How long can I live if I’m taking HIV treatment?

Having HIV is never easy but it is important for you to know that with today’s drugs, HIV for many people is a treatable and manageable infection.  HIV treatment can give you a near normal life expectancy and a good quality of life.

As long as your CD4 count stays above 200 the risk form HIV-related complications is pretty low. The risk for some non-HIV related health complications are slightly higher in HIV positive people compared to HIV negative people. However, these risks are also dramatically reduced by being on treatment.

If you continue to take your medication as prescribed and do not miss or taking doses late, then the risk of HIV-related illnesses in the future s very low.

No-one can predict the future though and HIV positive people still get ill with an undetectable viral load just like HIV negative people get ill. Currently there is no vaccine or cure for HIV, although there are plenty of researches and trials which are ongoing.

HIV is very complex in a way that is different to polio.

HIV research is one of the greatest success stories of modern medicine. The breadth and expertise in scientific advances has not only developed 30 medications in five drugs classes but this research has contributed to many other areas of medicine.

The difficulty of curing HIV is not easy though. There is no lack of competency in AIDS research – just an incredibly difficult set of scientific issues to understand and solve.

One study from Europe that estimated that someone diagnosed in his/her 20s with HIV who starts appropriate treatment at the appropriate time, would have a life span that stretches into his/her late 50s, early 60s. The estimates of life expectancy with HIV continue to rise each year.

Nobody can say what the exact life expectancy in a situation like this are, as there are too many factors that can play a role. How long anyone lives depends on things you can change (smoking, exercise, medication) and thing you can’t (genetics and bad luck).  A study in Denmark (2005) estimated that the survival is more than 35 years for a young person diagnosed with HIV infection and another study in Canada (2003) has shown that in the US, life expectancy at age 20 years was an additional 58.3 years.

Most people who are newly diagnosed are worried and anxious about their life.  This could be one reason why you think about your HIV status on a daily basis.  Your best option is to seek counselling either on your own or with group support, through your local HIV centre.

Talking about your HIV status can help you to deal with it and also through group support you can share experiences and also learn from one another.  You do not have to deal with it in isolation.