HIV

Realistic life expectancy on treatment

Newly diagnosed. I have read that life expectancy is near normal and I cannot tell whether that is true or whether it is what people say to newly diagnosed patients.

spare_room 3 months ago

NoteMember experience, not medical advice. Symptoms overlap between infections and only a test can tell them apart.

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open_window 3 months ago

It is true and it comes from long term cohort studies rather than from reassurance. Someone diagnosed today, starting treatment promptly and staying on it, has a life expectancy approaching that of someone without HIV.

The caveats are real: it depends on starting early, staying in care, and on the other health conditions everybody accumulates.

blue_hour 3 months ago

What genuinely helped me was seeing that the research being published now is largely about ageing with HIV, cardiovascular risk, bone health and cancer screening. Those are the concerns of a population that is living a long time.

greytide 3 months ago

The thing that shortens life expectancy most is late diagnosis and dropping out of care. You are in neither category today, and that is the part you control.

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