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Research Highlights
HIV Treatment and Vascular Disease Study Results
Taken from the Veterans Health Administration Highlights dated March 1, 2002
An analysis based on new data from the world’s largest group of HIV/AIDS patients -- those in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical system -- shows that concerns may be unfounded about vascular disease from the newer treatments for the disease. The results are being presented on September 28, 2002, at the 9th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle, Wash. by Dr. Samuel A. Bozzette of the VA San Diego Health Care System and colleagues.
Aggressive, new drug combinations have been shown effective against HIV/AIDS in the past few years. However, physicians have worried because these drugs have associated abnormalities in lipid metabolism (how the body processes certain fats) and because of reports of possible increased risk of heart attacks and strokes as a result.
The research team's analysis included data derived from the VA's Immunology Case Registry, which captures information on every HIV patient in the VA health care system, along with other sources of data, such as hospital admissions and causes of death. The analysis covered 36,766 patients given the new combination HIV drug treatment who were seen in the VA system from early January 1993 to mid-2001, with an average patient follow-up period of more than three years. The team found good news. There was both a sharp decline in death rate and a slight decline (rather than an increase) in the rates of heart disease and strokes in the patients.
The researchers caution that heart problems could still surface as patients are treated for longer periods of time and add that better HIV treatments are still needed.
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