Yağ alma - liposuction işlemi düşünüyorsanız…

Yağ alma ya da sık kullanılan adıyla “liposuction” karın, basen, kalça, uyluk, diz, kol, çenealtı, yanaklar ve boyun gibi özel bölgelerdeki istenmeyen yağların alınarak vücüdun daha düzgün bir şekil almasını sağlayan bir işlemdir. Özellikle son 10 yıl içinde liposuction işleminde önemli teknik gelişmeler sağlanmıştır. Günümüzde ultrason aracılı liposuction (UAL), tümesan tekniği ve süper-ıslak teknik gibi yeni teknikler sayesinde plastik cerrahların iyi seçilmiş hastalarda çok daha iyi sonuçlar almaları ve hastaların daha çabuk iyileşmeleri mümkün olmuştur. Liposuction’nın herhangi bir şekli diyet ve egzersizin yerini tutmamasa da, geleneksel kilo verme yöntemlerine cevap vermeyen inatçı yağ alanlarının ortadan kaldırılmasında oldukça etkili ve yüz güldürücü bir yöntemdir.

Liposuction-yağ alma ameliyatı düşünüyorsanız, bu bölüm işlem hakkında size kabaca bilgi verecek ve sonuç hakkındaki beklentilerinizi değerlendirmenizi sağlayacaktır. Unutulmamalıdır ki, kişiden kişiye özellikler değişiklik göstereceğinden ve her ameliyat kişiye göre planlandığından bu bölüm doğal olarak tüm sorularınızı cevaplayamayacaktır. İşlem hakkında anlayamadığınız ya da merak ettiğiniz konuda plastik cerrahınıza her türlü soruyu sormaktan çekinmeyiniz!.

Yağ alma - liposuction ameliyatı için en uygun adaylar…

Bu ameliyat için uygun aday olmanız için işlemin size neler verebileceği konusunda gerçekci beklentileriniz olmalıdır. Unutulmamalıdır ki operasyonu görünümünüzü düzeltip kendinize olan güveninizi arttırabilir ancak idealinizdeki görüntüye değişmenize ya da insanlarin size yaklaşımında farklılık göstermelerine yeterli olmayabilir! Ameliyata karar vermeden önce beklentilerinizi iyi belirleyip bunları plastik cerrahınızla tartışmanız önerilir.

Liposuction işlemi için en uygun adaylar vücudunun kimi bölgelerinde fazlalık yağ cepleri olan ancak normal kiloda ve sert-elastik deriye sahip olan kişilerdir. Fiziksel olarak sağlıklı, psikolojik olarak stabil ve beklentilerinizde gerçekci olmanız gerekmektedir. Yaşınız ilk planda çok önemli olmasa da, yaşlı hastalarda deri elastikliğini kaybetmiş olabileceğinden sıkı deriye sahip olan genç bireylerle aynı sonucun elde edilmesi zor olmaktadır.

Liposuction işlemi şeker hastalığı, ciddi kalp yada akciğer sorunu ve dolaşım problemi olan bireylerde ya da işlem uygulanacak alana yakın alanda yakın bir geçmişte operasyon uygulanan bireyler için risk taşır.

Ameliyatınızın Planlanması…

Plastik cerrahınız ilk görüşmenizde genel sağlık durumunuzu, yağ birikimlerinin dağılım şeklini ve derinizin durumunu değerlendirecektir. Plastik cerrahınız vücut kontur düzeltme işlemlerinden size en uygun olanı belirleyip bunu sizinle tartışacaktır. Örneğin karın bölgenize liposuction yaptırmayı düşünürken karın germe/abdominoplasty operasyonunun daha iyi sonuç verebileceğini ya da geleneksel liposuction yöntemiyle UAL yönteminin kombinasyonun daha iyi sonuç verebileceğini bo görüşmede öğrenebilirsiniz.
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The Wavefront technology in LASIK eye surgery has been touted as the greatest advancement in LASIK eye surgery for the past year or two. But a new innovation has revolutionized the field of LASIK eye surgery which promises to be bigger and better than the Wavefront innovation. This is iris registration.

Before we go into the details of what iris registration is let us first understand how a LASIK surgery is performed.

It takes about five to ten minutes to complete the operation. First a mild anesthetic will be administered. Also eye drops are used to numb the eye and avoid pain during the operation. Though the operation is pain free there have been patients who have complained of discomfort. Once the eye is numb, a little device known as the microkeratome is attached to a suction ring placed on the eye. The microkeratome has a blade which cuts a thin flap on the surface of the cornea. The doctor will next fold back the flap and expose the stroma which is basically a layer of tissue. The stroma is searched for debris and is then dried. Now the surgeon will ask you to focus on a fixed spot while he, with the aid of laser mends the corneal tissue according to results of pre-operation examination. Once through, the flap is put back to position and an eye patch is provided to allow it to heal.

Today the microkeratome has been replaced by Intralase where instead of the metal blade cutting the flap, the job is performed by a computer guided laser.

So what is iris registration? Previously, lasers followed the patient’s eye moving up, down, left or right. Therefore as long as you move your eye left or right or up or down the laser beam can track the movement of the eye fine. However, there are other ways in which you can move your eye. For example, you can you’re your eye closer to the laser or away from it. Iris registration can track such movements and relay them to the laser so that the operation becomes more accurate. So is the case with you eye rotating. You can rotate you eye clockwise or anti-clockwise, which previous lasers wouldn’t have tracked. But Iris registration doesn’t fail here too. This is truly a remarkable progress in the field of LASIK eye surgery.

Nearsightedness

Nearsightedness occurs when the eye is too long and light rays focus in front of the retina, instead of focusing on the retina. Some of the symptoms of nearsightedness are blurred distant vision, eyestrain, and squinting, along with having a difficult time seeing at night.

Although nearsightedness can be easily fixed with glasses or contact lenses (when not too severe), many people don’t like to hassle with either one. With this new lasik procedure, folks will now be able to have pure vision.

Any surgery has its own sets of risks and complications. So it is advisable that before going into a surgery a patient should have a clear and complete knowledge of what the operation involves. It is generally the surgeon who explains beforehand what the patient might expect prior to and after the operation. Even the process of operation is at times explained, albeit in a lucid and easy to understand manner. It should be no else with this surgery also.Why would one go for LASIK surgery? Primarily because it is generally accepted these days that that surgery comes with the promise of improving one’s vision permanently so that the need for glasses or contact lenses is no longer there. So you are no longer dependent on them. In a way, you discover new liberty and freedom.So whom do you go to for a LASIK surgery? To the optometrist, of course. The first thing he will do is to conduct a number of tests on you to see if you are the right candidate for this surgery. Basically this eye surgery is used to cure three main types of eye conditions myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Myopia, also know as nearsightedness is the problem of not being able to see what is far away without glasses. Hyperopia, also known as farsightedness, is the other way round. Astigmatism is something different where the patient has irregularities in his cornea which as a result distorts the image formed on the retina of the eye.What will the optometrist be looking for? There are a few basic things that any optometrist will look for before a eye surgery. That would primarily include your eye health history. In case of a particular few diseases the chances of you undergoing a this surgery will significantly decrease. These would include glaucoma, herpes, eye injuries or thin corneas. Any of these conditions can disqualify you as a suitable candidate for eye surgery. Another important criterion is whether there has been an alteration in your eyewear prescription over the last year. Before this operation your eyes should be steady. If they are not then the optometrist might just postpone the surgery for a few months until he is satisfied that your eyes are ready to undergo that surgery.These are some of the basic things that you need to know as part of your pre-surgery preparation. Of course once you are considered suitable for the operation the doctor will brief you about the surgery itself and post operative care.

Opting for the right LASIK surgery to correct your vision today is not the same as it was a decade ago. This is comparatively a recent medical breakthrough. It was only in 1994 that the first eye surgery was performed. Back then surgeons didn’t have much option on how to go about the entire procedure. All they had was a microkeratome, a small mechanical blade which helped to create a flap on the cornea. Once the flap was created, conventional excimer laser was used for reshaping the tissue underneath. That would allow the cornea to focus light directly on the retina exactly as it happens in a normal eye. This is all the option that an optometrist had about a decade ago. Since the this surgery has gone through a sea change and amazing advancements have been made in the technology that is being used. Lasers have become much smoother and precise which has allowed patients to have better vision than they could have ever imagined before. One of the newest addition to this opertation technology is the machine called Intralase. This machine makes the metal blade redundant during a operation. Here flap creation is also done with the help of laser. So with the help of Intralase one can actually complete the entire surgery only using lasers. This makes the operation an all-laser surgery .The greatest USP of Intralase is that it significantly reduces the risks of flap complications. When one is using the microkeratome to create the flap on the cornea there are risks of complications. These would include a flap being cut too thin, that the flap can tear, or may be it will not cut completely. Once you start using Intralase, such possibilities are almost done away with. As the level of accuracy increases with the use of Intralase, the cases of re-operation also drop. That way it is a much safer option compared to microkeratome. But it must be understood that Intralase is not completely risk free. Flap related wrinkles and other similar problems are still a possibility eve with Intralase around. But it is also true that Intralase will bring down the actual cases of complications. There are detractors to Intralase whose man line of argument would be that it is too new a method to jump to conclusions and that there is no substantial evidence that prior risks are negated. Also Intralase increases the length of an operation thereby increasing the opportunity for other complications to be introduced.

Although popularly we know it as lasik eye surgery it is also known as refractive this surgery or vision repair surgery. The last name describes the surgery best as it actually repairs one’s vision. What does is that it reshapes your cornea thereby allowing you to have normal vision without any external aid like glasses or contact lens. And recently there has been a lot of advancement in the field of this operation.They has been embraced by many a patient over the last decade to correct some specific eye defects. It has caught the imagination of people and has been gaining popularity every year. But this surgery does have its own effects and it varies from one patient to another. So before you actually decide on getting an operation done, you should always consider the pros and the cons.Basically this is used to cure three main types of eye conditions - myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Myopia, also know as nearsightedness is the problem of not being able to see what is far away without glasses. Hyperopia, also known as farsightedness, is the other way round. Astigmatism is something different where the patient has irregularities in his cornea which as a result distorts the image formed on the retina of the eye. After this surgery the need for glasses or contact lens will either be negated, or your dependency on them will be significantly reduced.But eye operation comes with its own set of risks and they should always be considered seriously before you actually sign-up for an operation. First of all, you will not be eligible for the operation if you are suffering from diabetes, glaucoma, cataracts, arthritis, and lupus. Even pregnant women are not eligible. With these conditions, undergoing surgery can cause permanent damage to your vision. Other problems that might be caused due to surgery are double vision, glare, and halo. One’s nighttime vision can also be affected, especially for certain operation procedures. Even permanent blurry vision and diminished contrast may be the effects of the surgery. We are not trying to imply that surgery is something that involves a lot of risks. All that we are saying is that you should properly educate yourself about the risks also so that you can take a considered decision.Some patients experience discomfort in the first 24-48 hours after surgery. Other side effects, although rare, may include:Glare, Seeing halos around images, Difficulty driving at night, Fluctuating vision, Dry eyes. The FDA has found no long-term side effects from laser eye surgery.Lasik surgery is too new to know if there are any long-term ill effects beyond five years after surgery.Before the surgery, your surgeon should explain to you the risks and possible complications, and potential side effects, including the pros and cons of having one or both eyes done on the same day. This is the “informed consent” process. If you experience aggravating or unusual side effects, report them to your doctor immediately.

There is no local treatment to cure piles. The treatment of the basic cause, namely, chronic constipation, is the only way to get rid of the trouble. To begin with, the whole digestive tract must be given a complete rest for a few days and the intestines throughly cleansed. For this purpose, the patient should adopt an all-fruit diet for at least five days. He should have three meals a day of fresh juicy fruits such as grapes, apple, pear, peach, orange, pineapple and melon. For drinks, unsweetened lemon water or plain water either hot or cold may be taken.

In long-standing and stubborn cases, it will be advisable to have a short fast for four or five days before adopting an all-fruit diet. When on short fast, the patient may have the juice of an orange in a glass of warm water. An enema with lukewarm water should be taken daily in the morning while fasting. This will cleanse the bowels and give much needed rest to the rectal tissues.

After the all-fruit diet, the patient may adopt a diet of natural foods aimed at securing soft stools. The diet should be low in fat and should not contain more than 50 grams of fat. Foods which contain less fat are skimmed milk, buttermilk, curd and cottage cheese made from skimmed milk; all vegetables except cabbage, onions, dried beans and peas; cooked and dried cereals, fruits and fruit juices.

The ideal diet for the patient with piles should consist of fruits like papaya, musk melon, apple and pear; green vegetables, particularly spinach and radish, wheat, porridge, whole meal cereals and milk. Lentils and daals should be avoided, as they constipate the bowels. The patient should also abstain from meat, fish, eggs, cheese, white sugar, sweets, rice, all fried foods, all white flour products, tea and coffee. Dry fruits, such as figs and raisins and coconuts should form part of the diet.

The most important food remedy for piles is dry figs. Three or four figs should be soaked overnight in water after cleaning them thoroughly in hot water. They should be taken first thing in the morning along with the water in which they were soaked. They should also be taken in the evening in similar manner. This treatment should be continued for three or four weeks. The tiny seeds of the fruit possess an excellent quality of stimulating peristaltic movements of intestines. This facilitates easy evacuation of faeces and keeps the alimentary canal clean. The pressure on the anus having thus been relieved, the hemorrhoids also get contracted.

The mango seeds are valuable in bleeding piles. The seeds should be collected during the mango season, dried in the shade and powdered and kept stored for use as medicine. This powder should be given in doses of about one and a half gram to two grams with or without honey twice daily.

The patient should drink at least eight to ten glasses of water a day. He should avoid straining to pass stool.

If you are in need of a home cure for hemorrhoids you are not alone. Thousands of people suffer from this problem, but do not want to go to the doctor for one reason or the next. If this sounds like you, the best thing to do is look into finding a home cure for hemorrhoids. The good thing about this is that over the years many people have come up with some home cures that work. Even though not every remedy will work for you, chances are that you may be able to find one that suits your needs.

Applying vitamin E directly to the hemorrhoids is a home remedy that people have been using for years. The way that you can do this is pretty easy. All you need to do is get a vitamin E capsule that is filled with liquid and break it in half. From there you can apply the liquid directly to the area. This will help your hemorrhoids heal quicker.

Another home cure for hemorrhoids that is easy to follow has to do with your diet. If you can keep your stool as soft as possible the chances of your hemorrhoids flaring up will decrease. To do this you should add fiber to your diet, or try to take supplements for this.

If you do not want to see a doctor about your hemorrhoids check out some home cures. This will allow you to get treatment for your problem without having to ever leave the comfort of your own home.

For some people, visiting the doctor is the easiest way to get rid of hemorrhoids. They can give them an idea as to what the problem is, and then tell them how to solve it. But if you are only suffering from a mild form of this, sometimes seeing the doctor is not as necessary as it may seem. In fact, there are many over the counter hemorrhoid treatments that you can rely on to help you out.

If you are searching for over the counter hemorrhoid treatments the best place to go is your local drug store or grocery store. By doing this you should be able to find at least a couple of treatments that can work for you. The most common over the counter hemorrhoid treatments consist of creams that you can apply to the area. These will help to soothe and heal your hemorrhoids.

In addition to creams, there are also hemorrhoid pads that you can buy. These are similar to creams, but the pads are pre-moistened with medicine. This allows you to easy apply to the problem area without too much mess or stress.

Choosing the over the counter hemorrhoid treatment option that is best for you can be difficult. If you are having a hard time making a decision, be sure that you do not do anything that is detrimental to your health. If you have any questions or concerns the best thing to do is hold off and speak with a doctor. But if you are comfortable moving forward, be sure to follow the directions on the packaging. This will point you in the right direction.

Many people overlook using herbs for hemorrhoids, but this has been proven effective time and time again. This best part about using herbs for hemorrhoids is that you usually never have to leave home in order to do this. So using these herbs is more or less a home remedy if you have the means necessary to find the herbs.

Listed below are a few herbs for hemorrhoids that are most common. Not all of them will work for you, but they are at least worth a try.

1. Birch sap is great for hemorrhoids because it works as an astringent as well as an antibacterial solution. It has been known to have great healing power on problem areas of the skin.

2. Calendula is excellent for skin care because of its cell rejuvenation and anti-inflammatory properties. By using calendula your hemorrhoids will heal faster and not become inflamed as much as you have come to expect.

3. Centella is known to increase circulation while also healing problem areas such as hemorrhoids. It is particularly useful on helping damaged areas of the skin and surrounding tissue.

4. Chickweed can help to soothe and heal hemorrhoids as well as many other skin conditions. In addition it also helps to prevent tissue degeneration.

Overall, herbs for hemorrhoids can be great treatment options. The four herbs listed above are great for this problem, and are worth a try if you are suffering. If you look around, you should be able to find an herb that works for you in no time.

If you are suffering from hemorrhoids chances are that you are not eating right. Of course, this is not always the case but it is at least worth looking into. For some people a simple diet change is all that they need in order to get their hemorrhoids corrected, and their life back to normal.

When searching for a hemorrhoid diet you may want to consult with your doctor. This is not a necessity by any means, but they may be able to give you a better idea of what would work best for you.

To start, you will want to eat plenty of food that is high in fiber. Things such as green vegetables, apples, and whole grains are a great place to start; not to mention the fact that they taste great as well. The bottom line is that fiber is the best way to fight constipation that can lead to hemorrhoids.

In addition to what you eat, make sure that you also take the time to drink properly as well. Anything that is clear, such as water, will do your body good. Also remember to stay away from drinks with caffeine such as cola or coffee.

By going on a diet that is specifically tailored to fight hemorrhoids will allow you to stay pain free without much trouble at all. Many people feel that this is hard to do, but the fact of the matter is that you do not have to go crazy. Simply add some fiber to your diet and cut out the caffeine and you will be fine.

There are four different grades of hemorrhoids that you can get. This is nothing more than a classification system set up by doctors so that they can properly diagnose which stage your hemorrhoids are in. This in turn allows them to make a proper decision on which treatment method is best for your situation.

First degree hemorrhoids are often classified as bleeding hemorrhoids. If you notice blood during bowel movements chances are that you may be suffering from this stage of hemorrhoids.

Second degree hemorrhoids are ones that may or may not bleed. In addition, they also protrude from the anal canal, but will not stay inflamed and will disappear on their own.

Third degree hemorrhoids are similar to second degree, but they will not disappear on their own. They need to be manually pushed back into the anal canal by a doctor.

Fourth degree hemorrhoids are ones that protrude from the anal canal and will not disappear on their own. In addition, they cannot be pushed back in manually either. In this case the doctor must come up with the best treatment option which is sometimes surgery.

It is possible to take a guess at what degree of hemorrhoids you are suffering from. But when push comes to shove you are going to need to visit a doctor to find out exactly what is going on. They will be able to run tests that show what degree hemorrhoids you are suffering from, and from there they will be able to put together a treatment plan for you.

A lot of people don’t even know they have hemorrhoids. The rectum is not an area you can readily see. Some times you don’t know you have hemorrhoids until you see blood in the toilet water after a bowel movement, when you start to have pain or discomfort in the rectum, or when you feel extra tissue around the rectum.

So how do you develop hemorrhoids? For sure, constipation is not the only way you can get hemorrhoids. Here are some additional ways:

Alcoholism or drinking to many alcoholic drinks

Being pregnant and not eating enough fiber

Doing daily heavy lifting and holding your breath while you do it

Eating excessive processed foods, which are low in fiber and move slowly through your colon.

General body weakness, which will affect the colon function

Having a predisposition to constipation or inheriting a weakness in the colon and rectum area * Holding fecal matter too long in the rectum causing pressure to buildup in the rectum veins - postponing a bowel movement

Having a weak liver, which reduces the amount of bile released into the intestines. Bile helps to active peristaltic action.

Having inflammation in the rectum that causes you to have constipation

Irregular eating patterns

Lack of protein leading to weak tissues and slow healing of wounds

Not eating foods that keeps you constipation free such as fiber, vegetables, essential fatty acids, protein, water.

Not getting the right vitamins and minerals in your food.

Being overweight

Poor muscle tone in the anal area from lack of exercise

Pressure on rectum veins from cysts or tumor in the colon

Sitting in a chair at home, at work, in a car, or in a truck for long periods

Using laxatives to the point where your colon no longer works properly and you end up with constipation
As you can see there are many reasons that you can develop hemorrhoids. And most of them relate to the function of your colon. If you want hemorrhoid relief look at the list and see which condition or situation relates to you and try to make changes in these conditions. In addition to changes add new foods that will help your colon to work better.

There are a number of over the counter hemorrhoids treatment products available and proper advice from a doctor or pharmacist must be taken, when choosing which one is the most appropriate.

Before applying medication, the anal area needs to be gently washed by dabbing, (avoid wiping) with a moistened cleansing tissue. It’s advisable not to use colored or scented tissue.

Any of the over the counter hemorrhoids treatment which contains a vasoconstrictor must be avoided if you have any of the following conditions; hypertension, urinary difficulties, cardiovascular disease, diabetes or if you’ve been prescribed medication for depression. A vasoconstrictor may be in the form of phenylephrine HCI, ephedrine or epinephrine. Some people may be allergic or hypersensitive to products including local anesthetics. The ingredients may cause pain, irritation, swelling or redness. If this occurs, patients need to consult their doctor, or if protrusion, seeping or bleeding occurs.

Some products can be inserted intrarectally for the treatment of internal hemorrhoids, and some products can only be used externally. Astringents, vasoconstrictors and protectants are allowable for internal hemorrhoids.

Over the counter hemorrhoids treatment can be roughly divided into the following, and their major benefits being; astringents which decrease inflammation, give relief from burning and itching but not pain, protectants which decrease inflammation, vasoconstrictors which help to reduce irritation and itchiness, local anesthetics which help with pain, itching and burning, keratolytics which reduces itchiness and discomfort, antipruritics which act as counter irritants and hydrocortisone which helps with itching and swelling.

If you are unfortunate enough to be a sufferer, over the counter hemorrhoids treatment can at least bring relief fairly quickly, and lead to eliminating the problem.

There are many drugstore and alternative Internet products for treating hemorrhoids. Most of the products are not made to cure or eliminate hemorrhoids but to give you temporary relief of itching, pain, swelling or bleeding. I don’t recommend using any type of product that is not natural or that comes from a drugstore.

If the product contains petrochemicals, additives, coloring, dyes, or other chemicals, which enhance its appearance and feel, I would not use them. Most, if not all, of these chemicals will be absorbed into your body where your organs of elimination will have to deal with eliminating them.

All products whether drugs, drugstore medications, or natural formulations use chemicals, substances, oils, and herbs that have the following properties:

Anesthetics – suppresses pain and gives relief…any name with the suffix “caine” like tetracaine

Analgesics – suppresses and give pain relief – some of them are Anacin, Tylenol with Codeine, OxyContin, Darvocet, Ultracet

Vasoconstrictors – helps to narrow or constrict hemorrhoidal veins…any name with the suffix “rine” like phenylephrine

Lubricants – provide lubrication in the colon to relieve constipation – mineral oil, flax seed oil, castor, oil olive oil

Astringents – help to tighten tissue, which have been pushed out by hemorrhoid action – zinc oxide, witch hazel, calamine

Keratolytics – help to remove excess hemorrhoidal tissue. They are compounds of sulfur and salicylic acid
Many of the drugstore medications have anesthetics. They can aggravate and irritate the hemorrhoids you’re trying to eliminate. If you are using one of these drugstore medications, consider using a more natural remedy.

In 1975 Carl I. Flath, wrote a book called The Miracle Nutrient – How Dietary Fiber Can Save Your Life. In his book he talks about the effectiveness of drugstore suppositories,

“Suppositories quickly work their way up in the rectum beyond the location of most internal hemorrhoids, and so are of limited value in reducing local pain. As antiseptics they are essentially worthless, since the surface areas they are supposed to protect are under constant exposure to new bacteria….

Anesthetic agents do offer temporary relief from local irritations and pain… Neither the suppositories nor the ointments, however, do anything whatever to correct the basic cause of hemorrhoids—constipation.”

AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome it causes a destruction of the immune system. It is the most advanced stage of the HIV virus (HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus). AIDS is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the presence of a positive HIV antibody test and one or more of the illnesses known as opportunistic infections.

The HIV virus, type 1 or 2 is widely known to be the cause of AIDS. HIV breaks down and attacks your T cells so your body is unable to defend itself against different infections. The HIV virus also attacks your peripheral nervous system, this causes nerve and muscle pain, especially in the feet, legs, and hands.

HIV is spread through direct contact with semen or blood of an individual that is infected. This can be transferred in many ways the most common is unprotected sexual intercourse. Other means of infection are infected blood transfusions, mother to infant (at time of birth, or through breast milk), sharing needles with an infected person, and rarely a healthcare worker that gets pricked with an infected needle.

Often people who are infected with HIV have few symptoms and in some cases there are none. Other times, symptoms of HIV are confused with other illnesses such as the flu. This may be severe, with swollen glands in the neck and armpits, tiredness, fever and night sweats. This is where as much as 9 out of 10 of the infected individuals will develop AIDS. At this point the person may feel completely healthy and not even know that he/she has the virus. The next stage begins when the immune system starts to break down and the virus becomes more aggressive in damaging white cells. Several glands in the neck and armpits may swell and stay swollen for an extended period of time without any explanation. As this disease progresses boils or warts may spread over the body. They may also feel tremendously tired, night sweats, high fevers, chronic diarrhea, and they may lose a considerable amount of their body weight. Most cases have shown thrush as a symptom as well. At this point the person is in the final stages of HIV–AIDS. Severe chest infections with high fever are common and survival rate is above 70% but decrease with each recurrence.

A person is diagnosed with AIDS when he/she has one or more positive HIV screening and the presence of an AIDS defining condition. Some of the common conditions include but are not limited to: Meningitis, Encephalitis, Dementia, Pneumonia, Kaposi sarcoma, and Lymphoma. There is also a blood test called an Immune Profile that can be done. This test is used to measure the loss of immunity and help decide on the best treatment. There is a test that is rarely used due to its high cost, it is known as a Viral Load: This test detects the virus itself, and also measures the amount of HIV in the blood. It shows how quickly the HIV infection is likely to advance. A high viral load suggests that the person may progress rapidly to AIDS.

Although there is no cure for AIDS there are medical treatments that aide in prolonging, and maintaining the best quality of life possible. These include two nucleoside inhibitors, lamivudine and zidovudine. Actual treatment plans will vary with each patient, along with the physical aspect of this disease. The psychological side has to be addressed in order for a treatment plan to be effective.

The easiest way to escape contracting this disease is to avoid the risk factors that you are in control of. Such as: unprotected sex, not sharing a needle, and if you are in the healthcare field be sure to use all precautions necessary to avoid an accidental prick from a possible infected needle (remember that in this diseases early stages it is common for the person not to even know they are infected). Today AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death among all adults aged 25 to 44 in the United States. Among African-Americans in the 25 to 44 age group, AIDS is the leading cause of death for men and the second leading cause of death for women. Our society needs to become aware that by not protecting ourselves we are killing ourselves and that this has to stop.