Add this to your to-do list, stat: Get tested for HIV, and ask your partner to do so, too. With World AIDS Day around the corner (it’s tomorrow, December 1st), there’s no better time to take this important step toward a healthier, safer life.
If you’re still on the fence about getting tested, these stats from a recent report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) might send you running to your doctor’s office. What you need to know: People ages 13 to 24 account for more than one fourth of new HIV infections in the US each year. Of these, over half are completely unaware that they’re HIV-positive. And being unaware—and not catching HIV early on—can be a major health threat.
Some people living with HIV might look and feel healthy for years, but the virus still wreaks havoc in their bodies, destroying the blood cells that help fight diseases, according to the CDC. See, when it comes to HIV, ignorance is certainly not bliss.
“The benefit of an early diagnosis is more treatment options,” says Shari Brasner, MD, OBGYN, and assistant clinical professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “There are patients who live with few complications of HIV for many years because of the effective strategies offered. Once the disease is advanced, it’s much more difficult to alter the course of the disease.”
So what’s stopping you? Make an appointment to get tested today.
Image: iStockphoto/Thinkstock
More from WH:
The Easiest Way to Test for HIV
18 Self-Checks Every Woman Should Do
Would You *Bleep* Someone with an STD?
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