{"id":10621,"date":"2017-12-02T02:51:03","date_gmt":"2017-12-02T02:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10621"},"modified":"2017-12-03T02:54:59","modified_gmt":"2017-12-03T02:54:59","slug":"living-and-aging-well-with-hiv-new-strategies-and-new-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/living-and-aging-well-with-hiv-new-strategies-and-new-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Living and aging well with HIV: New strategies and new research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allison Webel<\/a>, Case Western Reserve University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A generation ago, a list of tips for aging well with AIDS would have seemed a cruel joke. It also would have not been useful. Life expectancy immediately following the identification of the virus in 1984 was often months after diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Today, however, with World AIDS Day being commemorated for the 30th year, many people with HIV are living as long as the general population<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But while people with HIV are living longer, they are also living with unique challenges regarding how to age well<\/a>. New evidence suggests that there are indeed several simple but vital strategies that can help increase the likelihood of successful aging. <\/p>\n

As a nurse and a scientist, I study effective self-management strategies and have seen what a difference they make to adults aging with HIV.<\/p>\n

Aren\u2019t we close to a cure for AIDS?<\/h2>\n

First, a reminder of the scope of HIV. There are an estimated 36.7 million<\/a> people who have the virus. Despite the virus having been identified only in 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS<\/a>, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.<\/p>\n

Due to highly effective HIV medications, fewer than 7,000 people died from HIV-related causes<\/a> in the United States in 2014. That means people living with HIV are aging. In the United States, 45 percent of all people living with HIV today are aged 50 years or older<\/a>. Worldwide, about 10 percent are 50 or older<\/a>, a number expected to rise<\/a>, provided the medications continue to be made available. <\/p>\n

Indeed, the past few years we\u2019ve made remarkable progress toward an HIV cure. Building on what we\u2019ve learned from Timothy Ray Brown, the only individual ever known to be cured of HIV<\/a>, scientists have discovered treatments in very preliminary studies that dramatically reduce the HIV reservoir<\/a> (cells where HIV accumulates in someone\u2019s body) and that stop all viral activity<\/a> in infected cells, and they have visualized the last unknown HIV protein structure<\/a>, which will help us better target the HIV virus.<\/p>\n

Further, the \u201cUndetectable Equals Untransmittable\u201d<\/a> campaign has brought much-needed public awareness to the fact that people infected with HIV who are virally suppressed through medication cannot sexually transmit the virus.<\/p>\n

Yet, despite all of this hard-earned progress, many scientists believe we are still decades away from a true HIV cure<\/a>. While this important work continues, over 36 million people infected with HIV will continue to age and will seek out accessible strategies that enable them to live their lives to the fullest extent. <\/p>\n

Why aging with AIDS is difficult<\/h2>\n

Aging isn\u2019t easy for any of us. Our bodies aren\u2019t quite as fast as they used to be, recovery time is longer and we have a few more aches than when we were younger. <\/p>\n

So is it actually harder for people living with HIV to age well? Research shows that it is. Specifically, they experience: <\/p>\n