Antidepressants and HIV

At the Fifth International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference, a study showed that antidepressant drugs can help ease symptoms of fatigue, even in HIV positive individuals who are not depressed.

Fatigue and depression are associated with one another. People who feel fatigued often have depression, and people who are clinically diagnosed with depression experience fatigue.

Bruno Spire, PhD, from the Université Aix-Marseille, in France, collected and studied data from a group of patients who had HIB and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Most of the patients were in HIV treatment, and none of them had opportunistic infections or were on HCV therapy. They were asked by researchers about fatigue and depression symptoms, their use of antidepressant drugs, and their social support groups.

Spire and his colleagues discovered that people with higher depression symptoms had a worse case of fatigue, and that depressed individuals taking antidepressants experienced less fatigue than those not taking any antidepressants. Those who were not clinically depressed but were still taking antidepressants had less fatigue than those who were not depressed and not on any antidepressant.

Spire and his researchers stated than screenings for fatigue and depression and help with them has the possibility of improving the lives of people living with HIV and HCV.

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