Side-effects

Side-effects features

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  Growing pain

  As people with HIV live longer, they are facing pains old and new. David McLay reports on peripheral neuropathy and arthritis....

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Managing kidney disease in people living with HIV

  Part of a series on kidney disease in resource-limited settings. This edition looks at assessment and management of kidney disease in people with HIV....

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Acute and chronic kidney disease

  Part of a series on kidney disease in resource-limited settings. This edition looks at the causes and prevalence of acute and chronic kidney disease in...

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  HIV and the kidneys

  It’s becoming increasingly clear that, when it comes to HIV, amongst the most vulnerable organs in the body are those two little waste filters in the small...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Will a long life be a good one?

  People with HIV are now living into old age – an old age many regard with fear, as Lisa Power from the Terrence Higgins Trust finds...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Skeleton key: a guide to HIV-related bone loss

  Many people with HIV are at risk of osteoporosis – a progressive thinning of the bones that can lead to breakage. Derek Thaczuk looks at who...

  From:HIV treatment update

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  Body fat changes in people with HIV: a clinical review

  This article reviews the antiretroviral side-effect of lipoatrophy (fat loss) in resource-limited settings....

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Switching from efavirenz to nevirapine in women with higher CD4 counts

  This issue provides an overview of the risks and benefits, and real-life experiences, of switching from efavirenz to nevirapine in women with higher CD4 counts,...

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Peripheral neuropathy in people with HIV in resource-limited settings

  This article provides an overview of peripheral neuropathy in people with HIV, resulting from the toxic side effects of medication, diabetes or other condtions...

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

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  Peripheral neuropathy: diagnosis and treatment

  This article looks at the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral neuropathy especially in relation to antiretrovirals. ...

  From:HIV & AIDS treatment in practice

Side-effects in your own words

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  Life on HIV treatment – a personal perspective

  I’ve been taking HIV treatment for ten years – that's longer than the average life expectancy of someone with HIV when I was diagnosed back in 1991. I’ve...

  From:In your own words

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  My life with HIV

  I was born in Zambia in 1973 and came to England in April 1994 to live with my cousin to help her look after her...

  From:In your own words

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  Time will tell

  I was devastated when I got the news that I was HIV-positive. But I was lucky to have such a supportive GP. It was thanks...

  From:In your own words

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  Starting treatment

  Following my HIV diagnosis in August 2001, my doctor estimated that I would be looking to start therapy in around six years. But following a...

  From:In your own words

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  Finally undetectable!

  After almost 15 years of HIV, and six years of viral load testing, I heard on Thursday, June 21st 2001 that my viral load had...

  From:In your own words

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  'I just take the tablets and get on with my life'

  I was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1997. I'm now 65. It was a bit of a shock. It could never happen to me, after all. I...

  From:In your own words

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  Holiday hassles and HRT

  A much-needed holiday. Tickets, passports, driving licence – all go in my hand luggage. I leave the toiletry bag out till the last minute. I...

  From:In your own words

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  Starting treatment wasn't as scary as I thought!

  I started learning about HIV treatment soon after I was first diagnosed. I had ‘the chat’ with someone, after I got my results – I...

  From:In your own words

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  Getting into the habit

  I try to take my HIV drugs at the same time every day, just before bed. I used to set an alarm on my mobile,...

  From:In your own words

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  Peripheral neuropathy – the sting in the tail

  To begin: It is estimated that between 30% and 40% of HIV patients will develop neuropathy. In the United States alone, there are 20 million sufferers (from...

  From:In your own words

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  Living with peripheral neuropathy

  I didn’t know, at first, why my feet hurt so bad. I would wake up every 90 minutes or so every night. Because of the ‘way’ they...

  From:In your own words

Side-effects news from aidsmap

• HIV treatment reduces risk of fractures

  Treatment with antiretroviral drugs reduces the risk of low-impact fractures, according to a case-controlled study published in the on-line edition of AIDS. Investigators compared fracture incidence between patients taking HIV therapy and non-treated individuals. Despite the overall beneficial effect of treatment, ...

  3 hours ago | Michael Carter

• Tenofovir associated with increased risk of kidney disease

  Treatment with tenofovir is associated with a modestly increased risk of three key markers of kidney disease, US investigators report in the online edition of AIDS. The large study involved over 10,000 patients who started antiretroviral therapy between 1997 and ...

  13 February 2012 | Michael Carter

• Limited evidence that vitamin D supplements of any benefit for patients with HIV

  There is only scant evidence that vitamin D supplementation is of benefit for patients with HIV, according to UK investigators writing in the January 28th  edition of AIDS. The authors conducted a systematic review of studies examining the prevalence ...

  10 January 2012 | Michael Carter

• Europeans find high prevalence of lipodystrophy in HIV-positive children

  A European study published in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes has found a high prevalence of body fat changes and elevated lipids in HIV-positive children. Treatment with d4T (stavudine, Zerit) and a ...

  05 January 2012 | Michael Carter

• Raltegravir kinder to bones and body fat than boosted protease inhibitors in Spanish trial

  Raltegravir (Isentress)-based treatment appears to have a more favourable impact on fat accumulation and bone metabolism compared to therapy based on a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor, according to Spanish research published in the online edition of AIDS. The study involved ...

  28 November 2011 | Michael Carter

• Product information for raltegravir updated to warn of Stevens Johnson syndrome and hypersensitivity reaction

  Product information for the HIV integrase inhibitor raltegravir (Isentress) has been updated in the US. The “Warnings and Precautions” section now cautions that rare cases of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a severe and potentially life-threatening skin reaction, have been associated with the drug, ...

  10 November 2011 | Michael Carter

• A fifth of patients discontinue Atripla within a year, CNS side-effects the main reason

  A fifth of patients who start antiretroviral therapy with Atripla switch to an alternative regimen within a year, according to UK data presented to the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in Chicago. The main ...

  19 September 2011 | Michael Carter

• Raltegravir combined with Kaletra associated with good preservation of bone density over 96 weeks

  A two-drug antiretroviral combination comprising raltegravir and ritonavir-boosted lopinavir has only a modest impact on bone mineral density, a study presented to the International AIDS Society conference (IAS 2011) in Rome shows. The raltegravir (Isentress) and lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) combination had ...

  19 July 2011 | Michael Carter

• Doubt remains if HIV therapy increases the risk of fragility fractures

  The relationship between HIV therapy and fracture risk is far from straightforward, US research presented to the International AIDS Society conference (IAS 2011) in Rome suggests. An analysis including over 56,000 HIV-positive military veterans who received care between 1988 and 2009 ...

  18 July 2011 | Michael Carter

• Abacavir matches tenofovir in Canadian patients with high viral load

  The abacavir/3TC nucleoside combination is as potent as tenofovir/FTC, Canadian investigators report in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.  The study involved patients starting HIV therapy for the first time. There was no difference in ...

  13 July 2011 | Michael Carter

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Side-effects news selected from other sources

• Spinal Cord Stimulation Effective for HIV Neuropathy

  Constant spinal cord stimulation delivered through a permanently implanted device can offer pain relief to patients with HIV-related polyneuropathy that is refractory to conservative treatment.

  06 February 2012 | Medscape (requires free registration)

• Malawi Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS wants ARV D4T phased out

  Malawi Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (Manet+) has expressed concern over the delay by government in completely phasing out antiretroviral (ARVs) with stavudine (D4T), a drug which is believed to have more negative side effects.

  01 February 2012 | Daily Times

• Face fillers and dental work—caution needed

  Reconstructive surgery to deal with the loss of subcutaneous fat in the face involved injection of facial fillers. One product used was polyalkylimide gel (PAIG, Bio-Alcamid). However, reports began to emerge from Western Europe of inflammation and infections in both HIV-negative and HIV-positive people with Bio-Alcamid implants. 

  25 January 2012 | CATIE

• Letter Opposing a Proposed Low-dose Stavudine Trial

  We write as people with HIV and community activists with serious and unresolved concerns about the proposed clinical trial comparing stavudine at 20 mg to tenofovir.

  20 December 2011 | Treatment Action Group

• New Roche Screening Test for Abacavir Hypersensitivity Available in Europe

  Roche announced today that its HLA-B*5701 screening test is now commercially available in Europe. HLA-B*5701 screening provides physicians with a means to avoid prescribing drugs to patients at high risk of allergic reactions to a drug called abacavir for the treatment of HIV and AIDS.

  19 December 2011 | AEGiS

• Novel HIV-Associated Diarrhea Drug Crofelemer Goes to FDA for Approval Review

  Raleigh, North Carolina-based Salix Pharmaceuticals announced on Tuesday, December 14, that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting approved for Crofelemer, a novel therapy for HIV-associated diarrhea. 

  15 December 2011 | AIDSMeds.com

• Salix submits FDA application for Crofelemer for the Treatment of HIV-Associated Diarrhea

  Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. said Wednesday that it submitted Crofelemer, its potential treatment for HIV-associated diarrhea, to the Food and Drug Administration for approval.

  14 December 2011 | CNBC

• HIV-Associated Neuropathy Is More Common In African-American Women

  Results from a recent study indicate that the rate of HIV-associated neuropathy in women may be lower than previously thought but higher in African-American women than in women of other races.

  08 December 2011 | The AIDS Beacon

• Adverse CNS Effects of HCV Treatment Discourage Adherence

  Patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) can experience a marked decline in neuropsychological cognitive function in the first 14 weeks of combination pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy.

  21 November 2011 | Medscape (requires free registration)

• Stavudine, an HIV drug skeleton in India's closet

  An anti-HIV medicine that the World Health Organisation (WHO) wants phased out because of its severe side-effects, including possible disfigurement, continues to be dispensed by the Indian government, a network of HIV-positive people has said.

  13 October 2011 | Calcutta Telegraph

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