Available treatments
Drugs currently used to treat HIV attack the virus at various stages of the life cycle of HIV. Certain drugs inhibit three enzymes (reverse transcriptase, integrase and protease) that the virus uses to replicate, while other types of drugs inhibit the attachment process by which HIV enters cells.
To help you sort through the options, here is a quick overview of the types of treatment available:
- Reverse transcriptase inhibitors: These drugs prevent the conversion of HIV RNA into DNA. There are three types of these drugs: nucleoside (NRTI), nucleotide (NtRTI) and non-nucleoside (NNRTI).
- Protease inhibitors: These drugs block the protease enzyme from activating certain proteins inside newly produced viruses. This action prevents the viruses from maturing, resulting in immature, defective viruses that cannot infect new cells.
- Fusion inhibitors: These drugs help protect cells by preventing HIV from attaching to and breaking through or entering the cell membrane.
- Integrase inhibitors: These drugs prevent integrase from integrating the HIV DNA into human DNA.
There are many treatment options available. Your physician will recommend a treatment from a choice of single products used in combination, to combination products (which include up to three drugs from different classes in one format). It is important to learn as much as you can about the disease and its effects. Don’t be afraid to ask questions – after all, it’s your health! Together you and your doctor will decide which treatment regimen is best suited for your particular needs.
