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Long-term effects of drugs worry HIV patients

Fri Jun 30, 2006 1:01 PM BST

By Patricia Reaney

LONDON - Living with HIV is not Nikk Bowden's major concern. Like other people infected with the virus that causes AIDS what worries him most are the long-term toxic effects of the medications he takes.

For patients fortunate enough to receive them, drugs have turned HIV/AIDS from a death sentence into a treatable illness. But muscle pain and wasting, liver and pancreas problems, diabetes, fat redistribution and nerve damage are side effects that can occur after years of use.

"Long-term you do worry as to exactly what it is doing to your body. If you are expected to be on them for 30-40 years, as some doctors will tell you, what is going to happen further down the line," said the 34-year-old decorator from Edinburgh .

"Has enough research been done into this and is it on-going? Are we going to get the answers as the doctors get them or are they going to keep them quite quiet?" he added in an interview on Friday.

Bowden, who was infected 7 years ago through unsafe sex, is not alone in his concerns.

In a survey of nearly 2,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Britain , 69 percent said they did not feel informed enough about the long-term effects of medications.

Fear of other illnesses, or opportunistic infections, caused by HIV was second on the list of top concerns followed by the short-term side effects of the drugs. Patients were less troubled about the interaction of HIV drugs with other medications, according to the poll.

Ninety-three percent in the survey conducted by the UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and AIDS said they had difficulty planning for the future.

"This survey is timely and indicates that the patients' greatest concern is long-term toxicity," said Professor Brian Gazzard, of London 's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital , in a statement.

Bowden added that many of the drugs have simply not been around long enough for researchers to know what their impact would be after taking them for decades.

"It is a worry that you could be taking something that isn't fully understood over a period of time," he said. "The payment is that I get extra years of life through taking the medication. It is the best part of a bad deal, I suppose."

The first medical cases of the mysterious illness that is now known as HIV/AIDS were reported 25 years ago. AZT, the first therapy for AIDS, was approved for use in the United States in 1987. Today about 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS, with the majority in sub-Saharan Africa .

By the end of last year, 1.3 million people in poor countries had access to AIDS drugs.

"I'm worried for people becoming positive because they seem to think antiretrovirals (AIDS drugs) are a cure for HIV, which they are not," Bowden added.