Lifetime trauma may speed progression of HIV, e...( CHAPEL HILL Even though effective d...),Health
CHAPEL HILL Even though effective drug cocktails have improved the outlook for many patients with HIV, disease progression, including the time from AIDS onset to death, varies widely from patient to patient. Now, a study led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine provides new evidence that psychological factors play a role in disease progression.
The study is the first-known in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV to show that traumatic life events, such as physical or sexual abuse, are associated with faster mortality, both from AIDS-related and all causes.
Trauma and depression are common among people with HIV, and trauma and depression seem to have an effect on disease progression and mortality in HIV. Given that, it is critical that clinicians treating people infected with HIV recognize depression and trauma as risk factors for poor health outcomes, and thus screen and refer patients for psychological and psychiatric treatment when these problems are present, said Jane Leserman, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and medicine and lead author of the study.
Some combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and medication might be very beneficial for patients experiencing severe or multiple types of trauma, Leserman said.
The study is published in the Nov. 1, 2007 edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
The researchers interviewed a group of 490 HIV infected patients in the rural southeast. Those who reported a greater number of categories of traumatic life events had faster death from all causes and from AIDS. More than half of the patients in the study experienced three or more lifetime traumas, and half had experienced physical or sexual abuse.
Unlike depression, the effects of which have been more widely studied in the era of HAART, with trauma, its possible to establish a time ordering of events.
In our study, these traumatic ev
'/>"/>
| Contact: Les Lang llang@med.unc.edu 919-843-9687 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Source:Eurekalert |
Related medicine news :
1. Sexual abuse affect health for a lifetime
2. Lifetime risk of heart failure increases
3. New Flu Vaccine Can Give Lifetime Protection
4. Encouraging a Lifetime of Healthy Skin Right from the Beginning
5. Estimated cost of lifetime AIDS treatment assessed to be $618,900
6. Drug Therapy can Reduce Preterm Births and Decrease Lifetime Medical Costs
7. Soon, a Vaccine That Could Keep All Types of Flu Away for Lifetime
8. Women, Younger Patients at Greater Lifetime Cancer Risk from CT Scan
9. One-third of Adults Have Had Some Form of Alcohol Use Disorder During Their Lifetimes
10. New guidelines for dealing with post traumatic stress disorder
11. New ways to help children with trauma
| Copyright © 2003-2009 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |