HIV Drugs Work Best If Taken Before AIDS Symptoms Begin

New research indicates that persons diagnosed with the AIDS virus are better off taking powerful medicines before their symptoms appear. So called “drug cocktails” combining three or more strong medications can be hard on the body. Researchers discovered in a new study that patients who started the drugs early and took them continuously developed 28 percent fewer cases of serious complications. These include kidney failure and peripheral neuropathy (numbness in hands and feet caused by nerve damage).


A surprising finding was that if you didn’t develop toxicity in the first six to twelve months, the risks of complications went down rather than up. Researchers examined medical records of 2,304 patients with HIV in eight cities in the U.S. Patients were placed in five groups, depending on their white-blood-cell counts – an index of the degree of their illness. Risks of kidney failure and neuropathy were studied for all five groups.

Reduced side effects were seen in 28 percent of patients who started treatment early, before their cell counts dropped. These findings were presented in February at a scientific conference in Denver, Colorado. Scientists were encouraged to find that in one quarter of patients, the harsh side-effects could be avoided or minimized, regardless of length of time on the drugs. The key was to start on drug cocktails early.

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