[pronut-hiv] Increased Evidence Finds Exercise Beneficial to HIV-Positive People, Sacramento Bee Reports

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

 Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report
[May 14, 2008]
 http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=52124

      An increasing amount of evidence is finding that exercise can
improve the health of HIV-positive people and reduce the risk of
AIDS-related illnesses by increasing muscle mass and improving heart and
lung endurance, the Sacramento Bee (
http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/932871.html )reports. Many people
living with HIV/AIDS have begun or resumed exercise regimens since the
development of antiretroviral drugs in the 1990s, according to the Bee.


Archana Maniar, an infectious disease specialist and assistant
professor at the University of California-Davis (
http://www.ucdavis.edu/index.html ), said that HIV-positive people
need regular exercise just like HIV-negative people. HIV-positive people
are living longer and developing diseases such as diabetes,
hypertension, cardiovascular disease and strokes, Maniar said. "From
that standpoint, exercise promotes their general wellness and increases
their chances of avoiding those things," Maniar added. 

A 2006 Massachusetts General Hospital ( http://www.massgeneral.org/ )
study found that exercise helps manage the symptoms of metabolic
syndrome, which some studies indicate as many as 45% of HIV-positive
people have. Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of heart disease and
diabetes. In addition, a 2005 Columbia University (
http://www.columbia.edu/ ) study found that moderate exercise in
combination with antiretroviral treatment leads to improved nervous
system function and circulation among people living with HIV/AIDS. Many
HIV-positive people also say they exercise for psychological benefits.
"For me, the effects are more psychological than biochemical," Bob Katz
-- a member of the Positive Pedalers ( http://www.pospeds.org/ ), a
cycling group with HIV-positive members in California -- said, adding,
"Having a sense of self-worth, feeling comfortable in your body, is
something exercising will do" (McManis, Sacramento Bee, 5/13).