Lack of social support may cause HIV+ men to develop AIDS more quickly

HIV-infected men suffering significant stress, but receiving minimal social support to deal with it, will develop AIDS more quickly, report researchers at the University of North Carolina.

Jane Leserman, PhD, research associate professor of psychiatry, who participated in the study, concedes that, "it is widely believed that stress can affect one's health." But she asserts that the new findings offer key guides to understanding the progression of AIDS.

She says the study's results "showed that for every increase in the cumulative average of stressful life events--equivalent to one severely stressful event or two moderately stressful events--the risk of AIDS" was doubled.

A death in the family, the loss of a job and the breakup of a relationship would be considered severely stressful situations, while moderate stress might be illness in the family or strained relations with the boss or a partner.

Leserman says that a two-year follow-up of 82 HIV-infected gay men, first studied in 1990 at a time when they had no AIDS symptoms, offers "the most compelling evidence to date linking psychological variables with HIV progression." The study found that severe stress and depressive symptoms occurring together are associated with decreases in immunity.

The study also found that 33 percent of the men contracted AIDS during the years of the study, and the experience of both highly stressful living and no place to turn for adequate social support accelerated the likelihood of developing the disease.

The findings could change the way treatment is conducted. The study indicated that "along with considering the more biological aspects of AIDS, we should consider the relevance of psychological aspects of this illness."

Lederman said more work would be needed to develop a comprehensive treatment plan, but clearly, more therapeutic work in dealing with stress as well as a support plan guided by professionals would be needed.

The subjects, recruited from rural and urban areas in North Carolina as part of the Coping in Health and Illness Project, were screened initially to exclude those with less than 10 years of education, previous intravenous drug use, pre-existing neurological disorders or heavy use of alcohol. The subjects were given systematic medical, neurological, neuropsychological and psychiatric assessments.

The study is published in the journal, Psychosomatic Medicine, (Vol. 61, No. 3, p. 397-406).

--J. Volz



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