HIV / AIDS and Nutrition: Research Paper

According to Lisam & Lisam (2009), the need for doctor's advice is also fueled by the constant emergence and experiment of new and different medicines for HIV and AIDS (p. 269).

Problems Associated with Diarrhea Caused by HIV Medications:

For people living with HIV / AIDS, the negative impacts of drugs and food intake and the impact of drugs on metabolism, excretion, and absorption of nutrients may have considerable negative effects on their nutritional status. Most of the existing antiretroviral medications can contribute to fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, gastroesophageal reflux, vomiting, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia. Generally, the disease causes the deterioration of the lining of the gut which in turn affects the ability of the gut to digest and absorb food. This contributes to the inability of the gut to absorb or take up nutrients from the eaten foods i.e. mal-absorption that causes diarrhea through which nutrients and water are lost from the body.

The resultant diarrhea contributes to various problems on the HIV patient such as negative impacts on the normal functioning of the stomach and bowels. In most cases, diarrhea makes the stomach and bowels to have difficulties in digesting food and absorbing nutrients effectively. The other problems of diarrhea associated with HIV / AIDS medication include excessive weight loss, malnutrition, loss of appetite for food, and even death. Problems associated with diarrhea from HIV medications are associated with the fact that it leads to dehydration, water loss from the body, and loss of electrolytes minerals like potassium and sodium. As a result, diarrhea has developed to become one of the most common problems for people with HIV / AIDS disease to an extent that it accounts for approximately 80% of this population and causes many illnesses and deaths among the HIV patients.

Wasting or Obesity Associated with HIV Medications:

Drug therapies or medications for HIV patients contribute to problems on the individual's body weight due to the food absorption and metabolic disorders.In the early years of the use of clinical nutrition therapy HIV infected people were mainly worried about weight loss and wasting away as a result. However, recent statistics and trends have revealed that overweight and obesity have become more common than wasting among HIV-infected population. This is primarily because these patients experience considerable changes on body tissue, loss of body mass, and increase in fat.

The possibility of a HIV-infected person to develop wasting or become obese is largely dependent on the kind of HIV medications they take since different medicines have different impacts on the body. Moreover, the possibility of either wasting or obesity is dependent on the metabolic and food absorption process on the patient because of the disease. Tiziani (2010), states that the combination of antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected persons enhances the risk of lypodystrophy syndrome, wasting, and central obesity (p. 399). Wasting or weight loss for these people is associated with mal-absorption that contributes to diarrhea whereas obesity is caused by boosts in the immune system that increases appetite for food.

Conclusion:

HIV / AIDS and nutrition are intimately linked because of the likelihood of HIV infection to result in malnutrition and poor diet to enhance the infection's progress. As a result, good diet and nutritional care and support have emerged as effective approaches for managing the disease. Therefore, there is a strong link between HIV / AIDS and nutrition, especially because of medications that contribute to various problems such as diarrhea and wasting or obesity. The changes in the person's body weight are mainly attributed to the effects of the drugs on insulin.

References:

Ada, Hendricks, K.M., Dong, K.R. & Gerrior, J.L. (2009). Nutrition management of HIV and AIDS. Chicago, IL: Diana Faulhaber, Publisher.

Lisam, K.S. & Lisam, S. (2009). Nutrition and AIDS. India: Kalpaz Publications.

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