A year before his death, 17-year-old Atria weighs 7 stone. He has left his village. He is afraid and he is ashamed. He is embarrassed to be here. He is sweating, he fights. His hands tremble. His pulse is rapid. He tries to smile. His problems aren't only the rashes and the intestinal worms. These are easily cleared up. But you can't "clear up" anger and fear, or sleepless nights and panic attacks, or how long a few minutes can seem . . . or the sense of powerlessness watching your own body fall away, the humiliation of disintegration. Some infections are harder to deal with: a mouth filled with ulcers, an inflamed penis. As the disease progresses so do the nausea, the back pain, the headaches. Muscle cramps always hurt, especially when one has very little muscle. Atria has severe diarrhea and the dull aches in his stomach become …

http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/284/2/152.short

A year before his death, 17-year-old Atria weighs 7 stone. He has left his village. He is afraid and he is ashamed. He is embarrassed to be here. He is sweating, he fights. His hands tremble. His pulse is rapid. He tries to smile.

His problems aren't only the rashes and the intestinal worms. These are easily cleared up. But you can't "clear up" anger and fear, or sleepless nights and panic attacks, or how long a few minutes can seem . . . or the sense of powerlessness watching your own body fall away, the humiliation of disintegration.

Some infections are harder to deal with: a mouth filled with ulcers, an inflamed penis. As the disease progresses so do the nausea, the back pain, the headaches. Muscle cramps always hurt, especially when one has very little muscle. Atria has severe diarrhea and the dull aches in his stomach become …