Link Between Diabetes and Drugs Used to Treat HIV Determined

A study from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, in Sydney, Australia has shown why people who are treated for HIV are more vulnerable to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Associate Professor Katherine Samaras, Head of Garvan’s Diabetes and Obesity Clinical Research Group and senior endocrinologist at St Vincent's Hospital, has published the study in the online journal, Obesity. She demonstrates that the inflammation that anti-retroviral drugs cause when treating HIV, increases the risk of developing metabolic and cardiac complications, including diabetes.

In a quote from a press release from Garvan Institute, Professor Samaras says, “People being treated for HIV tend to lose fat on their arms, legs, face and buttocks and gain it around their abdomen. This redistribution of fat is termed ‘lipodystrophy’ and those patients with the condition have a cardiac and metabolic risk profile worse than being very obese.”

She goes on to say, “We think that in some way anti-retroviral drugs influence fat cells, making them push out inflammatory molecules that contribute to creating the heart disease and diabetes we see in patients.”

People who are being treated for HIV are advised, by Professor Samaras, to eat a healthy low sugar, low fat diet and get enough exercise. Also being aware of the risk of diabetes and heart disease is important so that they can seek the treatment they may need for these conditions.

More from Mark Cichocki, About.com's Guide to AIDS/HIV...

• HIV Medication Fact Sheets

_{*If you have questions or concerns about medications that you are taking, always talk them over with your health care provider. Do not stop taking medications without speaking to your provider first.}