Topic Tuesday

Apr 22
2

Topic Tuesday: Defining HIV & AIDS

Posted by | Topic Tuesday | 9,431 Comments
Scrabble

Anywhere I teach, I find that there are fewer teens and parents who are educated about HIV. Most of my students don’t even know what the acronyms “HIV” or “AIDS” represent.Just last week, I met a 24 year-old student who approached me at the end of a lecture to tearfully share that he was recently diagnosed with HIV. He wept in my arms.

It reminded me of my friend Larry who, a few days before he died of AIDS, grabbed the IV pole that was attached to his arm, infusing him with medicine, and pulled it toward his chest. He thought it was a person standing by his bed. He needed someone to hold.

We all need more HIV education and we all need someone to hold.

THE DEFINITION OF HIV AND AIDS

The acronym “HIV” stands for: Human Immunodeficiency VirusThe acronym “AIDS” stands for: Acquired Immunodeficiency SyndromeACQUIRED: One gets it, as opposed to it occurring naturally in one’s system.

IMMUNO: Refers to a protection in the immune system which fights off or defends us against unhealthy viruses, bacteria, germs and other disease‑causing micro‑organisms.

DEFICIENCY: A loss of this protection; implies that something is not working properly.

SYNDROME: A group of symptoms or physical signs that together indicate a disease or condition and in this case, define AIDS as a human pathology.

You don’t give AIDS.
You don’t get AIDS.
You don’t catch AIDS.
You don’t spread AIDS.

You don’t give it, you don’t get it, you don’t catch it, you don’t spread it.

You become INFECTED with or CONTRACT the virus (HIV or the HI‑virus) which can then sometimes, but NOT all times, LEAD to or PROGRESS to AIDS.

AIDS is not an organism that exists. It can not be seen under a microscope. It can not be grown in a Petrie dish. It can not be located in the blood. AIDS is a term that scientists and researchers coined in order to describe the phenomenon of what happens to the body after HIV succeeds in destroying the immune system. AIDS is a syndrome of many diseases, each resulting from an opportunistic agent or cancer cell or other infection that multiplies in humans who are immunosupressed because of a virus known as HIV.

THE FOUR FLUIDS

The four fluids that carry and transfer the virus are blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breastmilk. Not urine, not saliva, not mucous, not sweat, not tears, not vomit, not puss, not drool, not diarrhea, not spit, not anything but:

  • Blood
  • Semen
  • Vaginal Secretions
  • Breastmilk

For transmission of HIV to occur, one or more of these fluids must get into your bloodstream. Not on your clothes. Not on your fingers. Not on your sleeve. Not on your hands. Not on your skin. They must get into your bloodstream by way of a cut or tear in the skin or onto one of your torn mucous membranes.

Mucous membranes line body passages and cavities like your respiratory and digestive tracts and other internal organs. Mucous membranes also line passages and cavities that are open or exposed to the outside, protecting foreign particles or antigens from invading the body. According to scientists, researchers and AIDS service organizations, the mucous membrane must be torn, lacerated or have an abrasion for transmission and infection to occur. The variables are the amount of HIV and the length of time on the membrane. It’s risk reduction! You decide what’s best for you!

Always remember the equation:

DO NOT ALLOW
SOMEBODY ELSE’S
BLOOD, SEMEN, VAGINAL SECRETIONS AND/OR BREASTMILK
INTO YOUR BLOODSTREAM
OR
ONTO YOUR MUCOUS MEMBRANES

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this post is intended to inform readers and is not intended to replace specific advice from a health care professional.

Apr 15
1

Topic Tuesday: STD’s or STI’s?

Posted by | Topic Tuesday | 9,062 Comments

STI’s or STD? Viral or Bacterial? What’s the Difference?

The other day, a mom emailed me about her 7th grade son who is studying “FLE” (Family Life Education) in school, aka sex ed. When she asked him what he learned, he said, “Blow jobs and abstinence.”

I think it’s time to learn a bit more.STD stands for “sexually transmitted disease.” STD is the most commonly used term for the collection of medical infections that are transmitted through sexual contact. People who become infected, don’t always experience any symptoms or have their infection develop into a disease. That’s where the more modern term “STI” comes from.

STI stands for “sexually transmitted infection”, and many people, mostly the medical community, have begun transitioning from “STD” to “STI” in an effort to clarify that not all sexually transmitted infections turn into a disease. For instance, the vast majority of women who contract HPV (human papilloma virus) will not develop the resulting disease cervical cancer. In fact, most cases of infection will clear up within two years. Additionally, people who use this term believe that it also eliminates stigma around these illnesses; it’s less harsh to talk about an infection as opposed to a disease.

While the term STD has been around a long time (way back when, it was called venereal disease – named after Venus, the goddess of love), STI is becoming increasingly popular. Most of the time, the two acronyms are used interchangeably.

There are two major types of STIs – bacterial and viral. What’s the difference?

The microbes that cause sexually transmitted diseases or infections are equal opportunity bugs. They don’t care if you are white or black, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, happy or sad. If you’re a warm body, you’ll do.STI germs settle in an estimated 12 million Americans each year. Worldwide, they find 250 million new hosts a year.

The main difference between these two categories of STIs is what causes them — bacterial STIs are caused by bacterium and viral STIs are caused by viruses. A virus is so small that it can only survive and reproduce inside a living cell. But bacteria are larger than viruses and most can survive away from their host and even multiply.

As a result of being caused by different microorganisms, bacterial and viral STIs vary in their treatment. Bacterial STIs, such as gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia, are often cured with antibiotics. However, viral STIs, (the four “H’s”) such as HIV, HPV (genital warts), Herpes, and Hepatitis have no cure, but their symptoms can be alleviated with treatment.

The most common bacterial STI is chlamydia.

The most common viral STI is HPV.

In addition to bacteria and viruses, STIs can also be caused by protozoa, which are single cell organisms (such as trichomoniasis) and other organisms like parasites (crabs/pubic lice and scabies). These STIs can be cured with antibiotics or topical creams/lotions.

One of the most common symptoms of an STI is NO symptoms. So it’s important to go for check-ups if you are engaging in some type of sexual behavior. In general, women come off worse than men in this respect, more often showing no signs or symptoms of their disease. For instance, 80 percent of women and 40 percent of men diagnosed with chlamydia may not experience symptoms. STIs need to be diagnosed correctly and fully treated as soon as possible to avoid complications that could be serious and/or permanent.

Additional Resources

The information above was gathered from these great resources. I encourage you to check them out if you want to keep learning!

  1. Go Ask Alice – http://goaskalice.columbia.edu
  2. Beforeplay.org – www.beforeplay.org
  3. Planned Parenthood – http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/stds-hiv-safer-sex-101.htm
  4. Sexually Transmitted Infections (The Facts) by Barlow, David (Mar 3, 2011), $12.49 Kindle Edition

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this post is intended to inform readers and is not intended to replace specific advice from a health care professional.