Life Expectancy Increasing for HIVers

The life expectancy for people living with HIV has increased more than a decade for people in the U.K., a new study suggests.

According to AIDS Meds, HIVers have a life expectancy that is 15 years longer than it was in the late 1990s. A 35-year-old living with HIV between 1996 and 1999 was then expected to live an additional 20 years. Now, 35-year-olds living with HIV between 2006 and 2008 can expect to live an additional 31 years. The change has been due to a greater understanding of the virus and more effective, less toxic medications.

According to the National Health Service of the U.K., the average life expectancy is 80 years old.

Additionally, the study showed that the life expectancy for HIV-positive women was 10 years longer than HIV-positive men, on average.

The full study, by Margaret May, PhD, of the University of Bristol School of Social and Community Medicine and the UK Collaborative HIV Cohort, was published in the Oct. 11 issue of British Medical Journal.