It's a Heartache

Numerous studies have suggested that some anti-HIV meds may be bad for your heart by boosting cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood. But researchers in San Francisco now say that HIV infection alone, regardless of antiretroviral treatment, can significantly boost cardiovascular disease risks. Although they're not clear on precisely how the virus increases cardiac risks, the researchers believe inflammation caused by the virus may damage the body's blood vessels. Regardless of how the damage occurs, the impact of HIV infection on heart disease risks was shown to be on a par with smoking, according to the study, which was published in the journal AIDS. The study data were so overwhelming that lead researcher Carl Grunfeld, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, is now recommending that HIVers normally believed to be at low-to-moderate risk of heart attacks instead be deemed at high risk and treated with cholesterol-lowering medications.