Life expectancy for people with HIV now 'near normal'

Conclusion This study is good news for anyone affected by HIV. It shows that people who start on modern HIV treatments can now live almost as long as people without HIV. The study is a demonstration of the enormous transformation in life expectancy for many people with HIV since the 1980s. However, the study can't tell us why these improvements have come about. We know that drug treatments have improved greatly since 1996, when the study began, so it's reasonable to think that drug treatments play an important role. However, there are other factors that might be important, such as earlier diagnosis and treatment, quick and effective response to the infections and cancers that HIV leaves people vulnerable to, and greater treatment choice when a drug combination fails. The study has some limitations. The participants in the study were all treated in high income countries in Europe or North America. Improvements on this scale may not apply to resource-poor parts of the world, where people don't have ready and reliable access to ART. Also, the life expectancy figures given are only averages. They don't guarantee that people with HIV will live to those ages, any more than average life expectancy for the general population guarantees that's how long you will live. The researchers note that people who inject drugs, and people whose immune system is already damaged by the time they are diagnosed with HIV, have seen much less improvement. The challenge is to find ways to extend the b...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Medical practice Source Type: news