Boozers Are Losers

Lay off the hard stuff, urge Florida researchers in the May 18 edition of the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism. A study of 110 treatment-naive, alcohol-consuming HIVers has shown that both the size of the thymus, a gland involved in CD4-cell production, and CD4-cell levels in the blood dropped among those who regularly drank hard liquor after initiating antiretroviral therapy. Thymus size and CD4 levels increased among those who drank only beer, wine, or a combination of the two. Women who drank hard liquor, the analysis shows, posted the poorest results on anti-HIV therapy.