ASK
DR. SANDLER
As a service to our website visitors, Dr. Sandler will update the "Ask the Doctor" section monthly. We encourage anyone to submit questions via the special Question-Submission Form. However please be aware that Dr. Sandler
cannot answer your questions individually. A selection from the month's submissions will be chosen to appear in the "Ask the Doctor". All other questions cannot be answered.
Question 1: Can I get HIV from deep kissing?
Answer: The HIV virus is present in all bodily fluids
including saliva. However, the amount of HIV present in saliva is very low compared
to semen and blood. There are no known documented cases of transmission from kissing
alone .
Question 2: If both my partner and I are both HIV+ why do
we need to use protection during sex?
Answer: You may have a strain of the virus that is resistant to certain HIV drugs and your partner could have
a strain resistant to others. If you became infected with your partner's strain of the virus, your current medications may stop working.
Question 3: I'm sick and tired of taking medications and their side effects. When can
I stop taking them?
Answer: Scheduled treatment interruptions or STI's have not been shown to be beneficial
as of the present. Interruption of medication may cause resistance to and/or loss of T-cells and increase in viral load.
Question 4: What causes my arms and legs to get so skinny?
Answer: No one knows for certain what causes lipodystrophy which loosely defined is the loss of fat in the arms, legs, and face, and increased fat in the abdomen, back of the neck, and breasts. Some the changes may be from medications such as Zerit or the protease inhibitors, or perhaps from the HIV virus itself.
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