The Miami Herald, Inc.; Friday, September 6, 1996
Karen Rafinski, Herald Staff Writer

Nationally, the number of AIDS cases among people 50 and over increased by 11 percent in 1994 over the previous year, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The increase among those 20 and younger was two percent.

In Broward County, the number of AIDS patients over 50 has more than doubled over the last two years, from about 300 cases in 1994 to 800 today. In Dade, 334 people 50 years or older have been diagnosed with AIDS over the last year, increasing the total by 15 percent to 2,455 cases.

Health workers say they believe those numbers are low because AIDS in older people is sometimes missed by doctors who mistake its symptoms for signs of aging or senility.

Part of the problem may be that older folks are susceptible to the same myths as their children and grandchildren, said Lisa Agate, who heads an AIDS prevention program for seniors in Broward. Because they don't think of themselves as at risk of the disease they don't think they need to get tested or practice safe sex.

"All the pamphlets and brochures were geared to younger people and we found that many people were just passing them on to their grandchildren," she said Thursday at a three-day conference on AIDs and other diseases being held in Miami Beach. "We're trying to get older people to think about what behavior puts them at risk instead of focusing on age."

Older people are far less likely to use a condom, partly because birth control is no longer a concern. About 90 percent have never been tested for HIV, said Dr. Carl Eisdorfer, director of the Center for Adult Development and Aging and the Center for Biopsychological Studies of AIDS at the University of Miami.

But biological factors may make them more susceptible to the disease. Tissues thin in older people, making them more vulnerable to tearing, and older women lose some ability to lubricate, which also makes their tissues tear more easily.

Because the disease is often missed early on by doctors who simply don't think to check for AIDs in an older person, many miss out on the early drug therapy that can extend their lives. The virus also appears to progress to full AIDS and death more quickly in older people, perhaps because their immune systems are already compromised by age or other disease, said Eisdorfer.

Published by: The Miami Herald, Inc.; a Knight Ridder publication. One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693

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