Despite the fact that there have been a number of HIV breakthroughs in the past decades, treating HIV as part of the aging process has still been considered as one of the biggest challenges that still remain up to date. As of the press time, records show that more than half of all people with HIV in the United States are over 50. However, the International Society for Infectious Diseases has recently revealed that by the year 2030, it has been anticipated that there will be a rise to this figure by as much as 70 percent.
What It's Like To Grow Old With HIV
In one of his statements reported by CNBC, chief executive officer at nonprofit Gay Men's Health Crisis, Kelsey Louie has been convinced that the breakthroughs that are taking place right now is considerably a new frontier for a lot of them. Louie said that it is just but important to understand that people who are aging will be facing other health issues that will only be complicated by HIV. Amidst the current data showing that the economic toll of HIV in the U.S. keep rising, doctors and drug companies are also said to be pursuing new approaches to treatment.
Furthermore, vice-president and director of public policy at AIDS nonprofit amfAR, Greg Millet, who also happens to have previously worked on AIDS and aging as a government epidemiologist during the Obama administration, has claimed the fact that people who are living with HIV are living longer is fantastic news for many of those who came from the '80s and '90s. Millet recalls that these were the times when it was effectively a death sentence and people did not live beyond five to 10 years.
A Clinic For Elderly HIV Patients
Meanwhile, according to reports by the San Francisco Chronicle, 35 years after the Ward 86 has opened at San Francisco General Hospital, the ward has made a remarkable new addition and that is a geriatric clinic. As Ward 86's patients grow older, and as AIDS no longer poses an imminent death threat, authorities from the said clinic has revealed that the patients' medical needs are also changing. Ultimately, it was found that instead of initially worrying about HIV and its related infections, they are now said to be facing heart disease, cognitive decline, bone weakness and the likes of it. As of the press time, they are regarded to struggle with the symptoms of aging that no one has ever thought that they'd live long enough to experience these typical aging condition.
