Grant: Catalyst Grant: Infection and Immunity - New Investigator Catalyst Grant

The lives of people living with HIV have changed greatly over the last 20 years, and the drugs used to treat HIV are helping people to live longer lives. Changes in health that normally happen with aging are starting to be seen in people living with HIV, and some doctors think that these changes are happening at younger ages than for people without HIV. Some of the things that people living with HIV report frequently include lower ability to concentrate, pay attention and remember things. This kind of an effect can make it harder for people to remember to take their medications every day as well as caring for themselves and their families. Since HIV medications lower the amount of HIV virus in the body, forgetting to take them can also have negative effects on their length and quality of life. Not very much is known yet about exactly how HIV drugs affect a person's thinking and memory, and what possible effects this could have on the normal aging process. Even less is known about these effects in women, as most studies have been done with men. Around the world, women represent half of people living with HIV, and we believe it is very important to understand these effects in women. Our team would like to offer a short group of memory and thinking tests. This will help us to know if there is a problem that affects their daily function, and will be the first step towards looking at possible ways to help women cope with it. We believe this information will help to understand more about this new and serious issue. We also believe it is very important to start looking at this right now because in the next 6 years more than 50% of the people living with HIV in North America are going to be older than 50 years of age. This information will however help all HIV positive people regardless of where they live.