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Ask the Experts about Mental Health and HIV
HIV in brain & Nerv system
Jul 13, 2008
When hiv has awakened in the brain & central nerv system does that mean Hiv has progressed into Aids.My brother is having tremors now and balance problems ect. He will be starting the coctail meds. i'm scared !thank you
Response from Dr. Horwath
In general, the current CDC guidelines recommend starting antiretroviral medications for people with a history of an AIDS-defining illness or with a CD4 count of < 350 cells/cubic mm.
HIV-associated dementia is one AIDS-defining illness. The fact that your brother has a tremor and balance problems does not necessarily mean that he has HIV-associated dementia, but these are symptoms.
The most important thing for you to know is that the antiretroviral medications are extremely effective. If his symptoms of tremor and balance problems are due to the HIV, then the antiretroviral medications should lead to improvement. The most important factor in improvement is taking the medicine as prescribed EVERY DAY. You can help him with this. If he takes the medicine all the time as prescribed, then he should recover.
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