Health Life and Beauty

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The AIDS virus, HIV, may cause blood clots and other problems with blood vessels that can kill patients prematurely even if they are relatively healthy, researchers reported on Monday.

They found that patients given breaks from their HIV prescriptions had higher levels of blood proteins associated with inflammation, an often dangerous immune response.

The international study showed why it may be risky to give patients “breaks” from the drug cocktails that suppress the virus, the researchers reported in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine.

The findings come from an international study into whether it would be truly beneficial to let patients take their HIV drug cocktails only intermittently after research had shown this was safe, would save money, and limit side-effects from the drugs.

But the study was stopped early, in 2006, because patients who took breaks from their drug therapy were far more likely to die early than patients who took treatment continuously, and not from conditions usually associated with AIDS, the researchers found.

James Neaton of the University of Minnesota and colleagues looked at 85 of the patients who died early, and compared their blood samples to 170 patients who did not.

They found three so-called biomarkers, or blood proteins, that are linked with inflammation were higher in the people who died. They were high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and D-dimer.

“IL-6 and D-dimer were strongly related to all-cause mortality. Interrupting (HIV drugs) may further increase the risk of death by raising IL-6 and D-dimer levels,” the researchers wrote.

“The magnitude of the increased risk of death associated with elevations of these biomarkers is clinically relevant,” Neaton said in a statement. “Research aimed at understanding whether treating elevated levels of these markers is beneficial and is now needed.”  Continued…

Source

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Posts:


By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A dangerous type of snoring known as sleep apnea can cause stroke by decreasing blood flow, raising blood pressure and harming the brain’s ability to modulate these changes, researchers reported on Tuesday. The study may help explain why people with sleep apnea are more likely to have

Full Post: Study shows how sleep apnea may cause stroke
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cancer, the world’s No. 2 killer, is even more lethal for people with diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. People with diabetes who get cancer are about 40 percent more likely to die in the years following the diagnosis than cancer patients who are not diabetics, according to research published in

Full Post: Cancer even deadlier for people with diabetes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Tan Ee Lyn HONG KONG (Reuters) - Drug-resistant HIV strains are turning up in parts of China as the virus stretches beyond high-risk groups and gains a stronger foothold in the general population, a leading Chinese AIDS researcher said. Chen Zhiwei, director of the AIDS Institute in Hong Kong, described the trends as “alarming” and warned

Full Post: Drug-resistant HIV strains turning up in China
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - For people keeping track of their blood fats, triglycerides may be the new lipid to watch, researchers said on Tuesday. A study earlier this week found that the percentage of U.S. adults with high triglycerides had doubled over the past three decades, likely driven by climbing obesity rates. In another study, the

Full Post: Triglycerides may be blood fat to watch: studies
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect women from developing type 2 diabetes, but the effect of alcohol on inflammation and blood vessel function doesn’t appear to explain the relationship, new research suggests. Dr. Joline W. J. Beulens of University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands, and colleagues found that adiponectin —

Full Post: Inflammation not a factor in drinking-diabetes link