Race

A small prospective study of twelve black (mainly African) and eleven white men in London found no difference in metabolic and fat changes based on race. 1 However, other studies have found that African Americans are less likely to experience body fat changes than other races, 2 3 and that white race was associated with a greater prevalence of lipodystrophy compared with Asian and African races. Absence of lipodystrophy has been reported amongst Koreans.4

References

  1. Day TA et al. Comparison of the prevalence of lipodystrophy in HIV positive patients of different ethnicity. Fifth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection, Glasgow, abstract P131, 2000
  2. Wanke C et al. Prevalence of fat deposition and fat atrophy in a cohort of HIV-infected men and women. Seventh Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, San Francisco, abstract 24, 2000
  3. Lichtenstein K et al. Clinical assessment of HIV-associated lipodystrophy in an ambulatory population. AIDS 15(11): 1389-1398, 2001
  4. Chang K et al. Does race protect an oriental population from developing lipodystrophy in HIV-infected individuals on HAART? J Infect Dis 44: 33-38, 2002
This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.