Neurologic Complications of HIV-1 Infection

	Tweet

The neurologic complications of HIV-1 infection are both common and varied. Indeed, only rarely do the central and peripheral nervous systems of HIV-infected patients remain unaffected through the course of untreated disease. Because each of the individual neurologic disorders is discussed in more detail elsewhere in this volume, the major purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview and a general guide to diagnosis and management.

Although the major susceptibility to neurologic complications occurs in the late phase of HIV-1 infection, at the time when immunosuppression leads to a marked increase in vulnerability to a host of conditions, patients may also manifest certain neurologic afflictions early in infection.

Because the neurologic complications of early and late HIV-1 infection differ, they are considered separately. Indeed, because of these stage-related differences in susceptibility, when approaching diagnosis in HIV-infected patients it is important to characterize their “background” systemic HIV-1 infection, either clinically with respect to the presence or absence of previous opportunistic infections indicating compromised immunity or by assessment of surrogate markers, particularly the blood CD4+ lymphocyte count. Emerging data suggest that susceptibility to late neurologic complications can be delayed or reversed by highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), sustaining the value of the CD4+ count in predicting disease vulnerability.

RELATED STORIES:
Has nothing to do with Science   CDC, UNAIDS and WHO deceptive positions   What about Africa ?  Sex has nothing to do with it   No evidence of ‘HIV’ transmission   Sex has nothing to do with ‘AIDS’   HIV Causes AIDS   The Myth of Sexual ‘AIDS’   What to Tell Your Kids About HIV and AIDS   Rheumatologic Disease   Endocrine Disorders   Cardiac Disease   Renal Disease

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]