AIDS and Alcohol
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services(1992), there are two reasons to investigate connections between alcohol,HIV infection, and AIDS: alcohol may have a negative effect on the immunesystem, and alcohol may trigger high-risk sexual behavior.Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the cause of acquiredimmunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV can be transmitted through sexualrelations with an infected individual, through exchange of infected bloodor blood products, or to a newborn from an HIV-positive mother.HIV-infected persons may have the virus for many years before clinicalsigns of disease appear. Eventually, HIV breaks down the body's immunesystem, mainly by damaging a class of white blood cells that areAs a result, people who have AIDS are in danger of developing lunginfections, brain abscesses, and a many other infections caused bymicroorganisms that usually do not produce disease in healthy people.People who have AIDS also are prone to cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma, askin cancer rarely seen in non-HIV-infected populations. The diagnosis ofAIDS depends in part on the presence of one or many of these infections and
Currently, approximately 8 to 10 million people worldwide are infected withHIV. Theprognosis for persons with AIDS is nota positive one: AIDS-associatedmortality may approach 85 percent within 5 years of diagnosis. Decreasing alcohol use in people who have HIV orwho are at risk for becoming infected has been shown to reduce the spreadof HIV and the diseases it causes. While research is inconclusiveand cannot definitely link alcohol and AIDS, research raises seriousconcerns. Heavy alcohol consumption is alsoassociated with high-risk sexual practices. It is important to be aware that alcohol may increase the risk of AIDS. Although alcohol is not a means of transmission for HIV, it seems to playan indirect role by altering the sexual behavior of those under itsinfluence. In addition, studies show that people with HIVare more likely to abuse alcohol at some time during their lives(About. HIV concerns have increased as recent trends suggest a resurgence of theepidemic among homosexual men, as well as large increases in the proportionof cases transmitted through heterosexual relationships (About. There is a definite link between AIDS and alcohol because those who abusealcohol are more likely to engage in behaviors that place them at higherrisk for contracting HIV (About. At least 40,000new HIV infections are believed to occur among adults and adolescents, andan estimated 1,500 to 2,000 new HIV infections are thought to occur amongnewborns every year. In conclusion, researchers are constantly finding and testing appropriateinterventions for the behavioral, social, and biomedical problemsencountered by individuals with AIDS and alcohol problems. However, expectations about alcohol's effects may have a greater influenceon alcohol-involved sexual behavior.
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