Modify Your Mortality Risks

Sure, you're doing your best to manage your HIV disease. But it might come as a surprise that you're more likely to die of other causes -- including some for which you can take steps to reduce your risks, like heart disease and cancer -- than you are of AIDS, according to an analysis of the health outcomes of more than 33,000 HIVers. Among the most significant modifiable risk factors identified by the researchers were smoking, high blood pressure, being overweight or severely underweight, developing type II diabetes, and infection with hepatitis B or C. Causes of Death Among HIVers AIDS: 32% Liver ailments: 14% Non-AIDS-defining cancers: 12% Cardiovascular disease: 11% Bacterial infections: 9% Accidents, drug overdose, violence, suicide: 9% Other causes: 13%