Men with HIV need fewer drinks to feel effects

HIV-infected men are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol than those who do not have the infection, according to a new study.
Researchers at Yale University and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System reviewed data on more than 2,600 men enrolled in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, an ongoing multi-site study of veterans.
They analysed survey responses from both HIV-infected and uninfected veterans who were asked how many alcoholic drinks it took for them to feel a buzz or high.
The researchers also compared responses from HIV-infected men with unsuppressed or detectable HIV infection versus those with suppressed HIV.
The study found that HIV-infected men with detectable virus were more sensitive to the effects of alcohol than both HIV-infected men with suppressed virus and uninfected men.

On average, the HIV-infected individuals with detectable virus got a buzz from imbibing just a quarter less of a drink than the others.

"All else equal, people who have HIV infection have a lower tolerance for alcohol than similar people without HIV infection," said Dr Amy C Justice, professor of medicine and public health at Yale.
It's not clear, she added, whether HIV-infected individuals are simply more susceptible to alcohol or if they achieve higher concentrations of alcohol in the blood from the same number of drinks.
The findings suggest that there is no clearly safe level of alcohol consumption for people with HIV, and that providers should counsel their HIV-infected patients that they are more susceptible to the harmful effects of drinking, researchers said.

The study was published in the journal AIDS and Behavior.