I am HIV-positive. Can I take alcohol?

I am HIV-positive. Can I take alcohol?

M.J.K

Dear M.J.K,
Though moderate alcohol consumption may not affect your health negatively, it is not always possible for one who drinks to regulate themselves. It is, therefore, advisable for one living positively to avoid taking alcohol.
If one has hepatitis, diabetes, hypertension, tuberculosis or high levels of blood fats in addition to HIV, he should especially avoid alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol use may make a person taking antiretrovirals to forget the treatment risking the HIV becoming resistant to the drugs.
Heavy or chronic alcohol drinking may affect the immune system and worsen HIV or related infections.

It also damages the liver which is already at risk of damage by antiretrovirals. A healthy liver is important for the body to process some antiretroviral medicines effectively.
The increase in blood fats caused by some anti-HIV drugs can be made worse by heavy drinking. If one is taking TB treatment (such as Rifadin) or on any other treatments (such as flagyl), he is likely to suffer lots of side effects if he drinks alcohol.

How many ultrasound scans can a pregnant woman have?
Natabi

Dear Natabi,
Determination of gender using ultrasound scanning depends on seeing the penis and scrotum if the baby is a boy and the labia if its a girl. The absence of the penis should not always be taken as sufficient evidence of it being a girl as this is likely to cause inaccuracies.
Correct visualisation of any foetal part depends on factors such as the foetal position, amount of waters (liquor) and thickness of the abdominal wall. Sometimes, even at 28 weeks, the sex may not easily be determined.
In Uganda, most scans will determine sex at around 20 weeks (five months). With some modern equipment, the gender may be determined as early as 11 to 12 weeks, though the earlier it is done, the more inaccurate it may be.
Although there have always been concerns over ultrasound scanning in pregnancy, including fear that the scans cause overheating of foetal cells and may lead to foetal abnormalities, ultrasounds unlike x-rays are generally safe.
Generally, however, it may be done at about seven weeks to confirm pregnancy, exclude ectopic pregnancy, or confirm the heart and therefore determine life and then the age. A second scan is performed at 18 to 20 weeks mainly to look for abnormalities and in some centres eventually at around 32 weeks to assess foetal growth in cases of suspected growth retardation.

Is there a cure?

Although an injection in my joint previously cured a swollen knee, It has caused adverse effects with the second one. What is the cause?
Amos

Dear Amos,
A joint may swell and become painful due to a previous injury, infection, waste substances that may accumulate in the body and joints or an attack by substances our bodies make to fight germs, among many other factors.
An injection in the joint is likely to have been a steroid, which stops the swelling and pain.

Being used in the joint alone limits the side effects.
However, if the cause of the second joint problem is an infection, one may improve and worsen afterwards because the infection has not cleared. Steroids can also worsen infections. Therefore, the cause of your second joint problem may have been different.
Also, the cause of your joint problems could be the same but unlike in the first case, the injection could have introduced an infection in the joint especially if sterile conditions were not properly adhered to. Visit a doctor for further examination.

I recently took cytotec to cause an abortion. It is now six weeks but the bleeding has not stopped. What can I do?
Janat

Dear Janat,
Cytotec is a drug originally used to treat peptic ulcers but is nowadays being abused by many women including those who want to procure an abortion or to begin their period even when they may have missed their period for other reasons other than pregnancy.
Cytotec may contract the womb and expel a pregnancy leaving behind some products of pregnancy in some pregnant women requiring a doctor to go in and ’wash’’ the womb (evacuation).
Anytime a woman expels a pregnancy, hormones remain imbalanced causing irregular bleeding which in most cases stops in a month or two. At 41 years, there could be other causes of vaginal bleeding including fibroids or cancer of the cervix which together with retained products of pregnancy may require you to visit a doctor for a checkup.
Cytotec is a good drug that prevents bleeding in women after delivery or a spontaneous miscarriage and as thus should not be self-prescribed for undiagnosed conditions because it has side effects.