Early Use of AIDS Drugs

Cuts Patients’ Risk of Death (Update1)

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Patients who start antiviral drugs before their immune systems are damaged by the AIDS virus substantially cut their risk of death, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers reviewed the medical records of more than 17,000 patients infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Patients who started treatment before their infection-fighting cells had fallen below a certain level cut their risk of dying by as much as 94 percent compared with those who waited longer.

The study lends support to revising current treatment guidelines, by adding weight to a growing body of research that suggests treating HIV at earlier stages can help save lives. Doctors and patients have been wrestling for years with the question of when best to start AIDS medications, which can cause substantial side effects including stomach upset, nausea, altered mental processes and disturbances in blood fat levels.

“The pendulum has shifted,” said Richard Moore, an author of the study and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. “The drugs are now safer and the evidence mounting from our data and other data suggests it makes sense to start therapy earlier.”

While the findings were already known to many doctors who treat patients with HIV, the publication is likely to spur greater use of antiviral drugs, said Jason Kantor, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco. This will benefit Gilead Sciences Inc., the Foster City, California-based company that is the leading seller of AIDS drugs, Kantor said in a telephone interview today.

AIDS Drugs