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Older individuals differ from younger patients with HIV in many ways-for example, they tend to have an increased risk for late or missed diagnoses, differing side effects from antiretroviral therapies, and increased comorbidities. Only a few existing treatment guidelines make distinctions when it comes to care by age, however. By examining findings from clinical research, investigators have now offered easy-to-follow approaches for providing care to older people living with HIV. "Our article recommends an overall strategy in which various tools are used to provide information on the likely course of HIV for an individual, which clinicians can then use to guide discussions on personalized, person-centered care," said Dr. Jonathan Appelbaum, co-author of the  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society  article. One tool that may be especially useful is the Veterans Aging Cohort Stud y (VACS) Index, which can help distinguish between those who are aging well and those who m...

The study identifies the mechanism on how the cell's innate immune system (known as the interferon response) responds to HIV infection and how the virus affects this interferon response. The viral protein Vpr triggers the interferon response in T cells (as also in dendritic cells, other cells of the immune system which are also infected by HIV). Vpu, another viral protein, suppresses the interferon response. This discovery is the result of research by Dr. Jolien Vermeire and colleagues under supervision of Dr. Bruno Verhasselt at Ghent University and Ghent University Hospital A better understanding of the innate defense against H IV could in the long term allow to complement the current treatment. Because HIV infects and functionally impairs immune cells, untreated patients loose a functional immune system. As a consequence, germs and some cancers are given free rein (AIDS). Even if the virus is kept under control with medication, inflammation and degradation of establishe...

Studies have shown that PrEP, a once-daily pill, reduces HIV incidenc e by 92 percent in HIV-negative people who are at high risk for HIV, including men who have unprotected sex with men, and it is recommended for that group by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2011, HIV incidence among gay and bisexual men nationally was 18 percent; in Baltimore, it is estimated to be 31 percent. Still, since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved PrEP in 2012, only five percent of high-risk individuals have taken it for HIV prevention. The new findings, published online in the  American Journal of Preventive Medicine , suggest that many health care providers don't even discuss PrEP, even with high-risk patients they know are gay or bisexual or have been tested for other sexually transmitted diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that as many as one-third of physician s may not even know PrEP is an option. "Doctors have limited time with ...