Study Shows HIV Patients At Higher Risk Of Stroke

U.S. researchers concluded Wednesday that people infected with the AIDS virus may, in fact, be more than three times more likely to suffer a stroke than those people who are not infected.

While the number of strokes suffered in the U.S. seems to be trending down (7.2% in 2006 compared to 1997), they've significantly spiked in regards to people with HIV, rising an unfathomable 67% during that same time frame.

"Generally speaking, strokes in patients with HIV are not common, so the rise is notable," said Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele of the University of California, San Diego, and the VA San Diego Healthcare System, whose study appears in the journal Neurology.

The study doesn't show why stroke rates are rising, but researchers say the study period coincides with widespread use of drugs used to treat HIV infection. Another possibility - since strokes occur more frequently in older people - these patients who are taking the treatments are prolonging their lives and unfortunately putting themselves in the risk zone for stroke.

The team wants to study the relationship between HIV drugs and stroke more closely.

An estimated 33.3 million people worldwide have the HIV virus that causes AIDS and more than 25 million have died from it. Without treatment, the virus destroys the immune system, leaving patients susceptible to infections and cancer.

More than 20 HIV drugs are now on the market and can be combined in various ways to control the virus.

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Bambi Blue is a freelance writer, editor, and social butterfly living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. When she's not blogging her little heart out for HealthCareJobsite.com, she moonlights as a jazz musician and most apparently a weisenheimer. Loves to cook, hates to clean, and can easily be found on Twitter. To read more of Bambi's posts, head to HealthCareJobsite.com and see additional job postings at Beyond.com.