How Many Older People Have AIDS?
In the United States, around 78,000 people aged 50 or over have AIDS. This represents between 10% and 15% of all AIDS cases. In some cities, between 15% and 25% of those with AIDS are 50 years old or over.
The number of older people diagnosed with AIDS is increasing. Around 50% of the older people with AIDS have been infected for one year or less. Many do not consider people aged 50 to be "older people".
However, the age of 50 tends to be used for statistics relating to "older people" with HIV and AIDS.
Why Are Older People Becoming Infected?
There are several reasons:
- Health care providers do not examine older people to find out whether they have HIV.
- Older people may not be aware of the risk factors for HIV infection.
- Many older people become single again. They get divorced or are widowed. While they had a partner, they did not pay attention to HIV prevention messages.
- Lack of preventive information aimed at older people.
- Conviction that HIV only affects young people.
- Lack of information on how to protect yourself during sex.
- Sharing needles with infected people (this causes approximately 17% of infections in people over 50).
- Unprotected sex, both heterosexual and homosexual. The use of Viagra and other drugs that help men get and maintain an erection contributes to higher rates of sexual relationships and sexually transmitted diseases among older people and younger people.
Is HIV Disease Different in Older People?
The first HIV studies in older people were done before antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) existed. Most studies indicated that older people got sicker and died before young people. It was believed that this happened because they had a weaker immune system. Also, older people tend to have other health problems besides HIV.
Natural aging causes a certain normal deterioration of the immune system. Older people tend to have long-term health problems. They sometimes do not respond to HIV in the same way as young patients. Nevertheless, ARVs strengthen the immune system. Also, most older patients, unless they use drugs or have mental problems, take their medications more regularly (they have better adherence) than young patients.
Is HIV the Same in Older People?
ARVs seem to work the same in older and younger people. Unfortunately, there is no adequate information on older people as they were generally not included in clinical trials of new drugs. People who become infected when they are over 50 seem to respond to treatment almost as well as those who started treatment before the age of 50 and then got old.
Treatment side effects do not tend to be more frequent in older people. However, changes caused by aging can resemble or worsen treatment side effects. For example, advanced age is a major risk factor for heart disease and for increasing fat in the abdomen. Some older people who are HIV negative lose fat, a change similar to that caused by lipodystrophy.
What Are Other Frequent Health Problems?
As people get older, health problems arise that last for the rest of their lives. Among other problems are heart disease, depression, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and different types of cancer.
Older people tend to take different medications for their health problems. This may make it more difficult for the health care provider to choose ARVs due to interactions with the other medications.
Some ARVs may increase the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure or osteoporosis. This makes it more difficult to choose a suitable anti-HIV regimen.
Mental Problems
Older people tend to have more problems thinking and remembering than young people. These symptoms can be the same as HIV-related mental problems.
These problems, sometimes called dementia, are not as serious as they were before the use of ARVs. It is hard to know the exact cause of mental problems in older people with HIV. Is it due to age or is it caused by HIV? Research studies have linked them to both age and a higher viral load.
Rates of depression and drug abuse have not been studied in depth in older people. However, these problems may be related to HIV, aging, or both. They require correct diagnosis and treatment.
In Short
The number of people over 50 with HIV or AIDS is increasing. Between 10% and 15% of people with AIDS in the United States are over 50.
Older people are infected with HIV in the same way as younger people. However, they do not tend to realize they are at risk of getting HIV. They also do not know how to protect themselves against HIV transmission.
Also, older people have other health problems that may complicate the selection of ARVs. Those problems may also be confused with the side effects that such drugs cause.
ARVs give almost the same result in older and younger people. Also, when it comes to taking the drugs, older people tend to be more organized than younger people.
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