Scientists are now beginning to test drugs for the effects of neuroAIDS like memory loss. The condition normally affects one in five AIDS patients but the number is getting larger as these patients live longer.
With the present scenario on AIDS consisting of nearly 1 million Americans and 40 million worldwide, the symptoms of neuroAIDS are largely under recognized.
Dr. Justin McArthur, vice chair of neurology at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University tells the AP, "That means HIV is the most common cause of cognitive dysfunction in young people worldwide...There's no question it's a major public health issue."
One of the problems with so-called neuroAIDS is that not many anti-HIV drugs can get into the brain to chase down the virus.
Dr. Harris Gelbard, a neurologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center tells the AP, "Despite the best efforts of (anti-HIV) therapy, the brain is failing."
Gelbard believes that neuroAIDS reduces mental function by 25 percent.
Kathy Kopnisky of the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health says, "They're living longer with HIV in the brain...And they're aging, so they're going through the normal brain aging-related processes."
Gelbart found in a recent study that valproic acid, an epilepsy drug, may increase brain connections in some patients with neuroAIDS; it also improves their symptoms. A similar project is underway with lithium, a drug commonly used for treating manic depression.
