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HIV and Development |
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| Growth |
| HIV infected children
are often plagued by deficits in height and weight
development as compared to normal children. Management
of immunological and virological factors as well
as adequate height and weight development are important
in the overall success of an HIV-positive child.
Impaired growth in children affects a child mentally
as well as physically and may extend into adulthood. |
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Dietary Intake |
| HIV positive patients
require a higher dietary intake as a result of the
virus’s impact on the body. HIV/AIDS can often
result in wasting syndrome, the involuntary loss
of 10% of baseline body weight plus chronic diarrhea
or chronic weakness. Patients require additional
nutrition due to their weakened state. |
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HIV and Carnitine |
| Carnitine is important
in regulating many pathways, not just fat metabolism.
HIV positive patients face a problem of deregulation
of pathways in which carnitine could be involved.
Dr. Borum also proposes that the carnitinome profiles
of HIV patients may be altered. Profiling our patients
would be clinically helpful for several reasons.
The main objective is revealing the different ratios
of the carnitine moieties and what these ratios
implicate. |
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New Outlook on Treatment |
| There have been many breakthroughs in
combating HIV. The use of protease inhibitors and
other anti-retroviral medications has successfully
raised HIV patients' CD4 counts and percents while
lowering their viral loads, improving the patient's
resistance to the disease. The PACTG-076 study significantly
reduced the amount of mother to child transmissions.
New antiretrovirals, such as Atripla, are significantly
reducing the medication load for patients. |
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