Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International; Thursday January 22 1:24 PM EST
Mara Bovsun in New York
Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta found that 13 percent of AIDS patients over age 50 die within a month of diagnosis, compared to 6 percent of younger patients.
CDC AIDS epidemiologist Kimberly Holding says one reason for this may be that doctors are slow to diagnose the deadly virus in older people, missing chances to treat infections that strike AIDS patients because their immune systems are down.
Holding says, "We think health care providers may be less likely to think of HIV in older people."
They may overlook signs of AIDS, like dementia and wasting, attributing these problems to Alzheimer's disease, cancer and other conditions that come with age, she says.
She adds that older people themselves may "not perceive themselves to be at risk" and may therefore engage in more risky behavior, such as having sex without using condoms.
The report, published today in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, looked at the incidence of AIDS in the United States between 1991 and 1996. The study says 50-plus patients account for 11 percent of the 68,473 Americans over age 13 who had AIDS, according to reports to the CDC.
The largest increase in illnesses associated with AIDS, such as wasting syndrome and HIV-related brain infections, was in older patients.
There was a 22 percent jump, from 5,260 cases to 6,400 cases, in these illnesses in the 50-plus group in the five years. In patients between 13 and 49, there was a 9 percent rise, from 46,000 cases to 50, 300 cases in the same time.
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