It's not so bad getting AIDS anymore...

And keep in mind that while the current life expectancy is 24 years, we cannot be sure what kinds of medicines may be developed in the next 24 years that will enable people to live still longer.

That being said, it is still decidedly unpleasant. I was reading the other day that most current HIV medications are unable to pass the blood-brain barrier and that the brain is one of the first places the virus settles in. So even if the medication keeps one's viral load down in the blood, the virus can continue to replicate in the brain. The result is a mild form of dementia. Not the same as people used to get in the advanced stages of AIDS, but a loss in mental capacity that can reach as much as 25%. One of the main mental faculties affected is memory, meaning that the mental problems often cause patients to forget to take their anti-viral medications. And the medications are also highly toxic, with patients sometimes dying due to what the medicines do to them, rather than what the virus does.

Believe me, this is something I have to stay informed about, probably more than most of the rest of you, since it is still so common in the gay community. It still scares me to death, although you'd be shocked how many gay guys today think it's not that big a deal or think it can't happen to them.