How has the treatment for AIDS progressed and improved?

If you were diagnosed with AIDS in 1990, you might expect to live for only 26 months. During that time, you would be likely to contract a number of opportunistic infections that would make your remaining days unpleasant and painful. The only treatment available had to be taken every four hours - around the clock - and had serious side effects.

Thanks to the approval in 1995 of protease inhibitors - and further advancements in new medicines and combination therapies in the decade since - the AIDS death rate has fallen by 70 percent. If diagnosed today, a range of treatment options (including different combinations of drugs) might be able to keep you symptom-free for years to come.