The causes of body fat changes in people with HIV are still unknown. This makes it very difficult to give clear advice about how to avoid lipodystrophy and how to treat the problem.

At first people with HIV and doctors thought body fat changes were caused only by protease inhibitors. In fact, the changes have also been seen in some people who have never taken protease inhibitors – but not as often.

It’s not yet clear whether taking a boosted protease inhibitor (a protease inhibitor, such as lopinavir (Kaletra), fosamprenavir (Telzir), atazanavir (Reyataz) or tipranavir (Aptivus) which are boosted by adding a small dose of ritonavir) will increase your risk compared to taking a single protease inhibitor.