IN GENERAL
Nutritional deficiencies may be helped by multiple vitamins (especially for calcium), A, B, E; zinc in advanced case. Smoking and recreational drug use increase risks. For exact guidance, please consult your physician, an HIV nutritionist or a dietary specialist.

Wasting, weight loss and lipodystrophy DO exist in positive women

Older
Protease Inhibitors may protect against bone mineral loss!

Infections
Women tend to have more frequent infections than men

Low Bone Mineral Density
Metabolic changes increase with age
Iincreased insulin resistance can lead to diabetes

Caucasians
Osteopenia may arise (low bone mineral density)

Postmenopausal Hispanic and African-Americans
Lumbar spine osteoporosis incidence is considerably high
(80% of poz women over 50 in New York are Hispanic or African-American)

Africans and Vitamin A (retinol)
Severe deficiencies, but don't affect genital fluids
Vitamin A supplementation not very effective.
Leslie Hanna, editor of BETA
1999 study by R.N. Burns and Richard Semba

COMPARED TO HIV+ MEN:
Viral loads are half of those of men with similar CD4 tcell counts
Women have more drug side effects
More likely to have central fat accumulation
Men have higher levels of fat and lower levels of HDL
_________

References:
Low Bone Mineral Density in HIV-infected Women, D. Jacobson*, T. Knox, A. Shevitz, S. Gorbach, Tufts Univ Sch of Med, Boston, MA; NCOI 2003Low Bone Mineral Density (BMD)

Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal HIV+ Women, M. T. Yin*, J. F. Dobkin, K. F. Brudney, C. Becker, J. L. Zadel, M. Manandhar, V. Addesso, R. B. Staron, B. E. Diamond, E. Shane, Columbia Univ, New York, NY

"Lipodystrophy and Women: A Beach Ball on Sticks" by Barbara Marcotte from Test Positive Aware Network May/June 2004

Leslie Hanna, editor of BETA