1 in 4 Hiv'ers Have Brain Disorders

[northernguy]

Wow, a pretty scary statistic, according to a new study:

Brain disorders may be almost commonplace among people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, a startling new Canadian study has found.

One quarter of HIV-positive patients who took part in a 10-year Alberta study also suffer from neurological disorders, reports Dr. Chris Power, a neurology professor at the University of Calgary. The percentage of middle-aged Canadians with neurological disorders is just five per cent...

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/infected+with+have+brain+disorders+Canadian+study/3592237/story.html#ixzz10tg8MWSg

[Matty the Damned]

Wow, a pretty scary statistic, according to a new study:

Brain disorders may be almost commonplace among people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, a startling new Canadian study has found.

One quarter of HIV-positive patients who took part in a 10-year Alberta study also suffer from neurological disorders, reports Dr. Chris Power, a neurology professor at the University of Calgary. The percentage of middle-aged Canadians with neurological disorders is just five per cent...

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/infected+with+have+brain+disorders+Canadian+study/3592237/story.html#ixzz10tg8MWSg

On review my original comment, whilst enormously funny, was more tasteless than the posting guidelines allow for.



MtD

/edited in the interests of good taste/

[tednlou2]

Well, this is cheery news, isn't it.  When they say "afflictions of the nervous system", does that include things like anxiety and depression?  I've often wondered about the effects HIV has on depression and anxiety--even when you don't know you have HIV.  In the 2 years leading up to my diagnosis, I began having really bad panic attacks.  I could be checking out at the grocery store and start having one.  I've mentioned that before that they probably thought I was stealing something.  I had just passed it off as depression, because I have had minor bouts of depression since I was a teen.  After diagnosis, I began wondering how much the virus played in that.

I'm not religious, but I pray I, nor any of you who haven't already experienced brain issues, never have neurological issues.

[Matty the Damned]

Well, this is cheery news, isn't it.  When they say "afflictions of the nervous system", does that include things like anxiety and depression?  I've often wondered about the effects HIV has on depression and anxiety--even when you don't know you have HIV.  In the 2 years leading up to my diagnosis, I began having really bad panic attacks.  I could be checking out at the grocery store and start having one.  I've mentioned that before that they probably thought I was stealing something.  I had just passed it off as depression, because I have had minor bouts of depression since I was a teen.  After diagnosis, I began wondering how much the virus played in that.

I'm not religious, but I pray I, nor any of you who haven't already experienced brain issues, never have neurological issues.

I think "neurological issues" refers to real conditions like epilepsy, dementia, psychosis and such.

MtD

[leatherman]

When they say "afflictions of the nervous system", does that include things like anxiety and depression?

Published in the September 28 issue of the international journal Neurology, the study
includes 1651 people with HIV being treated at the Southern Alberta Clinic (SAC) in
Calgary between 1998 - 2008. The study team reports that 404 people with HIV
experienced neurological problems, including seizures, dementia, nerve pain in their
hands and feet, memory loss, headaches/migraines, opportunistic infections of the
central nervous system, and movement disorders. Done in collaboration with Dr. John
Gill, medical director of the clinic, the study finds that people with AIDS had twice the
prevalence of brain disorders than people with HIV.

http://www.medicine.ucalgary.ca/about/HIV/neurology

[newt]

For me this is a really bad report, without subtlety or nuance, of a passable but not massively informative or powerful retrospective study.

There's a more detailed report at

http://www.medpagetoday.com/clinical-context/HIVAIDS/22477

The abstract is here

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/75/13/1150

This is a geographically limited unmatched sample, so figures may hold true for residents of Alberta.

It is not clear to me whether the sample is disaggregated for IV drug users vs no IV drug use, accounts for pre-existing conditions or coinfections like hepatitis.

What does stand out for me is that opportunistic infections of the nervous system and HIV related cognitive disorder definitely and significantly increased the risk of death in this study. Most of these OIs etc happen late, late, like with CD4 counts of 200 or below, deffo after treatment is recommended.

- matt

[northernguy]

On review my original comment, whilst enormously funny, was more tasteless than the posting guidelines allow for.



MtD

/edited in the interests of good taste/

Damn, I always miss the good posts!

Newt, thanks for pointing that out.  Certainly the article "sensationalized" the findings, compared to the more detailed report Tim put up on Aidsmeds:
http://www.aidsmeds.com/rssredir/articles/hiv_brain_neurocognitive_1667_19186.shtml

[Jeffreyj]

When I read this post, my brain went into flash back mode. I thought of Moffie. And how he used to talk about brain Fog!

God I miss him. Thanks Northern guy, interesting stuff!

[Ann]

When I read this post, my brain went into flash back mode. I thought of Moffie. And how he used to talk about brain Fog!

God I miss him. Thanks Northern guy, interesting stuff!

Nearly every day I'll read a thread or post that makes me think of Moffie. I miss him too.