one is infected, there is no possibility of healing.
The ARVs can help one prolong life and help reinstate the cells that may have been killed, damaged or weakened.
Secondly, when one has been started on ARVs,that person is that person should take the drugs for the rest of his/her life unless the doctor has stopped them with a purpose of changing for another type or after a series of side effects.
One should never stop taking ARVs until after being instructed by the doctor. Dont take any idea that ARVs cure HIV/AIDS. Be focused on your studies.
if you see someone with HIV, advise them to seek medical advise as soon as possible for it is a very destructive ailment.