Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1994. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold
One group of researchers, Lyketsos, et al. from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS), found that depression was not associated with increased disease progression or death. However, another study, published in the same edition, by Burack, et al. from San Francisco General Hospital, concluded that "depression predicted a more rapid decline" in CD4 counts. The first study, which did not find an association, was significantly larger than the second. It measured not only CD4 counts but "at least five assessments" of disease progression. An editorial entitled "Depression and HIV: How Does One Affect the Other?" accompanied the two reports. It noted, "We are reminded by both studies that most HIV-infected subjects are not depressed."
The editorial continued, "We continue to urge clinicians to view depression in this population as a psychopathological condition warranting treatment to reduce suffering and to improve functioning. But we also recommend that clinicians be cautious in suggesting that HIV-infected patients should reduce their depression because of its direct effects on their T-cells. Such a stance is not well substantiated and may foster self-accusation when disease progression occurs."
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