Understanding HIV Medications: A Comprehensive Overview

Antiretroviral medications are used in the management of HIV. Although these drugs have extended the health and life expectancy of HIV-positive people, there is no cure for or vaccine against HIV.

Types

• There are many different types of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV. These include nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs, also called nucleoside and nucleotide analogues), non-nucleoside revese transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors, fusion inhibitors, chemokine coreceptor antagonists and integrase inhibitors, according to HIV InSite.

Function

• Although every class of antiretroviral drug acts differently against the virus, they all target either HIV's ability to infect host cells or the virus' ability to make copies of itself.

Features

• Antiretroviral drugs normally are combined in a multidrug treatment plan. This is called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and combines three or more medications from different treatment classes.

Time Frame

• It generally is recommended that antiretroviral therapy be started after the immune system has been damaged by HIV but before AIDS occurs, according to Avert.org.

Considerations

• There are a number of different side effects of antiretroviral therapy, both mild and severe, according to HIV Insite. The side effects of some antiretroviral drugs may mean that the treatment plan needs to be changed, but this should not be done without a physician's consent.