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July 31, 2009

High Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in HIV-Positive Men

"Overall, 42 percent of the men in the study had vitamin D deficiency, with 11.3 percent having severe deficiency. After considering factors such as low CD4 count and BMI, researchers found a trend toward greater vitamin D deficiency in people who had taken non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), such as Viramune (nevirapine) and Sustiva (efavirenz) compared with protease inhibitors. Smoking also was highly correlated with extremely low vitamin D levels.

"The authors recommend routine clinical screenings for vitamin D in HIV-positive patients. They also call for further research to explain or debunk the connection between NNRTIs and vitamin D deficiency."

Read more in POZ, July 29, 2009.

Comment: It appears that the smoking result is the strongest one here -- and that low vitamin D is a significant risk for anyone with HIV. This study was done in New York City.

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