Zidovudine: What It Is, How It Works, and What You Need to Know
When you hear zidovudine, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor used to treat HIV infection. Also known as AZT, it was one of the first drugs approved to fight HIV and gave hope to people facing a death sentence in the 1980s. Today, it’s rarely used alone, but it still plays a role in preventing mother-to-child transmission and in combination therapies where other drugs aren’t an option.
Zidovudine doesn’t cure HIV, but it slows the virus down by blocking an enzyme HIV needs to copy itself. This gives the immune system a fighting chance. It’s often paired with other antiretroviral drugs like lamivudine, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor commonly combined with zidovudine in fixed-dose regimens or tenofovir, a newer antiretroviral with fewer side effects and better long-term safety. These combinations form the backbone of modern HIV treatment. While newer drugs are more effective and easier to take, zidovudine remains in use because it’s cheap, well-studied, and works in resource-limited settings.
People taking zidovudine need to watch for side effects like anemia, low white blood cell counts, and muscle weakness. These aren’t common for everyone, but they’re serious enough that doctors monitor blood work regularly. It’s also used during pregnancy to reduce the chance of passing HIV to the baby—this single use has saved hundreds of thousands of children worldwide.
What you’ll find in the posts below isn’t a list of drug reviews or marketing fluff. It’s real, practical comparisons: how zidovudine stacks up against other HIV meds, how it fits into broader treatment plans, and what patients actually experience. You’ll see how it connects to other medications like those used for depression, blood pressure, or nerve pain—not because they’re the same, but because they’re all part of the bigger picture of managing chronic illness with multiple drugs. If you’re taking zidovudine, or know someone who is, this collection gives you the facts without the jargon.
