HIV and Sex: A Conclusion

It is hard to believe that this semester is almost over. As I reflect from the beginning of the course I have noticed that my knowledge of HIV/AIDS has changed dramatically. Coming from an individual who honestly knew nothing about the virus, I feel as if I can almost give a lecture on it or even teach a class about it. Actually when I think about it I almost forgot how I really knew nothing about the virus, and how my actions in the past could have really changed my life. Now that I can reflect on my past I can honestly say that I am lucky to be in good health and live a healthy lifestyle. Almost, with this new found healthy lifestyle I can now influence my friends and family.

In saying that and dealing with my topic of sex, I feel as if my sexual activities are going to be more responsible and I am going to be more aware of my actions. Before the class I really never thought about getting HIV/AIDS from my sexual actions. Now, I am aware and realize that using a condom and being more cautious is definitely a goo thing. I feel as if it is my duty, since I have this knowledge to share it with other people. In the end I hope that this blog site has educated individuals about sex and HIV/AIDS. I hope that I have influenced someone out there or has taught certain topics to individuals. I know I have for me. Moreover, thank you for reading my blogs and responding to them.

HIV and Sex: A Healthy Lifestyle

This week I have been reflecting on how much I have learned in this class. What I probably found most interesting was the stimulation on taking the antivirals for a week. I think doing this assignment has made me realized how difficult it is to live with this virus. Yes, we have learned about the medication, and the physiologic aspects of the virus, and watched movies and videos, but this exercise made me realized how much of a turn around your life can get if you are A) unlucky and B) made a bad lifestyle choice and now taking anywhere from eight to twelve pills a day with side effects is your consequence. In stating this my did you know came from making proper lifestyle choices.

Since my topic is Sex and HIV, then I will most likely always talk about sex. I am a male and they do say that a man thinks about sex every seven seconds. Ummm.... I wonder why when I was thinking about topics for my blog this one was the first to come up. Anyway, today I will talk about healthy lifestyle choices and sex. When someone is sexually active have a good and healthy lifestyle is key. That means using condoms and knowing your partners. Now you know that if you make a bad lifestyle choice when participating in sex, such as not using condoms, then you are at risk of getting HIV, STDs, and getting someone pregnant. Moreover, choices such as these can also lead to other affects. Participating in bad lifestyle choices makes individuals stress out, this puts a strain on your body and can affect your health. In the long run it is better to make proper sex lifestyle choices. I know it is hard some times, but what is important is that you are strong and afterwards you have nothing to worry about!

HIV and Sex: Being Human and Our Rights

The M&M stimulation has definitely been an eye opener in how it is to live with AIDS. The hardest thing for me was taking my M&Ms at the right time and before or during a meal. It must be so difficult to track and take your medications properly for HIV positive individuals. Taking all of these medications is like having a full time job. It must be hard especially with the side effects that come along with the medications. In all, moreover, I did learn a lot this week, and I did enjoy this stimulation. It was hard, however, put know I feel as if I can understand the virus, but from a different point of view. One that is not as much knowledge base, but more on the experience side. If that makes any sense.

Furthermore, this week on HIV and Sex I will be discussing the QOTW. I was going to find an article and write something on it and throw it in here, but after doing the QOTW and responding to some students I felt as if this is a better path to take. I was shock by how many students thought that a chip was fine to insert into HIV positive individuals. That a green light would go off if they are negative and a red one if they are positive. Therefore, you know right off the bat if you can have a sexual relationship with them. When do we as Americans cross the line from being a human to an animal. We put chips in dogs to track them and zap them when they leave the property. Are we going to start doing the same to HIV positive human beings. Well in that case we might as well do it for people who have the flu or a cold or herpes or warts or any other infectious disease or virus. My point is that we cannot go around tagging individuals and socially isolating them. Closely as important is when do we cross the line into the bed room. Unless some is raped, then each individual who participates in sexual activities must know there partners and their status. People nowadays know that there is a risk in participating in sexual activities. You can get an STD and they should know that they can get HIV. What happens in the bedroom has to be between who is in that bedroom, and Government and any other agency must stay out of the bedroom. You can track someone that is HIV positive and make sure they do not infect anyone else. You need to know who you are having sexual activities with, and if you do not then you need to tell them they need to be tested and you want to see the test results. Does anyone else agree with me or am I just crazy?

Also this whole education is not working, well I am not sure if I buy it. UCF seems to think it is working if they have a class like this at the university. In fact I think they are ahead of the game. Most people do not know much about HIV and AIDS, and need a class like this. We cannot say education is not working if we have not even tried to fully tackle education and HIV/AIDS. It needs to be taught at an early age, no later then middle school when kids start becoming sexually active. It needs to continue into high school, then college, and so on. When teenagers go into the doctors office for there annually checkup, doctors should explain the virus to them and tell them how they can obtain the virus, proper sexual methods, and that there is no cure for HIV/AIDS. Education has not failed, I think it has barely begun and we should not give up on it.

HIV and Sex: Semen

This week in the course I have learned that the information that has accumulated in my head not only has great use for me in the present and future, but is great for my friends as well. This weekend my buddy from California came to visit me for halloween and had no idea what he was getting himself into, or leaving with. He had no idea how easily he could get the virus, or he really had no idea about HIV/AIDS. Therefore, I spent about four good hours educating him about how he could get the virus, how easily one can get the virus from another individual, the mechanisms of the virus, and etc. Most of the information I could recite from my head, but some information I had to go back to my notes. He was very impressed about his educational experience and even stated that colleges should give a lecture about HIV/AIDS and on how one can get the virus, how easy, and etc. Moreover, I believe he made a great point. Colleges should definitely get a program together or a lecture series in which they educate young college freshman about HIV and AIDS. This is very important.

Furthermore, I will continue my discussion this week on HIV and semen. How dangerous is semen. Here I am not talking about blood, but just pure semen. Many people who try there hardest to pleasure there partner often have to deal with semen. And for those of you that are saying what? Hello, we are not in high school but college. A place where people are extremely sexually active and sometimes uneducated about what they are doing to some aspect. In other words couple, partners, hook ups, and etc. know what they are doing, but do they do how dangerous the product of semen is. Well I will tell you. According to a study a "component of human semen may facilitate the spread of the virus by targeting immune system cells, in some cases making the pathogen up to 100,000 times more virulent" (Male Semen Makes HIV More Potent, 2007). Now this study is not a 100 percent sure but data does back of this I think soon to be known fact. So when handling semen be careful has it could be very dangerous. What do you think?

Go Yankees!

Source:

Male Semen Makes HIV More Potent. (2007). In Scientific America. Retrieved November 3, 2009 from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=male-semen-makes-hiv-more-potent

HIV and Sex: Confessing to a New Partner

Like I mentioned before my true inspiration in life is to be a doctor and go on to help individuals over come diseases and injuries. Caring for another individual is my true calling in life and I am very passionate about the ability of helping someone hurdle over an obstacle. In saying that this class has broaden my knowledge on how a virus can have so much power over mankind. I had no idea how helpless we were in fighting this virus, and only recently have we been able to make some true progress. This week I stood back and evaluated my progress in this class. At the beginning of the semester I had a vague idea about the virus and now I now tons of information about HIV, the mechanisms, the treatments, the clinical test, and etc. Furthermore, what I have failed to realize until recently is how HIV/AIDS has brought us together. In some aspect about this virus you know someone who is infected, was infected, is dying of AIDS, is doing research on AIDS, is trying to find a vaccine for the virus, and so on. Most of humankind has taken a stand on the disease. Just the other day as I was watching college football between Notre Dame and USC when an advertisement came on about how Notre Dame is researching for a vaccine. My point here is that this fight against HIV/AIDS is every where and taking this class has open my eyes to it.

Furthermore, speaking of opening eyes, this week I will discuss the important time in a relationship when someone with HIV has to confess to a new individual about their status. I wanted to research any websites that stated when and where it was necessary to do so. According to Sex and Sexuality (2009) the first thing you should do when you find out or notify someone (your partner) that you are HIV positive is select a place and when you think is the best time to tell them. You want to choose a time when you guys are both comfortable and relaxed. Next, think about how your partner will react to stressful news and if they have a history of violence in your relationship, as you should consider your safety first and plan for a situation that might go to the extreme. Also, think about having a case manager or counselor there as support for both of you. Finally, imagine several ways that you partner might react to the news that you are HIV positive, as you might want to write down what he or she might say, and then think about what you might say in response (Sex and Sexuality, 2009). I think preparations for situations such as these are crucial and should be thought about before actions take place. That is way I included that in my did you know section this week. I hope this helps someone out.

Sources

Sex and Sexuality. (2009). In HIV In Site, retrieved October 29, 2009, from http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/hiv?page=pb-daily-sex#S3.2X

HIV, SEX, and a Vaccination

This week I will continue my conversation, but take it into a different direction and hope I can get responses from individuals out there. I recently just found an article about a new vaccine that has been studied for the HIV virus. Now considering my interest is HIV and Sex, and who does not want to talk about sex, I want to tie in Sex and this new vaccine if I can.

The new recently studied AIDS vaccine showed that it is only marginally effective, however scientist are extremely excited because it is a positive start in finding a vaccine for this deadly virus. The results concluded that the vaccine has a better effect on the general public then it does on those individuals who participate in high-risk behaviors such as gay men and intravenous drug users. Moreover, “last month, researchers announced that a two-vaccine combination cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent in a trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand” (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 2009). Even though the vaccine is not going to be used any time soon in the future, because scientists need to develop and make it more effective, the studies conducted indicate that the vaccine is beneficial. The vaccine is not produced solely form the whole HIV virus, and therefore cannot cause HIV infection. On the study in Thailand, the vaccine combo consisting of four doses of ALVAC and two doses of AIDSVAX over six months was given to half of the test subjects who where HIV-negative Thai men and women ages 18 to 30 at average risk of becoming infected. The other half received a dummy shot. The study showed new infections in 51 of the 8,197 subjects given the vaccine, while 74 subjects obtained the infection of 8,198 who received the dummy shot. Therefore, as mentioned above that comes out to 31 percent lower in risk for the vaccine group. In conclusion, this study shows improved scientific and medical advances to fight this killer virus, which can be extremely helpful in the future (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 2009).

Furthermore, I believe in the near future, from evidence in this article, that a vaccine for HIV will be available. In saying that I believe people will start caring less about HIV/AIDS and continue to participate in high risk behaviors such as unprotected sex. Eventually, I think, people will begin to think that they are safe from danger and not care. Am I right in thinking this way? Is a vaccine the answer to this virus, or just an insurance option. I would like to think it would be an insurance option, but I think many individuals would take it as a answer and not care about unprotected sex and the dangers. What do you think?

Sources

Web: By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. AIDS Vaccine Seen as Modest Help in The New York Times (2009, Oct. 20). Retrieved October 20, 2009, from http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/20/health/AP-US-MED-AIDS-Vaccine.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=HIV%20vaccination&st=cse

HIV and Sex: The Law

This week I learned a lot from the panel discussion on wednesday. The questions and answers were all great and very knowledgeable. It really showed me how HIV/AIDS can really affect an individual and how serious it is. From the panel discussion I took away that the medications used to help treat HIV/AIDS have serious side affects, and that these side affects can affect a person for years. Also, I learned that some people do not really experience any side affects, while others do, and still while others experience serious side affects. Also, I learned that HIV/AIDS does not only affect your body, your family, but also were you live and your job. In one situation an individual felt that it was necessary to move from one town to a new town because her hometown was small and living in a town such as that could make life hard with HIV/AIDS. Also, certain jobs had to be left because what there occupation was, put other people in risk, or that HIV/AIDS required them to take up another occupation. Attending the panel was great, moreover, it has influence my topic this week due to my experience at the panel and what I learned.

Therefore, todays topic is HIV and Sex: The Law. Is someone living with HIV/AIDS required to tell there about to be sex partner that they are infected and that having unprotected sex with them puts them in great risk? Is the law involved in a situation such as this? Well to answer this question there are about 24 to 27 states now in the United States that will criminalize certain behaviors when people with HIV engage in them (Sex, Privacy and the Law when You;re HIV-Positive, 2007). Furthermore, every state has a law that has "been in existence since the early 1930s, that will make it a crime if someone with a communicable or infectious disease exposes another person to that disease" (Sex, Privacy and the Law when You;re HIV-Positive, 2007). So in half of the states of the United States an individual who has HIV/AIDS can be prosecuted if they have unprotected sex with another individual, but do not disclose them to there status. According to THE BODY (2000), "at the point when you decide to have sex the disclosure question is no longer solely up to you and your conscience. At that point, your decisions may have legal ramifications. Failing to disclose your HIV status to your partner may make you vulnerable to criminal prosecution or to being sued by your sexual partner."

Furthermore, in Sweden it is a law that a person with HIV/AIDS must tell their sex partner that they are in affected. Also, it is required by law that an individual with HIV/AIDS must seek medical attention, and if another individual witnesses someone with an infectious disease not participating in medical attention, then by law that individual must notify authorities (Problematizations and Path Dependency: HIV/AIDS Policies in Denmark and Sweden, 2007).

Sources

THE BODY. (2000). Retrieved October 12, 2009, from http://www.thebody.com/content/art32643.html

Problematizations and Path Dependency: HIV/AIDS Policies in Denmark and Sweden. (2007). Retrieved October 12, 2009, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/pmc/articles/PMC1712379/

Sex, Privacy and the Law When You're HIV-Positive. (2007). Retrieved October 12, 2009, from http://www.thebody.com/content/art53797.html