AIDS drugs lead to premature ageing

Technology

AIDS drugs lead to premature ageing

Close

AIDS drugs can lead to premature ageing and other age-related illness.

27 June,2011 09:36 pm

AIDS drugs can lead to premature ageing and other age-related illness such as heart disease and dementia. These drugs are mostly used in Africa or other developing countries causing health hazards.Drugs are known as nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitors or NRTIs, damage patients DNA. It takes time for the side effects to become apparent. The study explains why AIDS drugs sometimes show advanced signs of frailty and diseases such as heart disease and dementia at an early age.The DNA in our mitochondria gets copied throughout our lifetimes and, as we age, naturally accumulates errors. Drugs are now less commonly used in wealthy countries where they have been replaced by newer more expensive combination AIDS drugs with fewer side-effects.But in poorer countries, where access to cheaper generic medicines is often the only option for HIV patients to get treatment, NRTIs are still relatively widely used.