Because there is no combination of anti-HIV drugs that is best for everyone, therapy has to be tailored to the needs of each person. Decisions about choosing therapies are usually based on individual factors such as CD4+ cell count, viral load and the presence of symptoms of HIV/AIDS. Other factors, such as the ability to meet food, water and strict schedule requirements of certain regimens and the ability to endure certain side effects, likely play a role as well. Another point to bear in mind is that in the real world reports of side effects are usually greater than those that are received during clinical trials.
Doctors in Madrid, Spain, reviewed data on 499 subjects with HIV/AIDS who started taking HAART between the years 1996 and 2000. Their aim was to find out about drug-related side effects. These doctors collected data from PHAs attending an HIV/AIDS clinic.
Overall, about 34% of subjects (172 subjects) developed drug-related side effects. In most of these cases (145 of 172 subjects, or 84%), subjects had to stop using the drug that caused the side effect. The following is a list of drugs and the proportion of users who experienced side effects as well as the most common side effects:
The drugs that caused the most side effects were as follows:
The researchers found that, on average, subjects had taken HAART for about a year before signs/symptoms of lipodystrophy appeared.
REFERENCE
1. Moreno A, Perez-Elías MJ, Casado JL, et al. Toxicity profile of antiretroviral drugs in naïve patients starting highly active antiretroviral therapy in routine clinical practice. Abstract 93 - 3rd International Workshop on Adverse Drug Reactions and Lipodystrophy in HIV, 23-26 October 2001, Athens, Greece.
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