Though the introduction of HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy) has improved the survival and quality of life for people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), yet this improved prognosis has also resulted in long term negative disorders, namely osteoporosis.
A study published in the Spanish review Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica [Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology] disclosed the prevalence of osteoporosis in HIV-1 infected patients.
From News-Medical.Net:
As far as Olmos is concerned, “recognition that osteoporosis is one of the late consequences of HIV-1 infection compels us to give an early diagnosis of this disease in these patients, in order to take the necessary preventive and therapeutic measures.
For this reason the study emphasises the need to take a detailed clinical history from HIV-1 infected people, and this should include the classic risk factors for osteoporosis, paying particular attention to treatment that has been received (corticosteroid medicines, HAART, etc) and the pattern of the disease.
In addition to the routine laboratory tests, the authors maintain that in order to optimise the prognosis of the patients, “a bone densitometry scan must be performed wherever there are data relating to hypogonadism, treatment with steroids for chronic disease or a previous history of fractures caused by osteoporosis“.
There is also a scientific consensus as to the recommended preventive measures to take: physical exercise, sufficient ingestion of calcium and Vitamin D, and elimination of risk factors such as alcohol, tobacco and poor diet.
The study authors said that there is a hope for new evidence regarding possible effectiveness of anti-osteoporotic treatment in these patients, which will be possible only after future clinical trial results.
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