Growing old with HIV: Age-related diseases are bigger problem for African American women

For African American women in their 50's and 60's, self-managing their HIV as they age is proving to be less of a challenge than dealing with age-related diseases such as diabetes or hypertension and socioeconomic and emotional aspects of aging, as described in a study published in AIDS Patient Care and STDs.

In the article "Taking It One Day at a Time: African American Women Aging with HIV and Co-Morbidities," Lari Warren-Jeanpiere, PhD, Pilar Hamilton, Mary Young, MD, and Lakshmi Goparaju, PhD, Georgetown University (Washington, DC), and Heather Dillaway, PhD, Wayne State University (Detroit, MI), examined how well older women who acquired HIV at a young age are able to manage HIV as they also now cope with the co-morbidities and social responsibilities of aging, changes in their work and medical insurance status, and desires for companionship and romantic relationships.

"Studies indicate that by 2015 half of the people living with HIV in the U.S. will be more than 50 years old, and the face of AIDS is changing, with an increasing prevalence among women of color," says journal Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Laurence, MD, Director of the Laboratory for AIDS Virus Research at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY.