Symptoms, treatment and consequences of HIV

View Diane Tanaka, MD's video on Symptoms, treatment and consequences of HIV...
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Symptoms, treatment and consequences of HIV

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So a lot of people become concerned about the fact that HIV is being identified more and more often in young people. We are talking about college age, high school age. People wonder is this something that's real, is the media just hyping this. And the answer is unfortunately we are seeing more HIV infections among adolescence and your adults. So that doesn't compass that high school age group and the college age group. Why? Because people are no longer practicing safer sex. that's what it comes down to. some populations see all the advertisements for all the drug treatments that are out there for HIV and you feel like Well, if i get HIV I can go on the cocktail. And i'll be fine. And I see pictures of this handsome young man on the bus you know back seat, on bus benches, on buses themselves on billboards. When I drive down the street and how bad could it be because look how wonderful these people look. The reality is that HIV, we still don't have have a cure. It's a chronic illness, it does lead to early death I believe. Not as early as we used to see, when I was in my training we would see children dying of HIV and AIDS. We don't see that anymore, thank goodness. For the most part people are diagnosed and treated early. However, with effective treatment we can keep the virus under control and try to prevent some of the secondary effects of HIV like getting infections, developing cancers. Those are the things that would kill people with HIV. So the better that we can treat them, keep their immune system strong then they are more likely to live healthy lives. However, the best option is not to get HIV in the first place. So again using protection when you are engaging in sexual activity is your best bet to protect yourself against getting HIV. Because you may have no symptoms whatsoever that you've been infected. You could go years not realizing that you've been infected and when you happen to see a physician or you see a testing site of a street fair and you decide to go ahead and get yourself tested, and then you find out you have HIV. It comes as a huge shock and you may have already been living with the disease for several years before you even entered a treatment. So it's why we always recommend if yo are engaging in sexual activity at least to get tested for HIV once a year or more frequently depending of what your risk profile is.
TEEN, Sexuality and Body Image, STDs

View Diane Tanaka, MD's video on Symptoms, treatment and consequences of HIV...

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Diane Tanaka, MD

Adolescent Medicine Physician

Dr. Tanaka is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and the medical director of the Homeless Adolescent and Young Adult Wellness Center and the MyVOICE Adolescent Transition Program, both at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Tanaka went to University of California, Davis for medical school and did her residency at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Tanaka's primary speciality is Adolescent Medicine, and her clinical interests include: menstrual disorders, substance use and abuse, and the treatment of sexually transmitted infections. She currently serves at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and was awarded the Barbara Korsch Medical Education Award at CHLA in 2008 and listed in Castle Connely’s directory of top physicians in 2009.

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