HIV/AIDS Medicines | HIV Cure | HIV Treatment | MedlinePlus

HIV/AIDS Medicines | HIV Cure | HIV Treatment | MedlinePlus

HIV/AIDS Medicines

Related Health Topics

• HIV/AIDS

National Institutes of Health

The primary NIH organization for research on HIV/AIDS Medicines is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

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Find health information in languages other than English on HIV/AIDS Medicines

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Summary

In the early 1980s, when the HIV/AIDS epidemic began, patients rarely lived longer than a few years. But today, there are many effective medicines to fight the infection, and people with HIV have longer, healthier lives.

There are five major types of medicines:

• Reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors - interfere with a critical step during the HIV life cycle and keep the virus from making copies of itself
• Protease inhibitors - interfere with a protein that HIV uses to make infectious viral particles
• Fusion inhibitors - block the virus from entering the body's cells
• Integrase inhibitors - block an enzyme HIV needs to make copies of itself
• Multidrug combinations - combine two or more different types of drugs into one

These medicines help people with HIV, but they are not perfect. They do not cure HIV/AIDS. People with HIV infection still have the virus in their bodies. They can still spread HIV to others through unprotected sex and needle sharing, even when they are taking their medicines.

NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Start Here

• AIDSinfo Drug Database  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• FDA-Approved HIV Medicines  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• HIV and AIDS: Medicines to Help You  (Food and Drug Administration)
• HIV Treatment: The Basics  (AIDSinfo)
• HIV/AIDS Treatment  (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
• Treatment for HIV (Department of Veterans Affairs)
• Types of HIV/AIDS Antiretroviral Drugs  (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Pharmacogenetic Tests  (National Library of Medicine)Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• CDC Vital Signs: Daily Pill Can Prevent HIV (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Are You Taking Medication as Prescribed? (Food and Drug Administration)
• CDC Vital Signs: HIV Care Saves Lives Also in Spanish
• Drug Dosing Toolkit (Department of Veterans Affairs)
• Drug Resistance  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• Following an HIV Regimen: Steps to Take Before and After Starting HIV Medicines  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• HIV Medication Adherence  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• HIV Medicines and Side Effects  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• HIV Resistance Testing (New Mexico AIDS Education and Training Center)Also in Spanish
• HIV Treatment Overview (AIDS.gov)
• Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (AIDS.gov)
• Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) (AIDS.gov)
• PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) 101 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)Also in Spanish
• Recreational Drugs and HIV (New Mexico AIDS Education and Training Center)Also in Spanish
• Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Diabetes  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Hepatotoxicity  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Lactic Acidosis  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Lipodystrophy  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Osteoporosis  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• Side Effects of HIV Medicines: HIV and Rash  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• What to Start: Selecting a First HIV Regimen  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• When to Start Antiretroviral Therapy  (AIDSinfo)

Specifics

• Antiretroviral Drugs Used in the Treatment of HIV Infection (Food and Drug Administration)
• HIV Treatment: What is a Drug Interaction?  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish
• What is an Investigational HIV Drug?  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish

Images

• Drugs That Fight HIV-1  (AIDSinfo) - PDF

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Anti-HIV Agents  (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active  (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis  (National Institutes of Health)

Journal ArticlesReferences and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Efficacy of rational emotive digital storytelling intervention on knowledge and... 
• Article: Prednisone for the Prevention of Paradoxical Tuberculosis-Associated IRIS. 
• Article: Integrase inhibitor-based regimens result in more rapid virologic suppression rates... 
• HIV/AIDS Medicines -- see more articles 

Reference Desk

• AIDSinfo Glossary  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish

Find an Expert

• AIDSinfo  (Department of Health and Human Services)Also in Spanish
• HIV.gov (AIDS.gov)
• NIAID Division of AIDS  (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Patient Handouts

• FDA-Approved HIV Medicines  (AIDSinfo)Also in Spanish