AIDS

12 Pages 3098 Words

bumps occurring under the skin, inside the mouth, nose, eyelids or rectum are also symptoms. They resemble bruises, but don't disappear. They are usually harder than the skin around them. White spots or unusual blemishes in the mouth is another symptom (Quackenbush 24).

There are two illnesses that commonly affect AIDS patients. One is a type of pneumonia called pneumocystis carinii. The other one is a type of cancer called kaposi's sarcoma, which attacks the skin (What are HIV/AIDS 1). Pneumocystis carinii is a yeast infection in the esophagus. It causes severe pain when swallowing which results in weight loss and dehydration. It is the leading cause of death among AIDS patients. Kaposi's sarcoma are tumors that look like bruises, but grow. These two diseases plus many other are called opportunistic diseases. For decades cases declined in the U.S. until the mid-1980's. Since the mid-80's cases are growing especially in HIV infected people. People with AIDS eventually contract atleast one of the opportunistic diseases. These are the disease...