Etiology of HIV-Associated Dementia :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Etiology of human immunodeficiency virus-Associated Dementia The aetiologic agents of the neurologic disease associated with HIV and help argon many. Opportunistic infections- cryptococcus, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, are a few of the organic causes of neurologic disease in AIDS patients, but will not be the main focus of this paper. The gentlemans gentleman immunodeficiency virus in itself is implicated in much of the neurological manifestations of the disease, and it is the numbers of the presence of the virus within the important nervous system which is of touch to me in this paper. With the advent of more effective highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and thence increased life span of people with AIDS, neurological disorders are enough a hot topic in AIDS research. In the earlier days of the epidemic, those infect with the virus could only hope to live for a short time before developing the symptoms of full blown AIDS, and stopping point ensued shortly aft erwards. The progress made in treatment in the olden two decades has prolonged the lives of people with AIDS, to the point where diagnosis is no daylong a sign of imminent debilitation and death, but rather an realisation of a possible long road ahead with the aid of medicine cocktails. There is also a strong possibility that the HIV infected person whitethorn develop HIV associated dementia after long time of living with the disease (1). HIV associated dementia (HAD) is comprised of a spectrum of conditions from the mild HIV-1 push back cognitive- take disorder to severe and debilitating AIDS dementia complex. Symptoms begin with motor slowing (2), and may progress to severe outrage of cognitive function, loss of bladder and bowel control, and paraparesis . A classification system has been formulated for HIV associated dementia Stage 0 Normal Stage 0.5 Subclinical or Equivocal Minimal or equivocal symptoms. Mild (soft) neurological signs. No impairment of work or activities of daily living (ADL). Stage 1 Mild Unequivocal intellectual or motor impairment. Able to do all but the most demanding work or ADL. Stage 2 Moderate Cannot work or perform demanding ADL. Capable of self-care. Ambulatory, but may need a single prop. Stage 3 Severe study intellectual disability, or Cannot walk unassisted. Stage 4 End-Stage Nearly vegetative. 3. distemper may result from the direct presence of the virus in the central nervous system, toxins released from the virus, the bodys immunological responses, or any number of other factors. Studies pee found that non physiological levels of cytokines in the brain may have an effect of enhancing replication of HIV 3.