Antiretroviral Therapy

Antiretroviral therapy is basically meant for those diseases, which are caused by retroviruses. HIV tops this list. Every HIV and AIDS patients are given antiretroviral therapy and drugs. These drugs do not completely cure the person from HIV and AIDS. All they do is, retain the immunity system or keep up the CD4 count, so that the body can fight the disease for as much time as possible.

However, there are various classes of antiretroviral therapy and drugs:

• Protease inhibitor: It offers hindrance in the activities of the protease, a harmful substance used by the HIV.
• Integrase inhibitor: Integrase is an enzyme that helps the viral DNA to blend with the DNA of the infected cells.
• Maturation inhibitor: It inhibits the conversion of polyprotein into capsid protein
• Entry inhibitor: It helps in the integration of the HIV with the host cells
• Nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI): It stops the reverse transcription by merging with the harmful DNA
• Non nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI): Inhibits the harmful functions of the newly synthesized DNA
• AVHALTs (AntiViral HyperActivation Limiting Therapeutics or 'virostatics'): Makes the immune system better in context to HIV

HIV Antiretroviral Therapy:

This therapy is normally not given in clusters. A group of several classes of antiretroviral drugs are put together in one pill. These drugs are often combined with Synergistic enhancers. These are catalyst like components that help in enhancing the effect of the drugs. Some common Synergistic enhancers are ritonavir and atazanavir, belonging to the class of protease inhibitor. Nowadays, most of the antiretroviral therapies are given in combination.

There are many benefits of combination therapy:

1. It resist and inhibits the HIV replication to the maximum extend
2. It reduces the chances of superior mutation
3. Gives a more lasting effect

However, the combination of the antiretroviral drugs must be blended carefully. Combining wrong drugs can be useless. Many of their components inhibit the functioning of the other one. Therefore, only those drugs are mixed that are supported by each other. For e.g., didanosine and AZT oppose the functioning of each other. Therefore, they are recommended to take separately, than in combination. The effect of these drugs also varies from person to person.

All body types cannot absorb every type of antiretroviral drugs. It depends on several factors like weather of the region, colour of the patient, body temperature of the person and personal anatomy. If the correct drug is not given to a person, it may lead to several side effects, like pain in the tummy, Anemia, Diarrhea, Dizziness, Asthenia, Nausea, Headache, Hepatitis, nightmare, oral ulcer, rash, Renal failure, Neutropenia, Myopathy, Myalgia, Mood swing, drowsiness, loss of appetite, loss of sleep, vomiting, Xeroderma( dry skin), Xerostomania (dry mouth), Neutropenia (decrease in the number of white blood cells), numbness, loss of taste, pancreatitis, liver failure, Jaundice, ingrown nails, Hyperpigmentation of nails, soles and palms, mental confusion, forgetfulness, Migraines, Chronic fatigue syndrome etc.

However, despite all the side effects that it induces, the fact remains that antiretroviral therapy is the only dependable and affordable solution of HIV. It may not cure HIV completely, but definitely give a longer life to the patients. So far, only 4 million of the 33.4 million HIV patients have access to antiretroviral drug. These 4 million people have been benefited from it. However, many more are still deprived of antiretroviral therapy. The WHO is trying to make it accessible to as many HIV positive patients as possible.