Tuesday, December 22, 2009

University of Michigan Research Network on HIV/AIDS and the Elderly

The University of Michigan's, Center on Demography and Aging maintans the Research Network on HIV/AIDS and the Elderly. The site can be found at:
http://agingaidsnet.psc.isr.umich.edu/

Thursday, December 17, 2009

AIDSmap News reports: Surviving to die of something else: AIDS is a rare cause of death in old people with HIV

A French study of a group of people with HIV aged over 60 has found that over a four-year period, one in seven of the group died – but not a single death was attributable to an AIDS-defining illness. For the full story click the link:

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/42D92E3B-21D0-4F1F-91E4-5569EB5688B2.asp

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Recent publications

These are references for two relatively recent publications related to aging and HIV/AIDS. I am providing the reference but cannot post the actual articles due to copyright limitations. Both have been published in the past few months.

Sherr, L., Harding, R., Lampe, F., et al. (2009). Clinical and behavioural aspects of aging with HIV infection. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 14(3), 273-279.

Foster, P.P., Gaskins, S.W. (2009). Older African Americans' management of HIV/AIDS stigma. AIDS Care, 21, 1306-1312.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Welcome to the Aging and HIV/AIDS blog

Various segments of society are waking up to the alarming increase in the number of cases of HIV/AIDS among older people. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the number of people, age 50 and older, living in the United States with HIV/AIDS increased from 65,450 in 2001 to 156,511 in 2007 (CDC, 2009). These figures represent a combination of new cases and long term survivors who are growing old with HIV/AIDS due to the success of antiretroviral therapy. While much of the media presents older people living with HIV/AIDS as a new phenomenon, it is not. What is new, is increased longevity and our ability to live long lives with this disease.

I began working in the field of HIV/AIDS in 1986 in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. For 12 years, I administered an AIDS home care project and an AIDS Medicaid Waiver program for a county public health department. We sent social workers (including myself), public health nurses, home health aids and others into the homes of individuals living with (and in the early years, dying from) HIV/AIDS. From the very beginning, we noted people in their 50s, 60s, and even 70s with this disease. It seem like just about every day something related to this topic comes across my desk. Some information comes from scientific sources, other from the popular media. The relative value of this material is very widespread ranging from what I consider to be very important to not worth my time to look at. My intent in creating this blog is to pass along to readers some of what comes across my desk on a weekly basis. I might pass along newly published articles (I will provide the reference not the article itself to avoid the copyright police), media coverage or an interesting story in the popular press. I encourage folks to post ideas, thoughts, ask questions and develop a dialogue about this important topic. The issues facing this population are vast. Questions about physiology and physical health are being raised continually. Are symptoms experienced by people from the disease itself, side effects of antiretroviral medications or aging? What about the psychosocial impacts of HIV/AIDS on older adults. How does social isolation (or social support) mental health issue and stigma and discrimination pay into one’s life? These are all questions that are being posed and debated.

In the past week the media has held interviews on two different occasions with leader in the field. A recent interview with Malcolm John, MD, MPH from the University of California at San Francisco was posted on The Body’s website and can be found at:
http://www.thebody.com/content/art54538.html?ic=700100

On Monday, December 7, 2009 KUOW, public radio in Seattle aired an hour long program on the topic of aging with HIV/AIDS. The program can be found at:
http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=18947

I look forward to sharing with you what I find as well as hearing about new ideas and resources from you.