HIV-infected adults with depression have increased risk for heart attack
With the advent of highly effective antiretroviral therapy and improved survival, people with HIV-infection are living longer and are now at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). There is an urgent need to identify novel risk factors and primary prevention approaches for CVD in HIV. Although depression is prevalent in HIV-infected adults and is associated with future CVD in the general population, its association with CVD events has not been examined in the HIV-infected population. Matthew S. Freiberg, M.D., M.Sc., of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn., and colleagues conducted a study that included 26,144 HIV-infected veterans without CVD at baseline (1998-2003) participating in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Aging Cohort Study from April 2003 through December 2009. At study entry, 4,853 veterans (19 percent) with major depressive disorder were identified. The average age of those with MDD was 47 years and for those wi...