Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - October 11, 1999
"Scientists and doctors don't know if women and men should be taking the same prescribed dosages. We hope this study will help us to find out," Nancy MacNeil, executive director of advocacy group Women Alive, said in a statement.
The new trial, sponsored by Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. and Merck & Co., will compare a group of 100 women and 100 men for whom current drug regimens have failed.
"There is not a lot of information and education from a clinical standpoint on women with AIDS," said Mark Short, a spokesman for Bristol-Meyers.
A gender gap in survival rates between men and women with AIDS still exists. In Los Angeles County, women are 18 percent less likely to survive than men, even with the advent of new medications, according to Women Alive.
Short noted that trial participants will be paired with "peer advocates" in an effort eliminate distractions, ranging from transportation to child care, that could interfere with adherence to the trial parameters.
"We don't want a single person -- woman or man -- to have to drop out of this study due to the demands of day-to-day life. We feel that adherence is so important that our peer advocates will be asked to wear pagers in order to be available at all hours to provide support to patients," said DeAnna Bowens, Women Alive's peer advocate coordinator.
The 48-week trial will compare sex differences for viral load suppression, diabetes, abnormal distribution of body fat and elevated cholesterol levels patients expected to be enrolled at 10 sites around the United States.
The study will assess the regimen of two nucleoside reverse transcriptor inhibitors with two protease inhibitors.
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