AIDS (2827 words) Essay Example For Students

AIDS (2827 words) Essay AIDSAIDS is a life and death issue. To have the AIDS disease is at present asenten,ce of slow but inevitable death. Ive already lost one friend to AIDS. Imay soon lose others. My own sexual behavior and that of many of my friends hasbeen profoundly altered by it. In my part of the country, one man in 10 mayalready be carrying the AIDS virus. While the figures may currently be less inmuch of the rest of the country, this is changing rapidly. There curreently isneither a cure, nor even an effective treatment, and no vaccine either. Butthere are things that have been PROVEN immensely effevctive in slowing thespread of this hideously lethal disease. In this essay I hope to present thisinformation. History and Overview: AIDS stands for Acquired Immune DefficiencyDisease. It is caused by a virus. The disease origiunated somewhere in Africaabout 20 years ago. There it first appeared as a mysterious ailment afflictingprimarily heterosexuals of both sexes. It probably was spread especially fa st byprimarily female prostitutes there. AIDS has already become a crisis ofSTAGGERING proportions in parts of Africa. In Zaire, it is estimated that overtwenty percent of the adults currently carry the virus. That figure isincreasing. And what occurred there will, if no cure is found, most likely occurhere among heteroosexual folks. AIDS was first seen as a dise.ase of gay malesin this country. This was a result of the fact that gay males in this culture inthe days before AIDS had an average of 200 to 400 new sexual contacts per year. This figure was much higher than common practice among heterosexual (straight)men or women. In addition, it turned out that rectal sex was a particularlyeffective way to transmit the disease, and rectal sex is a common practice amonggay males. For these reasons, the disease spread in the gay male populsation ofthis country immensely more quickly than in other populations. It became to bethought of as a gay disease. Because the disease is spread primarilyby exposure of ones blood to infected blood or semen, I.V. drug addicts whoshared needles also soon were identified as an affected group. As the AIDSepidemic began to affect increasingly large fractions of those two populations(gay males andd IV drug abusers), many of the rest of this society looked onsmugly, for both populations tended to be despised by the mainstreamof society here. But AIDS is also spread by heterosexual sex. In addition, it isspread by blood transfusions. New born babies can acquire the disease frominfected mother s during pregnancy.more and more mainstream folks gotthe disease. Most recently, a member of congress died of the disease. Finally,even the national news media began to join in the task of educating the publicto the notion that AIDS can affect everyone. Basic medical research began toprovide a few bits of information, and some help. The virus causing the diseasewas isolated and identified. The AIDS virus turned out to be a very unusual sortof virus. Its genetic material was not DNA, but RNA. When it infected humancells, it had its RNA direct the synthesis of viral DNA. While RNA viruses arenot that uncommon, very few RNA viruses reproduce by setting up the flow ofinformation from RNA to DNA. Such reverse or retro flow ofinformation does not occur at all in any DNA virus or any other living things. Hence, the virus was said to belong to the rare group of virues calledRetro Viruses. Research provided the means to test donated blood forthe presence of the antibodies to the virus, astronomically reducing the chanceof ones getting AIDS from a blood transfusion. This was one of the first realbreakthroughs. The same discoveries that allowed us to make our blood bank bloodsupply far safer also allowed us to be able to tell (in most cases) whether onehas been exposed to the AIDS virus using a simple blood test. The Types of AIDSInfection: When the AIDS virus gets into a persons body, the results can bebroken down into three general types of situations: AIDS disease, ARC, andasymptomatic seropositive condition. The AIDS disease is characterized by havingones immune system devastated by the AIDS virus. One is said to have the*disease* if one contracts particular varieties (Pneumocystis, for example) ofpneumonia, or one of several particular varieties of otherwise rare cancers (KaposisSar coma, for example). This *disease* is inevitably fatal. Death occurs oftenafter many weeks or months of expensive and painful hospital care. Most folkswith the disease can transmit it to others by sexual contact or other exposureof an uninfected persons blood to the blood or semen of the infected person. There is also a condition referred to as ARC (Aids Related Complex). In this situation, one is infected with the AIDS virus and ones immunesystem iscompromised, but not so much so that one gets the (ultimately lethal) cancers orpneumonias of the AIDS disease. One tends to be plagued by frequent colds,enlarged lymph nodes, and the like. This condition can go on for years.One islikely to be able to infect others if one has ARC Raisin in the Sun EssayNote that even if you dont care what happens to I.V. drug abusers, the increasein the number of folks carrying the virus ultimately endangers ALL livingpersons. Thus, the issue is NOT what you morally think of I.V. drug addicts, butone of what is the most rational way to slow the spread of AIDS in allpopulations. Testing of donated blood for AIDS has massivly reduced the chanceof catching AIDS from blood transfusions. But a very small risk still remains. To further reduce that risk, efforts have been made to use autotransfusionsin cases of elective surgery (surgery that can be planned months inadvance). Autotransfusion involves the patient storing their own blood a coupleof weeks prior to their own surgery, to be used during the surgery if needed. Similary, setting up donations of blood from friends and family known to beantibody negative and at low risk for AIDS prior to schedualed surgery furthercan decrease the already small risks from transfusion. AIDS and SEX: What arethe rational options? The sexual revolution of the 1960s has beenstopped dead in its tracks by the AIDS epidemic. The danger of contracting AIDSis so real now that it has massively affected the behavior of both gay andstraight folks who formerly had elected to lead an active sexual life thatincluded numerous new sexual contacts. Abstinence The safest option regardingAIDS and sex is total abstinence from all sexual contact. For those who preferto indulge in sexual contact, this is often far too great a sacrifice. But it ISan option to be considered. Monogamy For those who would have sexual activity,the safest approach in this age of AIDS is monogamous sex. Specifically, bothparties in a couple must commit themselves to not having sex with anyone else. At that time they should take AIDS antibody tests. If the tests are negative forboth, they must practice safe sex until both members of the couple have beengreater than six months since sexual contact with anyone else. At that time theAIDS blood test is repeated. If both tests remain negative six months afterones last sexual contact with any other party, current feeling is that it isnow safe to have unprotected sex. Note that this approach isrecommended especially for those who wish to have children, to prevent thechance of having a child be born infected with AIDS, getting it from an infectedmother. Note also that this approach can be used by groups of three or morepeople, but it must be adhered to VERY strictly. What to AVOID: Unscrupulousfolks have begun to sell the idea that one should pay to take an AIDS antibodytest, then carry an ID card that certifies one as AIDS antibody negative, as aticket to being acceptable in a singles bar. This is criminal greed andstupidity. First, on e can turn antibody positive at any time. Even WEEKLYtesting will not pick this change up soon enough to prevent folks certified asnegative from turning positive between tests. Much worse, such cardsare either directly or implicitly promoted as a SUBSTITUTE for safesex practices. This can only hasten the spread of the disease. If you wantto learn your antibody status, be sure to do so ANONYMOUSLY. Do NOT get the testdone by any agency that requires your real name, address, or any otheridentifying information. Fortunately, in San Francisco, there is a public placeto get AIDS antibody testing where you may identify yourself only as a number. Tho that place has a three month long waiting list for testing, there are otherprivate clinics where one may have the test done for cash, and may leave anyfalse name one wishes. The reason I suggest this is that currently there aresome very inappropriate reactions by government and business to folks known tobe antibody positive. Protect yourself from such potential persection bypreventing your antibody status from being a matter of record. That informationis for you, your lover(s), and (if need be) your physician. And for NO one elseIn Conclusion: It is my own strongly held view, and that of the medical andresearch community world wide, that the AIDS epidemic is a serious problem, withthe potential to become the worst plague this species has ever known. This isSERIOUS business. VASTLY greater sums should be spent on searching fortreatments and vaccines. On the other hand, we feel strongly that this ismerely a disease, not an act by a supernatural power. And while itdoes not seem like ly we will find either a cure or a vaccine in the forseeablefuture, it may be that truly effective treatments that can indefinitely prolongthe life of AIDS victims may be found in the next few years. When science andtechnology do finally fully conquer AIDS, we can go back to deciding what sortand how much sex to have with who ever we choose on the basis of our ownpersonal choice, and not by the coercion of a speck of proteins and RNA. Maythat time come soon. In the mean time, we must all do what we can to slow thespread of this killer. This article is intended to help accomplish that. Pleasecirculate it as widely as possible.