Today's blog post is a quite serious one so if you want more light hearted posts then search my blog as you can probably scroll for a few seconds and find a light hearted one.
NB: National HIV Testing Week starts tomorrow (21st November 2015)
NB: National HIV Testing Week starts tomorrow (21st November 2015)
Due to the news this week about Charlie Sheen, I thought it would be best if I do a blog post about HIV. I shall be sharing this again at the end of the post but if you want to know more about getting help with anything HIV related or if you want to know more about the preventions etc then check out It Starts With Me who are an amazing charity who deal with HIV and can put it into better words then I could ever do. It's also HIV Testing Week so I thought I would also write and publish this post just to ensure that people get tested if they need to.
HIV - Human Inmmunodeficiency Virus. If HIV is left untreated then it can lead to AIDS but HIV and AIDS aren't the same thing and I feel that a lot of people get the two mixed up. The human body can't get rid of HIV which means once you have it, you have it for life. This sadly also means that there is no cure for HIV but there is scientists in the world trying to create/find a cure.
HIV affects certain cells within the immune system which are called T Cells and if left left untreated, it affects so many of these cells that the human body can't fight off diseases or infections. As there is no cure, it can make people's lives absolutely difficult but there is medication for HIV which means that it can be controlled and won't defeat as many of the cells from what I know. This treatment is known as ART (I'm trying to keep the complicated words to a necessary) which is basically just a combination of HIV medicine. If the person gets tested and gets treated with ART before it's too bad then they can live a near to normal life span.
The ways to avoid getting HIV are very varied but they basically are that you don't get any bodily fluids of anyone that is infected with HIV into your blood stream. This means blood, semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk and any other bodily fluids and I have said above if you think that you have HIV then get tested as soon as possible.
Charlie Sheen announced via TV that he has HIV and I think that this may open our eyes and remove a good chunk of stigma behind HIV. Celebrities having the virus should also encourage us to educate us a bit more and thats what I hope this blog post has done and hopefully we will all be able to discuss it and know what we are on about and who to go for help if anyone needs help.
I know that this blog post has been a bit all over the place but I hope that you have learnt something and I hope that you support Charlie and anyone that you know through their time of need. If you want to know how you can help then check out It Starts With Me. If yo click their name throughout the post then you shall be able to go directly to their site.
I hope that you've been interested in this blog post and I hope to see you next time for another blog post and I hope that you get tested throughout the National HIV Testing Week if you need to be tested. I hope that you enjoy your week and I hope to see you next time for another blog post.
Meow!
Jamie x
I know that this blog post has been a bit all over the place but I hope that you have learnt something and I hope that you support Charlie and anyone that you know through their time of need. If you want to know how you can help then check out It Starts With Me. If yo click their name throughout the post then you shall be able to go directly to their site.
I hope that you've been interested in this blog post and I hope to see you next time for another blog post and I hope that you get tested throughout the National HIV Testing Week if you need to be tested. I hope that you enjoy your week and I hope to see you next time for another blog post.
Meow!
Jamie x
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