low levels of hormones that regulate blood sugar and break down fat. The different kinds of cholesterol and other fats in the blood are called lipids.
Dr. Lance Okeke, an infectious disease doctor who treats HIV patients in Durham, N.C., said the new study is a comprehensive review and an important addition to the existing literature because it aims to understand why people with the virus have risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
The analysis suggests mechanisms in the immune system are strongly linked to high blood pressure, said Okeke, a researcher at Duke University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the new research. “I think that the theme that stood out was potentially using HIV as a platform, as a model to study hypertension overall.”
The results are “hopeful because we actually do have relatively blunt but effective tools for [treating] chronic inflammation and immune activation,” he said. Okeke was the lead author of a recent study that found the rate of new high blood pressure diagnoses in people with HIV increased between 1996 and 2013.
To successfully stave off heart disease and stroke in patients with HIV, Okeke’s study said it was important for doctors to diagnose HIV early and to aggressively treat high blood pressure and other conditions that may lead to cardiovascular disease.
That’s where primary care doctors and infectious disease specialists play a critical role, Okeke said.
“There can’t be enough education about the fact that persons living with HIV are at higher risk for coronary disease,” he said. “To the extent that practitioners of both HIV care and general internal medicine… know there’s an association [between HIV and high blood pressure], the better we all are for it, the better our patients will be for it.”
If you are sexually active, it is imperative that you get tested at least every 6 months. You may trust your partner immensely, however, HIV comes at a much higher cost, your life. For more information on HIV, please visit our Health Conditions tab on BlackDoctor.org.