PROJECT INFORM IN OTHER MEDIA ... 2008
AIDS drug may cause heart problems
(mention of Project Inform in bold below)
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — A well-known AIDS drug may
double the risk of heart attack, European researchers said Wednesday.
A Danish study found Abacavir, an anti-AIDS cocktail component
which the FDA calls a "preferred choice," could increase the
possibility that long term HIV patients would have heart problem.
However, researchers caution Abacavir's heart attack risk was
low to begin with.
"The effect that you see from things like smoking is significantly
greater than the effect that we see from Abacavir. So people
would do themselves much more benefit by exercising, by quitting
smoking, by eating right, dealing with things like high cholesterol,
high triglycerides, those things, than they would be by switching
off of Abacavir," said Paul Dalton, Director of Treatment and
Advocacy for San Francisco- based Project Inform, which works
to better inform people about HIV/AIDS and its treatment.
But Dalton also noted the study is important because people
with HIV can expect to live long, normal lives which means taking
these drugs for decades and it's important to understand what
long term side effects they may carry.
