Patients are living longer as HIV treatments progress. They are also living high-quality lives. Modern medicine has miraculously transformed a tragic terminal illness into a manageable condition that can be lived with and kept in check for years and even decades allowing for a longer fuller life.
The only downfall of this extension is that a connection seems to be forming between HIV patients with longer lives and the development of cardiovascular issues including heart disease, stroke, and heart attack.
This partly stems from ramped up easily available testing and earlier treatment options. Because of this, those with HIV are not developing into full-blown AIDS. This lowers the incidences of AIDS-related complications. It does correlate though to the early onset as well as higher relative risks for chronic diseases among HIV patients.
The risk of stroke and heart disease among those HIV positive was partly linked to an antiretroviral therapy used to help suppress infections. It has been noted that those who were on these antiretroviral continually showed a lower risk than their intermittent counterparts.
Researchers believe that the elevated heart disease risk may be directly related to chronic inflammation caused by having an autoimmune issue. Chronic inflammation is linked to the build-up of plaque in the arteries.
No matter if you are HIV positive, Negative, or Don’t know your status, cardiovascular conditioning is at the very center of our health. If you are HIV positive or have developed the more advanced Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome it is important to check in with your cardiologist on a regular basis as recommended.
There is a current large-scale trial going on right now. It is called REPRIEVE and is being funded by the National Institutes of Health. It examines whether statins can help prevent cardiovascular disease in those living with HIV.
When the results are published, we will pass them on to our readers here at Tampa Cardiovascular Associates. WWW.TAMPACARDIO.COM. Give us a call at the office to schedule your consultation. 813-975-2800.