By Katie Willingham
Several members of The Well Project's team observed the April 2024 International Workshop on HIV & Women, from on the ground in Washington, DC, as well as virtually. Read on for this author's take on some of the information presented.
This year's International Workshop on HIV & Women featured an interesting debate on whether or not HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) causes hypertension in women living with HIV. The first debater was Claudia Cortes, MD, of the University of Chile, who talked about elevated weight and the impact of ART on the heart in favor of the proposal that ART does indeed cause hypertension in women living with HIV. I thought she made an interesting case about damage to the heart walls of women.
The second debater was Jürgen Rockstroh, MD, of the University of Bonn in Germany, arguing that ART does not necessarily cause hypertension. He said that meds were not causing high blood pressure as much as other factors such as aging, diet, and level of exercise; and his assessment was fairly convincing. Each of the debaters had seven minutes to make their case. Then there were two more debaters who were community representatives, and they were given four minutes. They were Angelina Namiba, BA Hons, of the 4M Network of Mentor Mothers, and Lucy Hutchinson of The Sussex Beacon, both of the United Kingdom.
Before the debate began, a poll was conducted to see where the audience stood on the issue. Half had no opinion, and the rest were evenly split; but by the end of the debate, the audience had changed their views and the proposition that ART did NOT cause hypertension won the debate by over half.
If my own personal experience is evidence, I think I would have to agree because I've been on ART for 24 years now and my blood pressure is almost perfect every time I see the doctor. Sometimes it runs a little on the low side, but generally my blood pressure is always in a good range. So whereas the meds are not perfect and can cause some side effects, according to this session, apparently hypertension is not a major concern for people simply because they take antiretroviral therapy, but other factors must still be addressed.
