00:00
Hi! Welcome to our video series.
00:03
In this one,
We're going to kind of give
you an introduction to the
human immunodeficiency virus.
00:08
You've probably heard
that called HIV.
00:11
We're going to give an introduction
to HIV in the antiretrovirals.
00:16
Okay so what is the
biggest risk of having HIV
we all know it's scary,
it's really intimidating.
00:23
But what actually
is the biggest risk
to our patients?
Well, it's the overwhelming
of the immune system.
00:29
See that's how HIV works
it infects white blood cells
in the body's immune system.
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Now A specific group
of white blood cells
called the T helper cells.
00:39
We're really looking at
the level of CD4 T-cells.
00:43
So now you've got it.
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The biggest risk of HIV
is when someone's immune
system becomes overwhelmed
so HIV kind of hijacks
the immune system by
getting into or infiltrating
these CD4 T-cells.
00:57
Now, once they do that you
end up with an immune system
that can't fight off
even simple infections
and that's usually what take
someone with HIV is life
who doesn't receive
adequate treatment.
01:08
The good news is we have
really effective treatment
if the patient has access to it
and they take it
on a daily basis.
01:16
So let's get back
to this nasty virus.
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How does it overwhelm
your immune system?
Remember it infects
a white blood cell
and these T helper cells, right?
CD4 T cells the virus itself
attaches to the T helper cell.
01:31
See that's how viruses
work they infiltrate a cell
and they turn it
into its own weapon.
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So it gets to the T helper
cell and then it fuses with it.
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It takes control of the
DNA of the helper cell
of the good white blood cell
that supposed to help
me fight off infection.
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HIV takes control
and it replicates itself
and releases more
HIV into the blood.
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So it gets into these cells
that are supposed to
defend my immune system,
fuses with it takes
control of its DNA
and it teaches that cell
how to replicate HIV.
02:07
So here's our goal
in treating HIV.
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We want to stop HIV
from becoming AIDS.
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Remember we talked
about the biggest risk
to a patient with HIV
is having an immune
system that's overwhelmed.
02:20
That's what AIDS is
that means their
CD4 T-cell count
is less than 200
the minimum bottom
number is usually 500.
02:30
So you can see is 200
is significantly lower
and they have some type of
opportunistic infection.
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Those are two key
signs that tell us
the immune system is
completely overwhelmed.
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If someone with HIV
progresses to AIDS
very difficult treatment
from then on out.
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So that's why
we use antiretroviral treatment
to stop that process
from happening.
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We want to keep
the fewest number
of viruses possible
in the bloodstream.
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In fact our goal,
would be anyone infected
with HIV is to have at
undetectable levels.
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So low that can't be detected.
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That's our goal.
03:08
All right,
so you've got the concept
we've done a quick review over
why HIV can be overwhelming
to an immune system.
03:16
We know our goal is to prevent
the patient from becoming
just HIV-positive progressing
to AIDS acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome.
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That's what our goal is.
03:27
Let's talk about
how the symptoms
and the staging of HIV works.
03:31
In stage one,
that's the first of three
stages we're going to talk about
after the initial infection
can kind of feel like the
flu pretty vague symptoms
and not even everyone
will experience it.
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So that's why often times
people don't realize
they've been infected
with HIV initially.
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So they may or may not have some
flu-like symptoms in stage 1
Now stage 2, could last a
really long period of time
it could last up
to 10 years or more
so you can see it's really
variable the length of time
and why testing is so important
the earlier we can recognize
that someone has been
exposed as contracted HIV
the faster and more
efficiently we can get them
on an effective treatment plan.
04:16
So stage one may or may not have
some vague symptoms like flu,
stage 2 could last
for 10 years or more.
04:23
Now stage 3
is when the person's
immune system
is so badly damaged
that it can no longer
fight off serious
infection and illnesses.
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Now looking at
these three stages
you really only get to stage 3
if you didn't have
access to good treatment
that is available.
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So that's the key role you
want to know as a nurse.
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We can intervene through
education encouraging testing
helping people know there
are options out there
if it's recognized early.
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So remember the
symptoms they vary
in type in severity
from person to person.
04:58
This is just kind of an
example of how it could go
but everybody's
on the same page.
05:03
What we're trying to reduce
is HIV ever turning into AIDS.
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That's what we don't
want for any patient.
05:10
Because here's our goals start
that antiretroviral treatment
as early as possible because we want
to decrease that HIV viral load.
05:19
Now you understand
why that's so important
less virus around.
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Less hijacking of the cells are
supposed to protect my body.
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That's a good deal.
05:27
So our goal is always to
get that HIV viral load
as low as possible.
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We want to keep the patient
as healthy as possible
people with HIV or are
living much fuller lives
when we initially found
out about this disease.
05:41
So it is possible to lead
a full and healthy life
with adequate treatment.
05:47
Now, we also in addition to
that person's quality of life.
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We want to reduce the
chances of that individual
passing HIV on to other people.