The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans

It is so easy for me to get wrapped up in my life, distracted by children and chores and exercising and the like.

It is very easy for me to go WEEKS without watching the news.  I spend a lot of time in the car, which would be a perfect time to catch up on the news, EXCEPT I almost always have children with me and they enjoy listening to their kiddie music.  Unfortunately, I rarely slow down long enough to read the major headlines and to even give a glance to what is going on around me.  Shame on me.

I admit, I know this is wrong and I should make the time to KNOW what is going on not only in the US, but around the world.

Today is World Aids Day.

Did You Know……

• Between 1884 and 1924, somewhere near modern-day Kinshasa in West Central Africa, a hunter kills a chimpanzee. Some of the animal’s blood enters the hunter’s body, possibly through an open wound. The blood carries a virus harmless to the chimp but lethal to humans: HIV.  The virus spreads as colonial cities sprout up, but deaths are blamed on other causes.
• Not until 1986 does everybody agree to call the virus HIV: human immunodeficiency virus.
• AIDS stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
• Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV/AIDS weakens a person’s ability to fight infections and cancer. HIV transmission can occur with unprotected sex or with needle sharing. Symptoms of HIV vary widely. A person may have HIV symptoms or AIDS symptoms without knowing it until they get HIV testing. There is no HIV cure at this time although medications can delay the onset of AIDS.
• AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since 1981?
• 1.1 million Americans are among the 33 million people now living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
• In 1989, scientists find that even before AIDS symptoms develop, HIV replicates wildly in the blood. The goal of treatment shifts to keeping HIV at low levels.
• In 1991- 1992, the red ribbon is introduced as a symbol of AIDS solidarity.  AIDS becomes the leading cause of death in U.S. men aged 25-44.
• In 2006-2007, HIV treatment is shown to extend life by 24 years, at a cost of $618,900.
• Of the 33 million people now living with HIV, 3 million are getting treatment. That’s less than a third of those who need immediate treatment.

So yeah, at first, I considered not even sharing this information.  I wondered briefly if anyone would take offense to reading about AIDS here at Shrinking Jeans.  Then I thought, I have to share this.  I am sure there are others out there reading this who want to be in the know, or at least up to date with what is going on in the world.

I need to pop the bubble I am living in and get with the program.  A world DOES exist outside of me, my children, and the life we have.

Source: WebMd Slideshow, WebMd HiV & AIDS Health Center

Around 1900, a hunter got the AIDS virus from a Pan troglodytes chimpanzee.