| Smoking appears more
harmful to people with HIV Over the years, smoking has
been linked to a number of serious and life-threatening illnesses ranging form heart
disease to cancer. Recently, researchers in Ohio have discovered that smoking may be more
harmful for people living with HIV. In fact, their study revealed that HIV-positive
smokers were nearly eight times more likely to develop lung damage than smokers without
HIV.
The team enrolled 158 subjects (16 female, 142 male) among which 114 were HIV-positive
and 44 HIV-negative. Ninety-two subjects were smokers. The range of CD4+ counts among
HIV-positive subjects was zero to 952 cells, with a half-way point (median) of 320 cells.
No subject who had experienced a life-threatening lung infection in the past were allowed
into the study. To assess the health of the subjects' lungs, technicians performed CAT
scans and a variety of other tests.
The researchers found that HIV-positive smokers were much more likely to develop a form
of lung damage called emphysema than HIV-negative smokers. One major symptom of emphysema
is breathlessness during periods of exertion. Given smoking's damaging effect on the
lungs, the appearance of such a symptom is not surprising. However, the fact that this
group of relatively young HIV-positive smokers developed emphysema was described as
"striking" by the researchers.
It goes without saying that quitting smoking is a desirable choice for improved health.
This study suggests that the need to quit smoking may be greater in people with HIV. Given
how difficult it is to stop smoking for many people, perhaps recovery programs targeted
for HIV-positive smokers would be useful. Smokers can also discuss various options for
quitting with their doctor.
Annals of Internal Medicine 2000; 132:369-372.
"From Community AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE). For more information
visit CATIE's Information Network at http://www.catie.ca"
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