Living with HIV - which conditions are more or less likely to affect you?

Researchers in the United Kingdom examined a large cross-sectional analysis to compare the prevalence of a number of health conditions amongst people living with, and without, HIV.

The top line findings suggest that people living with HIV are less likely to experience cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis, but are more likely to experience infertility, bipolar-disorder and other infections. The results of the at the study have been published in aidsmap. 

The analysis was performed at Dundee University, led by Dr Daniel Morales, and studied the data from 952,077 people, 964 of these were living with HIV.

Diseases that were less common in people living with HIV

The team were surprised by some of the results that came from the analysis. For example, it seems that people living with HIV (PLHIV) were much less likely to have some common diseases when compared to the general population:

• High blood pressure - 22% less likely
• Asthma - 35% less likely
• Bone and joint disease - 44% less likely
• Atrial fibrillation - 63% less likely
• Coronary heart disease - 48% less likely.
• PLHIV were also less likely to experience diverticulitis and inflammation of the gallbladder and bladder.

Diseases that were more common in people living with HIV

• Of the most common diseases, only two types of disease were more common in PLHIV:
• Acquired blood anomalies (such as anaemia or low white blood cell count) - twice as likely
• Grouped ‘infections - other’ - four times as likely

Rare diseases, such as fungal infections, were much more common amongst PLHIV (1 case per 20 people) as opposed to the general population (1 case per 2,000) people. Another rare disease that appears to be much more common amongst PLHIV is Tuberculosis (TB). In the general population the prevalence of TB was 0.6% versus PLHIV at 7%.

Amongst PLHIV immune disorders were seven times more likely, gastrointestinal issues were six times more likely, viral infections eight times more likely - the most common of which was viral hepatitis at 22 times more likely.

PLHIV were more likely to experience conditions caused by low levels of sex hormones, such as male and female infertility, erectile dysfunction - both twice as likely as the general population.

It is also known that PLHIV are more likely to experience certain types of cancer, usually when they’re at an advanced stage of HIV. These include Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (12 times more likely), Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (five times more likely) and cervical cancer (5 times more likely).

Mental health issues are also more common in PLHIV and often associated to the burden of living with HIV. Bipolar Disorder was three times more common, drug addiction two and a half times more common, alcohol addiction was 64% more likely, and depression was 45% more common than those living without HIV. Common neurological conditions such as Bell’s palsy and peripheral neuropathy were both more common and can be associated with side effects of antiretroviral therapy.

According to the authors, medical care provided to PLHIV should include an assessment of risk factors for the development of various physical and mental illnesses. PLHIV should also have access to specialists for regular examinations.