By Liza Berger, Staff Writer
People are aging with HIV. The introduction
of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)
more than a decade ago has allowed people to
live with the illness that was once almost
certainly fatal. But the problems associated
with growing older have introduced a new set of
challenges.
While the virus is “not a death sentence,” it’s
“not a cake walk” either, said Dr. Kelly Gebo, a
doctor and researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health. She treats many
infected patients over age 50. “The medications
have toxicities and are not easy to take,” she
explained.
Among the issues older people face are weaker
immune systems that have a harder time fighting
off infections, toxic side effects from
medications, and co-morbid diseases that may
stem, at least in part, from the aging process.
“They appear to be prematurely aging,” said Gebo,
noting that people over 50 have higher rates of
malignancies, as well as cardiovascular disease
and strokes.
New Face of AIDS
This older group represents a new face of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic. About 29 percent of all
people with AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome) in the United States are age 50 and
older. (AIDS is the serious disease that can
develop from the human immunodeficiency virus,
better known as HIV.) In some cities, as many
as 37 percent of people with AIDS are in this
age group.
Meanwhile, the rates of HIV/AIDS among older
people are 12 times higher for blacks and five
times higher for Hispanics compared to whites.
Also, in the last decade, AIDS cases in women
over 50 were reported to have tripled;
heterosexual transmission rates in this age
group may have increased by as much as 106
percent.
These adults represent the first generation of
older adults living with HIV. Most are in their
50s, but some are in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even
90s. Also, while some of these cases are newly
acquired, most are people who have been living
with the disease long-term, perhaps 10, 15 or 20
years or more.
“We are working with the first-ever generation
of older people growing old with HIV,” noted
Karen Taylor, director of advocacy and training
for the organization SAGE (Services & Advocacy
for GLBT Elders).
Lack of Education, Awareness
One reason why this older cohort is succumbing
to the illness is because of lack of
understanding, education and testing of older
adults, several resources say.
Many older people, because of divorce or the
loss of spouses, are dating again. They may not
realize the risk of contracting HIV because they
were not raised in the “safe sex” era. Older
women, in particular, may believe they are
immune to the virus because they are beyond
childbearing age. (Older women actually may be
more susceptible because of a decrease in
vaginal lubrication and thinning vaginal walls
that can put them at higher risk during
unprotected sexual intercourse.)
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