{"id":8897,"date":"2025-11-14T15:41:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.better2know.co.uk\/blog\/?p=8897"},"modified":"2025-11-17T15:45:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:45:40","slug":"will-having-low-levels-of-hiv-affect-your-long-term-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.better2know.co.uk\/blog\/will-having-low-levels-of-hiv-affect-your-long-term-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Will having low levels of HIV affect your long-term health?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HIV<\/strong><\/a> can seriously affect your long-term health. But there are a lot of nuances to how this can happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A patient\u2019s viral load is intimately connected to how HIV may affect them later in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

HIV can be easily managed with the right treatment and medication. Know your sexual health status with a comprehensive HIV test.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Get tested<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Can you have more or less HIV?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you get HIV, you\u2019ll have it for life. But the degree to which HIV can spread to other people and affect your health will depend on your viral load<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a nutshell, your viral load is determined by how much HIV you have in your blood. Without treatment, your levels of the virus in your blood will increase over time, raising the likelihood of passing on the infection, as well as negative health outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this isn\u2019t the case for most people. The vast majority of people living with HIV in the UK are taking antiretroviral therapy (ART), which significantly reduces their viral load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HIV treatment has become so effective in recent years that many people on ART will have undetectable levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does \u201cundetectable\u201d mean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Having an undetectable viral load means the level of HIV in your blood is under a certain threshold that\u2019s not detectable on standard tests. This is usually defined as having fewer than 20 to 50 copies of HIV per millilitre of blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having and maintaining an undetectable viral load helps protect your immune system from the damage that HIV causes. If you have an undetectable viral load, you also can\u2019t transmit the infection to someone else. Most people can reach an undetectable viral load after receiving treatment for six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s very important that people who are on ART continue taking their medication. Missed doses can lead to an increased viral load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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