About ART

Shortly following the discovery of HIV in 1981, a variety of therapies using one drug were introduced to people living with HIV. This included the drug azidothymidine (AZT).

Despite initial success, these “monotherapies” proved to be ineffective in slowing the progression of the virus.

This failure was due to HIV’s ability to quickly develop resistance to these single-drug treatments. In other words, HIV mutated (changed) into a form that no longer responded to the individual drugs.

In 1995, a combination drug treatment known as the “AIDS cocktail” was introduced. This type of therapy was originally known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). It’s also called combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) or simply antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Regardless of its name, ART has led to dramatic improvements in people who have used it. People have experienced decreased viral loads (the amount of HIV in their body) and increased counts of CD4 cells (immune cells that are destroyed by HIV).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , people who take antiretroviral therapy as prescribed and maintain an undetectable viral load have “effectively no risk” of transmitting HIV to others.

In addition, life expectancies have become much closer to typical life expectancies. One of the main reasons for ART’s success is that it helps prevent resistance to any single drug used.

Read on to learn more about the life-changing treatment called ART.