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Anti-HIV treatment in women
Effectiveness of treatment in women
Anti-HIV treatment regimens, often called highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART for short, work just as well in women as men. To find out more about anti-HIV treatment see the booklets Anti-HIV Drugs and HIV Therapy in this series.
However, you may be more likely than a man to get higher blood levels of some drugs, probably because men tend to weigh more than women and the doses of anti-HIV drugs were decided after clinical trials that involved many more men than women.
Having higher blood levels of a drug can mean that there's more of it available to fight HIV. But on the downside it could mean that you might be more likely to get side-effects. For example, higher levels of the protease inhibitor indinavir in women can cause more side-effects in the kidneys.
Because of the risk of developing severe liver-related side-effects, women who have a CD4 cell count above 250 should not start treatment with the NNRTI nevirapine.
Side-effects of HIV treatment in women
Women may be more likely to get some other side-effects as well. Changes in body shape called lipodystrophy may affect women more than men. It also seems that women are more likely to get unusual fat accumulation in certain parts of the body, such as the breasts, without the fat loss that is often seen in men.
Changes in the levels of fats and sugars in the blood – cholesterol, glucose and triglycerides, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke – are also part of lipodystrophy. The risk of heart disease or stroke from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is increased if you have high cholesterol. If you are considering HRT and are taking HAART, or have high cholesterol, you should carefully consider the risks and make sure that the levels of fats and sugars in your blood monitored regularly.
To find out more, see the booklet called Lipodystrophy in this series.
Anti-HIV treatment regimens, often called highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART for short, work just as well in women as men. To find out more about anti-HIV treatment see the booklets Anti-HIV Drugs and HIV Therapy in this series.
However, you may be more likely than a man to get higher blood levels of some drugs, probably because men tend to weigh more than women and the doses of anti-HIV drugs were decided after clinical trials that involved many more men than women.
Having higher blood levels of a drug can mean that there's more of it available to fight HIV. But on the downside it could mean that you might be more likely to get side-effects. For example, higher levels of the protease inhibitor indinavir in women can cause more side-effects in the kidneys.
Because of the risk of developing severe liver-related side-effects, women who have a CD4 cell count above 250 should not start treatment with the NNRTI nevirapine.
Side-effects of HIV treatment in women
Women may be more likely to get some other side-effects as well. Changes in body shape called lipodystrophy may affect women more than men. It also seems that women are more likely to get unusual fat accumulation in certain parts of the body, such as the breasts, without the fat loss that is often seen in men.
Changes in the levels of fats and sugars in the blood – cholesterol, glucose and triglycerides, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke – are also part of lipodystrophy. The risk of heart disease or stroke from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is increased if you have high cholesterol. If you are considering HRT and are taking HAART, or have high cholesterol, you should carefully consider the risks and make sure that the levels of fats and sugars in your blood monitored regularly.
To find out more, see the booklet called Lipodystrophy in this series.