Question
Should I start treament now?
25 June 2008. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Newly diagnosed, Starting treatment, Supplements and herbs.
I am a 23 year old male who was diagnosed 4 months back with a CD4 count of 516 and an unknown viral load. My doctor said it was not necessary to measure viral load at the time of my diagnosis as my CD4 was relatively promising. I suspect though that i have been living with the virus for about a year. My doctor recommends that I should exercise, eat well and take supplements to boost my CD4 count and immune system. He says it is too early to strat treatment. I look and feel healthy and strong. Yet life is still very unpredictable. I still have many things to achieve and a lot to live for. I am wondering, Is this the right foundation or should I start treatment now? I want to live as long as possible. I need the best advice and do not care how much treatment costs.
Answer
Thank you for your questions. I am sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis and understand your anxiety. On the whole, you are getting good advice from your doctor. Your CD4 is good and it is the most important and accurate test when you are not on treatment.
In the UK (with the new HIV guidelines) the recommendation is to start treatment when your CD4 count is 350. This is up from the old guidelines which used to recommend initiation of treatment at 200. HIV treatment is for life and if you are still well and do not need it, it is best to wait.
A viral load test measures the amount of virus in your body and predicts the future course of HIV. Viral load tests are reported as the number of HIV copies in a milliliter of blood (copies/mL).
If the viral load measurement is high, it indicates that HIV is reproducing and that the disease will likely progress faster than if the viral load is low. A high viral load is usually defined as being over 100,000 copies.
A viral load test is the most important test when you are on treatment because achieving undetectable levels (less than 50 copies/mL) is the marker to whether treatment is working.
This answer previously given to a similar question might help give you more information on whether the viral load test is necessary.
We all hope that this will happen fairly soon. I am afraid that nobody can predict the exact time, but there is much resource invested in medical research and hopefully everything will be fine soon.
When will the scientists find the coplete medicine against AIDS?