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Life expectancy now considerably exceeds the average in some people with HIV in the US
Gus Cairns, 2014-01-06 13:50:00
A study from the US has found that some groups of people with HIV, especially those treated before their CD4 count falls below 350 cells/mm3, now have life expectancies equal to or even higher than the US general population.
However, it also finds that life expectancy for some other groups – most notably women and non-white people – is still considerably below comparable members of the general population and that for people who inject drugs, life expectancy in the era of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has not improved at all.
A second study, which looked at death rates among both HIV-positive and HIV-negative members of two cohorts of people with or at risk of HIV, has found that the death rate from non-AIDS-defining illnesses among people with HIV who started ART above the 350 cells/mm3 threshold was not, and never has been, any higher than among comparable HIV-negative people.
In other words, the sole contributor to the increased mortality in people who started ART early was AIDS. This was not, however, the case for people who started ART later, who had raised mortality due to non-AIDS-related causes as well as due to AIDS.
Source:1
