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Need for social support deters HIV patients from taking their drug ‘cocktails’

Social support may play a small but potentially important role in helping HIV-positive people adhere to the complicated schedules for taking their drug “cocktails” to control the virus that causes AIDS. A pilot study of primarily indigent black and Puerto Rican men and women at an HIV clinic in New York City suggested that individuals who had the social support they needed were more likely to take their medications. The pilot project was part of a larger study to assess the efficacy of peer support to enhance people’s adherence to their cocktail or Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy.

Physical Activity Prolongs Life, Even for the Obese

Being inactive is more life-threatening than being overweight or obese, results of one of the first studies to consider body weight and physical activity simultaneously and assess their independent effects on mortality has found. For the determinedly sedentary, that’s the bad news. The good news is that participants didn’t need to be marathon runners to decrease their mortality risk.