by Ziba Kashef
Bianca Yuh, a third-year student at Yale School of Medicine, spent last summer working on her thesis with the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a key source of data on HIV-infected veterans. She was interested in investigating factors that determine positive and negative outcomes for older people with HIV infection after they receive treatment. Her findings, published March 11 in Clinical Infectious Diseases, suggest an easy intervention that requires no additional medication or diagnostic evaluation.
Yuh and her co-authors, including Janet Tate, associate research scientist in medicine at Yale School of Medicine, looked at weight status in more than 4,000 HIV-infected older adults when they started antiretroviral therapy (ART) and one year later. They also analyzed patient mortality rates within five years.
The researchers found that a weight gain of 10-20 pounds was associated with lower mortality in normal-weight, HIV-infected individuals. However, there was no benefit in gaining weight for patients who were overweight or obese at the start of treatment, the study showed.
Because HIV infection increases metabolic demand on patients, weight gain may indicate controlled infection and improved health, the study noted. The findings suggest that providers should advise patients that some weight gain is to be expected after ART initiation, but tell patients who are already overweight or obese to avoid weight gain with exercise and a healthy diet.
Explore further: Postoperative mortality rates low among patients with HIV prescribed ART
More information: "Weight Change After Antiretroviral Therapy and Mortality" Clin Infect Dis. first published online March 11, 2015 DOI: 10.1093/cid/civ192
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by Ziba Kashef
Bianca Yuh, a third-year student at Yale School of Medicine, spent last summer working on her thesis with the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a key source of data on HIV-infected veterans. She was interested in investigating factors that determine positive and negative outcomes for older people with HIV infection after they receive treatment. Her findings, published March 11 in Clinical Infectious Diseases, suggest an easy intervention that requires no additional medication or diagnostic evaluation.
Yuh and her co-authors, including Janet Tate, associate research scientist in medicine at Yale School of Medicine, looked at weight status in more than 4,000 HIV-infected older adults when they started antiretroviral therapy (ART) and one year later. They also analyzed patient mortality rates within five years.
The researchers found that a weight gain of 10-20 pounds was associated with lower mortality in normal-weight, HIV-infected individuals. However, there was no benefit in gaining weight for patients who were overweight or obese at the start of treatment, the study showed.
Because HIV infection increases metabolic demand on patients, weight gain may indicate controlled infection and improved health, the study noted. The findings suggest that providers should advise patients that some weight gain is to be expected after ART initiation, but tell patients who are already overweight or obese to avoid weight gain with exercise and a healthy diet.
Explore further: Postoperative mortality rates low among patients with HIV prescribed ART
More information: "Weight Change After Antiretroviral Therapy and Mortality" Clin Infect Dis. first published online March 11, 2015 DOI: 10.1093/cid/civ192
Medical Xpress on facebook
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Postoperative mortality rates low among patients with HIV prescribed ART
Feb 25, 2015
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Predicting survival among those aging with HIV infection
Jan 29, 2013
(Medical Xpress)—A new collaborative study led by Yale, the VA Healthcare System, and the North American Cohort Collaboration supports the accuracy of an index used for predicting mortality as patients ...
Pregnancy weight gain tilts the scales for child becoming obese
Mar 09, 2015
Unhealthy weight gain in pregnancy has been linked with infant size and body composition but until now little was known about its long-term association with childhood obesity among low-income and multi-ethnic youth. For the ...
More otologic symptoms, hearing loss for HIV-infected
Mar 06, 2015
(HealthDay)—Otologic symptoms and hearing loss are more common among patients with HIV than uninfected controls, according to a study published online March 5 in JAMA Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery.
Rapid and unexpected weight gain after fecal transplant
Feb 04, 2015
A woman successfully treated for a recurrent Clostridium difficile infection with stool from an overweight donor rapidly gained weight herself afterwards, becoming obese, according to a case report published in the new jo ...
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New lead against HIV could finally hobble the virus's edge
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Mar 17, 2015
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Mar 13, 2015
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A new approach to care for patients with advanced HIV in Tanzania and Zambia, combining community support and screening for a type of meningitis, has reduced deaths by 28%.
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