If you’re concerned that you, a partner, or a loved one may have HIV or are dealing with a recent diagnosis, there’s probably one question on your mind: How long can you live with HIV?
That question is a little easier to answer now than it was a few years ago. In recent decades, the life expectancy of people diagnosed with HIV has increased dramatically. Thirty years ago, life expectancy was around twenty years. Now it is not unusual for someone with HIV to have the same life expectancy as someone who is not HIV positive.
The likelihood of this happening depends largely on early diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Antiretroviral treatment (ART) that starts early and is taken regularly can significantly increase the chance that someone with HIV will live a long, healthy life. According to research from the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design, someone who is diagnosed with HIV at age 20 and immediately begins ART can expect to live into their early 70s. Other studies have shown that life expectancy for people who are HIV positive can range from 35 to 60 years. For most people, HIV can be controlled with ART. How long someone who is HIV-positive will live now depends largely on the same factors that influence the life expectancy of someone who is not HIV-positive.
The life expectancy of people diagnosed with AIDS or stage 3 HIV has also increased dramatically, as long as they are on ART. And although AIDS was once considered an inevitable stage of HIV, many people who are diagnosed with HIV and take ART will never have their HIV progress to AIDS.
Yet, despite the benefits of ART, life is not always easy for someone who is HIV positive. Many people diagnosed with HIV struggle with their emotional and mental well-being in addition to their physical health. It can be difficult, especially if the diagnosis is recent, to live with a disease that still carries a stigma.
Worrying about the possibility of transmitting the virus to a partner can also affect the quality of life for people who are HIV positive. The good news is that ART not only protects the health of the person who is HIV positive, but also protects their partners from the risk of HIV infection. Several studies have shown that HIV-positive people do not pass the infection on to their partner if their viral load is low enough. ‘Undetectable = untransmittable’ is the title of a campaign aimed at encouraging the use of artistic resources and reducing the spread of HIV. Undetectable means that the viral load (or the amount of HIV in the bloodstream) in an HIV-positive person is so low that there is not enough of the virus in the body fluids to pass the infection to a partner. However, it is important to note that this does not apply to everyone who is HIV positive. To meet acceptable standards for this protection, the person who is HIV-positive must take ART every day, have an undetectable viral load for at least six months, and be retested regularly.
Although ART can eliminate the risk of transmitting HIV through sexual activity, it reduces but does not eliminate the risk of a mother passing HIV to her child through breastfeeding or childbirth.
Any way you look at it, outcomes for people with HIV or AIDS have improved significantly in recent decades. If you think you have HIV symptoms or think you have been exposed to the virus, you should get tested as soon as possible. With HIV Early Detection tests or RNA tests, you can get conclusive results in as little as nine to eleven days. The sooner you know your status, the sooner you can start treatment.