Well, here are again, another week has gone by and I continue to learn more and more about HIV. Although my main topic of interest in learning about is mothers and how they deal with HIV, this week I have enjoyed learning about all the different diseases that present themselves due to the lack of defense provided by the immune system. There are so many opportunistic bacteria that jump in at the first sign of a weakened immune system and take over and destroy the body of the infected person. This is one aspect about HIV/AIDS that I was not aware of. I mean, I knew that a person would get really sick from HIV but I did not know HOW severe it could get and how many DIFFERENT diseases they were succeptible to. In our Module 4 for our class, there are descriptions and pictures of most of these opportunistic diseases. I was in shock as I scrolled down the Power Point. One of the diseases that made an impression on me was Herpes. The slide showed a picture of what a Herpes simples wart looks on an HIV postive person compared to what one of these blisters look like on a non HIV infected person. What a difference! The one on the positive person looked like the size of a baseball. Another one that left me speechless was the picture of candiasis (thrush). There was one picture of a person who had thrush of the mouth so severe that it looked like a felt covering over the tongue. It looked so uncomfortable. I cannot imagine how someone be able to eat having thrush so severely. We did a Thrush simulation for class where we had to put two pieces of cotton on each side of our mouth and then try to eat some saltine crackers and wash them down with water. This task was nearly impossible. Again, I cannot imagine having to deal with this long term.
These are only two examples of opportunistic diseases. I look forward to our next assignment where we get to choose four of these diseases and write about them in detail.
This part of the class has made me gain a greater respect for what HIV positive people have to suffer because of this virus.
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I've also enjoyed this class very much. I've enjoyed it more than most of my other class. This class is very informative and I love the interactive with fellow classmates.
ReplyDeleteWhile doing some research I've seen as well that many diseases are caused by the lack of defense from the immune system due to having HIV/AIDS. Opportunitisic diseases are very prevalent in this day and age. It is not only important that we learn about HIV but we must also be aware of the opportunistic diseases as well.
Great Blog!
Where is your Did You Know section of the blog?
ReplyDeleteRemember when you view the pictures, not every HIV positive person will get everyone of those diseases. Also some may be more prevalent in different parts of the world. However, things like thrush and PCP can be seen almost anywhere. Those are some amazing pictures that I was able to find. Glad they got your attention.