HIV Patients Advised Not to Take Breaks From Antiviral Drugs

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HIV Patients Advised Not to Take Breaks From Antiviral Drugs

By JOANNA SCHAFFHAUSEN
ABC News

Nov. 30, 2006 — - DON'T STOP THE HIV DRUGS HIV patients should not take breaks from their antiviral drugs or they may increase their risk of death, according to results from a large study of nearly 5,500 people published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Doctors had hoped that taking scheduled holidays from the antiviral medications could help stop resistance to the drugs, as well as minimize side effects and encourage people to stick to the overall medication regimen. But even scheduling the pill holidays for times when patients' immune systems looked strong did not work out -- patients who took breaks from their meds had a 2.6 times risk of infection or death compared to patients who did not take breaks.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2688814