Women who are HIV+ live longer thanks to advanced medications and more research applied to the disease. As a result women live as long into their menopause years.
Research was undertaken to see if the medication women were on for HIV had an effect on their hormonal changes during menopause. This study was taken at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Women around the ages of 42 were cross examined and went through interviews to reaffirm various demographic factors. A total of 536 women were studied, half were infected and the other uninfected to compare results.
Women who are on medication and strong drugs are shown to have an onset of early menopause in their lives than women who are uninfected. Women who were are on higher doses of antiretroviral drugs conveyed much earlier symptoms of menopause than women on lower doses. These included hot flashes and depression. Depression in women on antiretroviral drugs was shown to be the biggest symptom, besides the dosage given that can affect certain hormonal imbalances, it was also due to socio-economic reasons as well.
Another test was later carried out on women with HIV in their early forties to show whether antiretroviral drugs brought on menopause at an earlier age. After tests done on 100 women, it had proved that HIV infected women on treatment had signs of early menopause. Other causes for this was many of them being under immense stress and previous bad life experiences.
Therefore it has been confirmed that HIV women on antiretroviral treatment go under menopause earlier than women who are not infected. Antiretroviral treatments help extend the lives of people with HIV, but is prone to bringing on menopause symptoms earlier. It is has also proved to deepen depression and stress related symptoms in women experiencing menopause.
Conclusions: These studies reaffirm that HIV women on antiretroviral treatments do experience early menopause symptoms.
