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People with alcohol use disorders are more likely than the general population to contract HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).
Similarly, people with HIV are more likely to abuse alcohol at some time during their lives. Alcohol use is associated with
high-risk sexual behaviors and injection drug use, two major modes of HIV transmission. Concerns about HIV in Botswana have
increased as recent trends suggest a constant level of infection among women. In persons already infected, the combination
of heavy drinking and HIV has been associated with increased medical and psychiatric complications, delays in seeking treatment,
difficulties with HIV medication compliance, and poorer HIV treatment outcomes. Decreasing alcohol use in people who have
HIV or who are at risk for becoming infected reduces the spread of HIV and the diseases associated with it.
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People who abuse alcohol are more likely to engage in behaviors that place them at risk for contracting HIV. For example,
a history of heavy alcohol use has been correlated with a lifetime tendency toward high-risk sexual behaviors, including multiple
sex partners, unprotected intercourse, sex with high-risk partners (in Botswana, the infection rate of 38% makes every partner
a High risk partner), and the exchange of sex for money or drugs.
There may be many reasons for this association. For example, alcohol can act directly on the brain to reduce inhibitions
and diminish risk perception. However, expectations about alcohols effects may exert a more powerful influence on alcohol-involved
sexual behavior. Studies consistently demonstrate that people who strongly believe that alcohol enhances sexual arousal and
performance are more likely to practice risky sex after drinking.
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Some people report deliberately using alcohol during sexual encounters to provide an excuse for socially unacceptable behavior
or to reduce their conscious awareness of risk.
Alcohol increases susceptibility to some infections that can occur as complications of AIDS. Infections associated with
both alcohol and AIDS include tuberculosis; pneumonia caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae; and the viral disease
hepatitis C. TB is the leading cause of death among people with HIV in Botswana. Alcohol may also increase the severity of
AIDS-related brain damage, which is characterized in its severest form by profound dementia and a high death rate.
In addition, many patients fail to comply with the complex medication regimen. Studies have associated heavy alcohol use with
decreased medication compliance as well as with poorer response to HIV therapy in general. The outcome of HIV therapy improved
significantly among alcoholics who stopped drinking and we believe that outcomes improve among all who are HIV positive and
who stop drinking.
AA Meeting Information
How Getting High Can Get You AIDS
Brain Damage - No wonder I do dumb things!
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