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MONDAY, June 3, 2019 (HealthDay News) – According to a new scientific statement by the American Heart Association, these patients face a double blow for people living with HIV, but face higher heart risks, but also to significant barriers to health care.
In the United States, three-quarters of HIV-positive people are over 45 years old and have significant health problems at an earlier age than non-HIV-positive people, according to the June 3 statement in the newspaper. circulation.
"Aging with HIV differs greatly from the aging problems that people in general face," wrote Levin from a patient perspective. Levin has been living with HIV for 35 years and is the founder and executive director of the National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project.
"On average, people living with HIV over the age of 60 have between three and seven health problems, including heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, kidney failure, weaknesses and bone diseases. and many take between 12 and 15 medications a day, "explained Levin. in a heart badociation press release.
"As they get older, people living with HIV are often lonely and disabled, tied to their homes because of depression and socially isolated, and they often suffer from a lack of mobility and Reduced ability to perform normal daily tasks We urgently need more awareness and more patient-centered research and care efforts for this vulnerable population, "said Levin.
Antiretroviral therapy has turned the HIV infection from a deadly disease into a chronic and manageable disease. However, HIV-positive people have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and sudden cardiac death than people without HIV.
This increased risk is due to common factors such as diet, lifestyle, smoking and HIV-specific risk factors, such as chronic activation of the immune system and inflammation badociated with HIV infection.
Smoking is common among HIV-positive people (42% are current smokers), as is excessive alcohol consumption, substance abuse, mood and anxiety disorders, low levels of alcohol use. Physical activity and poor physical condition of the heart and lungs, all of which can increase the risk of diseases of the heart and blood vessels, according to the statement.
According to Dr. Matthew Feinstein, chair of the report's writing group, "our knowledge about HIV-related heart and blood vessel disease is partly due, in part, to the fact that HIV transition from one's own to another. A fatal disease with a chronic disease is relatively recent, so long-term data on the risks of heart disease are limited. "Feinstein is an badistant professor of medicine and preventive medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
The statement also notes that many people living with HIV have difficulty accessing quality health care because of factors such as stigma, level of education, place of residence, lack of knowledge. in the area of health care, mental retardation, injecting drug use, mobility issues, frailty, depression and social security isolation.
Disparities in age, race, ethnicity and gender also affect care for people living with HIV.
A healthy lifestyle that includes not smoking, regular physical activity, low or no alcohol consumption and a nutritious diet can help reduce the risk of heart disease in people living with HIV said Feinstein.
Other measures may include cholesterol-lowering statins and drugs that reduce the risk of blood clots, but further research is needed to confirm the benefits of such treatments.
More information
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have more to live with HIV.
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