HIV Home Testing What It Really Means to Test Positive or Negative for HIV?
Making the decision to get tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is a big choice to make. Taking the option of getting tested at home is a relief to many. Today, there are HIV home testing kits available for you to insure confidentiality of your results.
Many people ask the question, "Why should you get tested for HIV?"
There are a lot of reasons that people get tested for HIV. Maybe you're sexually active and have engaged in behaviors that put you at risk of HIV infection. Maybe you're starting a new relationship and have decided to get tested together. Whatever the case, there are many reasons why you should consider getting tested for HIV. If you've had sexual intercourse (vaginal, oral, or anal) without a condom or you've learned that a partner was not monogamous, or you have been sexually assaulted. Sometimes condoms are not reliable and they break.
If you have been sharing needles or syringes to inject drugs (including steroids) or for body piercing, tattooing, or any other reasons. If you have had multiple sexual partners, found out that a partner has shared needles, learned that a past or current partner is HIV-positive, discovered that a partner has been exposed to HIV, had a recent diagnosis of another sexually transmitted disease (STD) or if you are pregnant.
HIV home tests can tell if you have been infected with HIV. When HIV infection occurs, the body develops antibodies to the virus. The HIV test checks to see if your body is making these antibodies. However, it doesn't test for AIDS.
There are three different ways to be tested for HIV: a blood sample, saliva or a urine sample. HIV home testing kits require a blood sample, which can be easily obtained by pricking your finger. HIV home test kits come with a detailed instruction booklet with illustrations which will take you through pre-test registration and counseling; collecting your blood sample; shipping that sample to an accredited laboratory then calling back for test results. You have the option of post-test counseling and referrals. Your results will then be available anywhere from 3-7 days, depending on which HIV home testing kit you purchase.
A positive test result means that your body is making HIV antibodies. If the test finds antibodies, that means you are infected with HIV. However, it doesn't mean you have AIDS or will develop AIDS soon.
A negative test result means no HIV antibodies were found in your body. But, you could still be infected if you have been exposed to HIV in the last six months. Your body may not have produced enough HIV antibodies to show up yet. Consider getting tested again in a few months.
If you test positive, find a health-care professional who has experience with HIV treatment. The earlier you begin treatment, the more likely the virus will develop slowly, so you can stay healthy longer. Many HIV positive people live for many years without developing AIDS, but the odds are better the earlier you start treatment.
If you test negative, practice abstinence or practice safer sex. Use a latex condom during each act of vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse. Don't share needles or syringes to inject drugs or for any other reason. Remember, if you had unprotected sex or any other risky behavior that can transmit HIV in the last six months prior to getting tested, you will need to get a follow-up test in six months to be sure you are not infected.
HIV home testing kits offer anonymity because they use code numbers or names to identify your test. Your name is never used. You use the code to get your results. You are the only person who knows your results. With anonymous testing, you get to decide who to tell and when.
The article is prepared by Christy Berger who writes for TestCountry.com. Some information about this article is taken from these resources
www.testcountry.com/site_map/HIV_TESTS.htm
www.testcountry.com/site_map/CONFIDENTIAL_HIV_EXPRESS_TEST_KIT.htm
http://resources.testcountry.com/HIV-Home-Testing.htm
Teenage Drug Abuse Testing Hard Question to Ask Yourself: Does your Teenager Use Drugs?
Teenage drug abuse is at an all-time high. No pun intended. Youth between the ages of 12-17 are being reported using illegal drugs If you are a parent, you know that teenage drug abuse is not an imaginary problem in our society, but instead is a very real, dangerous and quite far spread activity amongst teens. Unfortunately, to their child's detriment, parents sometimes like to delude themselves with the fantasies that a good private school, active participation in the church or synagogue's youth group program, strict curfews, and parental generosity will somehow deter their growing child from the dangers that lurk amongst peer groups, pushers, and the darkness of the dance clubs. Teenage drug abuse is a commonplace occurrence, and parents as well as caregivers need to be alert to the signs thereof, even in the most innocent of settings.
Frequently, you can hear teens making statements to their parents, "it's not like I am smoking crack" or "it's just a little pot, it can't hurt me". If you're suspicious about your teen's drug abuse or illegal drug usage, the best way to find out is by administering a teenage drug test from home.
If you're hesitant to attempt testing your child and suspect that your teen is abusing marijuana (aka pot, maryjane, chron, weed, herb, bud, dope, grass) there are simple THC (Tetra Hydro Cannabinol) detection wipes that you can purchase. These wipes can be used on any surface which your teen son or daughter may be smoking near, such as the walls of their room. If the test comes up THC positive, the next step would be to administer a drug test either through saliva, hair, or urine. If you're not sure what drug your teenager is abusing, there are Drug Detectors & Drug Identification Kits for Drug Testing available.
Not only can you test for THC found in marijuana, you can also test for other common drugs such as; cocaine (aka coke, snow, crack), ecstasy (aka XTC, X, Adam), opiates (aka heroin, codeine, opium, brown sugar), amphetamines (aka speed, whizz, amph, billy, phets, sulph), methamphetamine (aka speed, meth, chalk or in its smoked form, it is often referred to as ice, crystal, crank, or glass), barbiturates (aka barbs, downers, barbies, barbita, seconal, red devils, blue devils and yellows),
benzodiazepines (aka tranks, downers, benzos), oxycodone (aka oxy, hillbilly) and phencyclidine (aka PCP, angel dust, supergrass, killer weed, KJ, embalming fluid, rocket fuel and sherms).
Other drugs that teens may be addicted to and can be tested for are propoxyphene (PPX), tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) methadone (MET), morphine (MOP) and the popular LSD also known as acid.
Not only can teenagers abuse illegal drugs but they can also abuse and become addicted to prescription drugs found in your medicine cabinet. Commonly misused prescription drugs are Vicodin, Xanax, Valium, Adderall, Ativan and Fioricet.
The more that teenage drug abuse will continue to claim many victims, the more teenage drug testing kits will become popular. The most important step in helping a teen to avoid becoming another statistic is simply by not allowing rationalization of drug abuse to take root in the mindset of your growing child. Instead, children should be taught from the earliest years to take responsibility for their own actions, and thus many of the drug myths so prevalent in today's teenage society will not find any more believers. This approach will not eradicate teenage drug abuse but it will close off one more avenue by which teens and their pushers have been able to delude themselves into using substances.
www.testcountry.com/resources/for_parents.asp
http://drugtestingkits.testcountry.com/home-drug-testing.htm
http:// resources.testcountry.com/Teenage-Drug-Abuse-Testing.htm
School Drug Testing Pros & Cons of Student Drug Testing at Schools?
There are many pros and cons in the school drug testing debate that is a hot topic of discussion in schools and amongst parents, teachers and students these days.
Some say that the main purpose of random school drug testing is not to catch kids using drugs, but to prevent them from ever using drugs, illegal or not. Once teenagers are using drugs it is much harder for them to break their addiction. Maybe it's the issue of peer pressure, which is the greatest cause of kids trying drugs. If by testing the athletes or other school leaders, we can get them to say no to drugs, it will be easier for other kids to say no.
On the other hand, one of the fundamental features of our legal system is that we are presumed innocent of any wrongdoing unless and until the government proves otherwise. Random school drug testing of student athletes turns this presumption on its head, telling students that we assume they are using drugs until they prove to the contrary with a urine sample.
"If school officials have reason to believe that a particular student is using drugs, they already have the power to require that student to submit to a drug test," said ACLU-NJ Staff Attorney David Rocah.
The constitutional prohibition against "unreasonable" searches also embodies the principle that merely belonging to a certain group is not a sufficient reason for a search, even if many members of that group are suspected of illegal activity. For example, even if it were true that most women with red sports cars were drug users, the police would not be free to stop all women who drive red sports cars and search them for illegal drugs.
Students who participate in athletics, music programs, and after-school activities could increasingly be subject to random drug testing under a program promoted by the Bush administration.
There are some parents, teachers and school officials who are calling it a heavy-handed, ineffective way to discourage drug use that undermine trust and invades students' privacy.
In many workplaces and in the military, there's been drug abuse testing going on, but courts have ruled that public schools cannot impose random tests on an entire student body.
However, the Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that schools could randomly test student athletes who are not suspected of drug use. In 2002 it was ruled that all students who participate in voluntary activities, like cheerleading, band, or debate, could be subjected to random tests as well. Since then, the Bush administration has spent $8 million to help schools pay for drug testing programs. The White House hopes to spend $15 million on drug-testing grants in the next fiscal year.
There are about 600 school districts in about 15,000 nationwide that use drug tests, according to officials from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. White House officials liken drug testing to programs that screen for tuberculosis or other diseases, and said students who test positive don't face criminal charges.
Others believe that if parents would just take the time to talk with their teenagers about drug abuse and if they suspect their teen is abusing drugs, the parents need to take actions beginning in the home. There are many teen drug testing home kits on the market these days. If parents upheld their roles as parents, then teachers, coaches and the government wouldn't need to step in and push the issue of school drug testing.
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http://drugtestingkits.testcountry.com/home-drug-testing.htm
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