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For Those with HIV, Cigarettes Have Become More Dangerous Than the Actual Virus

According to a study out this week in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, those with HIV infections who are also smokers are now more likely to die from smoking than anything related to HIV itself. In fact, among European populations smoking was found to reduce life expectancies among those with HIV by about twice as much HIV itself. In the US, where rates of HIV treatment adherence are generally worse, HIV and smoking are about equal in terms of (indirect) causes of death.

"In persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, smoking is a scourge," writes Keri Althoff, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in a commentary accompanying the new study. "This study makes clear that we must prioritize smoking cessation among adults with HIV if we want them to have an increase in the quantity (and likely quality) of life."

It's a reminder that treating HIV, as with any chronic illness really, is a holistic endeavor. We can get so far with drugs—and controlling HIV is one of the more amazing things we've accomplished with those drugs—but Reddy's study makes it clear just how easy it is to erase those gains if we try to look at diseases in isolation.

Journal of Infectious Diseases

Johns Hopkins School Of Public Health.