AIDS and Heart Disease

Recent studies have shown a link between the AIDS virus and cardiovascular
disease. In fact the research shows as significant of a link as diabetes,
obesity and family history have on developing heart disease. Hardening and
thickening carotid arteries ultimately leads many HIV and AIDS patients with
serious chances of heart attack and stroke. Physicians are recommending
that such patients be treated as high risk patients, who require testing,
scanning and preventative medications like cholesterol lowering pills.

Bloomberg said, "Ultrasound imaging studies of 433 people infected with the
human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, found more hardening and thickening in
the carotid artery, compared with those not infected, said Carl Grunfeld,
professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and
an endocrinologist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. At least 1
million people with HIV and many more in the developing world need to start
thinking about their heart," Grunfeld said in a telephone interview."

The study appeared today in the journal AIDS, which also mentioned that over
1.1 million people in the US have HIV, so it's vital that such studies are
taken seriously and have further research and investigation done on them.

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