How to Cope with an HIV-Positive Diagnosis
Learn how to cope with an HIV-Positive diagnosis in this Howcast video about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Expert: Jane Bogart, M.A.
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Learn how to recognize, treat, and prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) from health expert Jane Bogart, M.A. in these Howcast videos.
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Transcript
Having a diagnosis of HIV, can be life changing, and probably life altering for most people. It can be a very daunting diagnosis for somebody, and one of the key things to consider in having an HIV positive diagnosis, is that there are a tremendous number of treatments that are available for people who are HIV positive, and those treatments have been very very successful in preventing AIDS, and also having people live incredibly long, very productive lives. The most important thing if you have a diagnosis of HIV, is to seek medical treatment as soon as possible. Most likely, if you get that diagnosis, you will have had some sort of test that would tell you that you're HIV positive, and that medical provider will be able to either refer you to a doctor who specializes in HIV, or to a clinic that would be able to talk to you about HIV treatment, and that based on your viral load - which is the amount of HIV that is in your system -, your T-cell count - which is a cell count of your immune system that tells you how damaged the immune system is -, and/or other symptoms that you may have, or other co-concurring illnesses that you might have. They'll decide for you, what the best course of treatment is. The key thing for really staying healthy, with a HIV positive diagnosis, is to get treatment early, to consult with your doctor about the best treatment, to stay rested, to eat well, to exercise, and to really do all the things that we recommend that most people do to stay healthy.
