HIV treatment
Illness
HIV treatment can mean a longer and healthier life. In fact, doctors are now hopeful that, thanks to anti-HIV drugs, people with HIV will be able to live a more or less normal lifespan.
Doctors are doing a lot of research into the kinds of illness that now occur in people with HIV. One important cause is liver disease. This is often caused by hepatitis B or hepatitis C. But an Italian study has found that over a third of people taking anti-HIV drugs who do not have either of these infections have a fatty liver.
A fatty liver can lead to long-term health problems, including the hardening and scarring of the liver, and metabolic diseases such as hardening of the arteries.
Men were more likely than women to have a fatty liver, and the condition was also associated with metabolic disorders, including high cholesterol and an inability to process sugars properly. Other risk factors included treatment with NRTI drugs and carrying a lot of weight around the waist.
A separate study has found that people with HIV have an increased risk of developing blood clots, such as deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the veins).
Researchers found that these sorts of blood clots happened ten times more often in people with HIV than in the general population. They were associated with older age, recent admission to hospital and use of a catheter into a vein, and a CD4 cell count below 500. There was no evidence that treatment with anti-HIV drugs increased the risk of blood clots.
Living with HIV
HIV isn’t just a medical condition. It can have an impact on every aspect of your life. A recently published study has found that unemployment and poverty are common amongst people with HIV in London. Over half the people in the study were unemployed and many reported not having enough money to live on.
Rates of poverty and unemployment were highest amongst African men and women.
But poverty and unemployment were not inevitable. The researchers found higher rates of employment amongst people diagnosed with HIV more recently. And the majority of people from all communities reported having enough money to meet their basic needs.
A separate piece of research has found that HIV-positive Caribbean people experience high rates of stigma. The researchers believe this is related to “a particularly Caribbean cocktail of fear of contamination, homophobia, religious belief and ignorance”.
The British 10K Run
Congratulations to Caspar and Laura who took part in the eighth annual ASICS British 10K London Run to raise vital funds for NAM.
NAM is trying hard to raise funds to develop some new simple information resources and services, particularly for people who have recently been diagnosed or are just coming to grips with living with HIV, as well as to update some of our most popular materials.
In very damp conditions Caspar completed the course in a little over 46 minutes, and Laura clocked an impressive 56 minutes in her first ever 10K.
You can still show your support for NAM by sponsoring Caspar and Laura: http://www.aidsmap.com/10krun