HIV Treatment Adherence

Treatment adherence (or compliance) refers to the HIV positive individual’s ability to stick to the prescribed method of treatment. This includes such things as taking your pills on time, not missing a dose, and following any recommended food guidelines.

Adherence is important for two reasons:

1.) If you miss even one dose, the levels of medication in your blood drop, allowing faster replication of the HIV virus.
2.) Drug resistance develops much faster when you miss even one dose. This means that the drugs that you are currently taking may not continue to work, including some drugs that you may have not even tried yet! You will have fewer options for treatment in the future.

An excellent way to make sure that you never miss a dose is to use a scheduler on your computer that you can set up to prompt/remind you when to take your medication. Others may find marking it on a calendar may be a quick and easy way to keep track.

What are your tips for ensuring personal adherence to your HIV treatment? We’d love to hear your suggestions.

HIV and Selenium

Selenium is a mineral that has been in the news over the last year for its apparent beneficial results in HIV positive people. Selenium is an essential micronutrient; its dietary sources are nuts, cereals, meat, fish and eggs. Selenium deficiency is apparent in HIV disease, and predicts an increased risk of death. Current studies are finding promising results from selenium supplementation, and it should be considered as part of your supplementation program.

Daily supplementation with 200μg (mcg) of selenium has been shown to help stabilize viral load, and modestly increase CD4 counts in patients on antiretroviral therapy. These findings suggest selenium supplementation as a simple and inexpensive complimentary therapy for people with HIV. 1000μg is the upper tolerance, and selenium becomes toxic above this daily level.

Have you been taking selenium as part of your supplementation? We would love to hear what your experiences are.

HIV and Vitamin D Deficiency.

Vitamin D deficiency results in impaired bone mineralization, leading to diseases such as osteomalacia (bone softening) and osteoporosis. Vitamin D also plays an important role in maintaining organ systems. The Canadian Food Guide recommends a minimum of 200 IU daily for healthy individuals, with the upper daily tolerance around 2000 IU. The only significant natural dietary sources are oily fish and egg yolks, but it is not possible to intake enough through these foods alone. 15-20 minutes sun exposure, twice weekly will produce enough Vitamin D as it is synthesized through the skin, or a daily supplement can be taken.

Are you getting enough vitamin D through your diet and supplement program? Your doctor can test you to see if you’re deficient or not. Is vitamin D deficiency a concern to you? Do you take a vitamin D supplement already? If not, would you consider supplementing or not, and why do you feel that way?

Health Canada, Vitamin D.