Expert: Dana Krempels, Ph.D. - 12/23/2010

Question
sir .
as we know that AIDS stands for " acquired immuno deficiency syndrome " but , tell me the means of "acquired" , "immuno" ,  "deficiency" , "syndrome" .

please explain in detail and in simple language .

Answer
Dear Abhijeet,

By "acquired", the description indicates that the condition is not congenital.  That is, not present from birth, but gotten during the individual's lifetime, from the environment (in this case, sexual contact or other route of transmission used by HIV).  "Immuno" is short for "immune system" and "deficiency" means that the immune system is not functioning as it should normally function.  It is deficient/faulty.

A person with AIDS has the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that causes AIDS by attacking cells (T-cells, a type of white blood cell) in the immune system and inactivating or killing them.  This leaves the body defenseless against any type of pathogen, even those that don't cause disease in healthy humans.  

I hope this helps you understand.

Dana