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Osteopenia and osteoporosis are common among HIV-infected patients, increasing their risk for fractures. Although antiretrovirals were initially suspected as the cause, the pathogenesis is probably multifactorial and likely includes traditional risk factors such as smoking, vitamin D deficiency, and hypogonadism. To investigate this issue, researchers in Amsterdam evaluated a cohort of HIV-infected individuals aged ≥45 on antiretroviral therapy and matched HIV-uninfected controls recruited from a sexual health clinic (n=581 and 520, respectively). Participants underwent dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scanning at baseline and then every 6 months.
HIV-infected individuals had a lower median body weight and were more likely to be injection-dr…