Here are a few select studies - I selected just a few that portray part of the problem with HIV+ & Aging:
1 - older HIV+ are experiencing increasingly higher rates of frailty particularly as they get older, 1 Italian study found 63% frailty in over 65 HIV+, other studies find 15-20% but frailty rates in HIV+ are much higher than in HIV-neg, particularly as they age,
2- frailty increases risk for falls & thus features: HIV+ have a much higher fall rate & fracture rate - one study of men below show 50% of older HIV+ men in MACS had at least 1 fall,
3- this same phenomenon occurs to WIHS women too,
4 - history of drug use & current use of certain drugs lie anti-depressants & antihistamines increases cognitive impairment in older HIV+ and thus doctors may be over prescribing or using these meds without understanding these risks.
5 - it is well accepted in general population that a fall & fracture after age 65 is very hard if not impossible to fully recover from and very often leads to horrible quality of life and premature death. Jules
Men in ACTG Study: men age 51 with <50 copies viral load - 25% had a fall whether frail or not AND those who were frail - 50% who were frail had ! or MORE falls.
