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The National Institute of Mental
Health recently presented a team of researchers at the University of
California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine with a $3.4 million grant for a
large-scale investigation of successful aging in HIV-infected individuals
between the ages of 36 and 65.
Life expectancy of HIV-positive
individuals has been progressing since the rise of antiretroviral therapy. By
2015, nearly half of HIV-positive individuals in the United States will be 50
years old or older; this number is expected to continue to rise.
According to principal investigator
Dilip Jeste, MD, study goals include: examining positive psychosocial factors
such as resilience, hardiness, optimism, and social engagement; and looking at
biomarkers of physical and cognitive aging and comparing these factors in both
HIV-infected and non-infected adults.
Co-principal investigator David J.
Moore, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at UCSD School of Medicine,
explains, “Our hope is that understanding factors that promote successful aging
at an individual level may lead to the development of new preventative and
therapeutic interventions aimed at improving quality of life and well-being in
adults living with HIV.”
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
