[pronut-hiv] Obesity on the Rise in African American Women on Anti-HIV Treatment

["ProNut-HIV" <pronut-hiv@healthnet.org>]

Obesity on the Rise in African American Women on Anti-HIV Treatment
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/511955

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Aug 31 - In the modern HIV therapeutic era, obesity is more common than wasting and women, especially African American women, appear to be particularly at high risk, research suggests.

In the August 15th Journal Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, the study team voices concern that obesity "might add to the metabolic abnormalities associated with HIV or its treatment and contribute to morbidity, as patients with HIV live longer."

Dr. Valerianna Amorosa and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania explored the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 1689 HIV-infected individuals from Philadelphia.

Among them, 31% of subjects were overweight with a BMI of 25 to 29 and 14% were obese with a BMI of 30 or higher. In contrast, just 9% suffered from wasting.

Obesity and overweight were prevalent in this HIV-infected population but not more so than in the general population, the authors note.

While the prevalence of overweight was similar in women and men (30% vs 31%), women far surpassed men in the prevalence of obesity (28% vs 11%, p < 0.001).

Among women, African American race and a CD4 count of 200 cells per microliter or greater were associated with overweight and obesity with odds ratios of 1.8 and 2.8, respectively. Among men, only a CD4 count of 200 cells per microliter or greater was associated with increased BMI, with an odds ratio of 1.6.

Among a subset of patients for whom lipid and glucose values were available, BMI was positively correlated with cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose levels, which "suggests an elevated prevalence of metabolic syndrome in our overweight population," the researchers point out.

The fact that 46% of study subjects were smokers is also noteworthy, they write. "Given the potentially increased risk of vascular disease and malignancy in HIV, the high prevalence of smoking in the cohort may be of even more deleterious consequences than obesity," they suggest.

J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2005;39:557-561.