Weight gain while taking ARVs will make you live longer
WEIGHT gain within six months of starting anti-retroviral therapy (ART) predicts better survival and longer life expectancy in an HIV positive person.
WEIGHT gain within six months of starting anti-retroviral therapy (ART) predicts better survival and longer life expectancy in an HIV positive person.
According to studies done in Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania, HIV positive people who began treatment and put on weight posted better survival and improved clinical outcomes, in particular among the most severely malnourished. Dr. John R. Koethe and colleagues published their study in the April 1 online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
The provision of ARVs in sub-Saharan Africa has significantly improved the lives of many HIV positive people. However, malnutrition due to food shortages and epidemics make care difficult.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies malnutrition according to body mass index (BMI). BMI is calculated as weight (in kilogrammes) divided by height (in metres) squared. Those with 17.0-18.49 are considered mild, 16.0-16.99 moderate and less than 16.0 kg/m² severe.
Researchers analysed patient outcomes in which a low BMI at the start of ARVs was taken as an independent predictor of early death. Of the 46,159 patients starting ARVs at Lusaka, Zambia, from May 1, 2004 to April 30, 2008, death rates in the first 90 days were highest among those who remained severely malnourished. However, many of the most severely malnourished patients (39.2%) gained over 10 kg and survived death and dangerous side effects.
Failure to gain weight six months after the start of ART increased the chance of death ten fold when compared to those who had gained over 10Kg.
In all categories weight gain of at least 5Kg meant better outcomes than no weight gain at all. The authors noted that death is associated more with loss of lean body mass than with weight loss.
This supports the hypothesis that giving food supplements to malnourished patients on ART could lead to better chances of survival.
According to studies done in Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania, HIV positive people who began treatment and put on weight posted better survival and improved clinical outcomes, in particular among the most severely malnourished. Dr. John R. Koethe and colleagues published their study in the April 1 online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
The provision of ARVs in sub-Saharan Africa has significantly improved the lives of many HIV positive people. However, malnutrition due to food shortages and epidemics make care difficult.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies malnutrition according to body mass index (BMI). BMI is calculated as weight (in kilogrammes) divided by height (in metres) squared. Those with 17.0-18.49 are considered mild, 16.0-16.99 moderate and less than 16.0 kg/m² severe.
Researchers analysed patient outcomes in which a low BMI at the start of ARVs was taken as an independent predictor of early death. Of the 46,159 patients starting ARVs at Lusaka, Zambia, from May 1, 2004 to April 30, 2008, death rates in the first 90 days were highest among those who remained severely malnourished. However, many of the most severely malnourished patients (39.2%) gained over 10 kg and survived death and dangerous side effects.
Failure to gain weight six months after the start of ART increased the chance of death ten fold when compared to those who had gained over 10Kg.
In all categories weight gain of at least 5Kg meant better outcomes than no weight gain at all. The authors noted that death is associated more with loss of lean body mass than with weight loss.
This supports the hypothesis that giving food supplements to malnourished patients on ART could lead to better chances of survival.