There are many treatments now that can help people with HIV, and these treatments are much better than in earlier times. As a result, most people with HIV are living long and healthy lives.

Currently, medicines can slow the growth of the virus or stop it from making copies of itself. Although these drugs don't eliminate the virus from the body, they keep the amount of virus in the blood low. The amount of virus in the blood is called the viral load, and it can be measured by a test.

There are several types of anti-HIV drugs. Each type attacks the virus in its own way. It's similar to the way the military plans an attack using the different strengths of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.

How are the drugs taken?

Most people who are getting treated for HIV take 3 or more drugs. This is called combination therapy or "the cocktail." (It also has a longer name: Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) or Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART.) Combination therapy is the most effective treatment for HIV.

People who are HIV positive need to work closely with their clinicians to decide when to start treatment and which drugs to take. 

Is it hard to take these drugs?

HIV medicines have become much easier to take in recent years. Some newer drug combinations package 3 separate medicines into only 1 pill, taken once a day, with minimal side effects. For the great majority of people, HIV medicines are tolerable and effective, and let HIV-positive people live long and healthy lives. For some people, though, the drugs may be difficult to take every day, or they cause serious side effects or don't work well. Even when a drug does help a particular person, it may become less effective over time or stop working altogether.

Once patients are on medications, they must work with their health care providers to monitor how well the drugs are working and to find solutions for side effects.

The good news is that there are many excellent HIV medicines. Finding the right combination of medicines for each person is usually possible - a combination that controls the virus but does not cause side efects.

Do you have to be treated for the rest of your life?

Right now, there is no cure for HIV infection or AIDS. So, once you start treatment, you have to continue to be sure the virus doesn't multiply out of control.