Did you know today is World AIDS Day? Thanks to the many different organizations (including those like AIDS.gov) recognizing the day and raising awareness about HIV and AIDS.
Now a few years old, the PatientsLikeMe HIV community currently has more than 2,800 people with HIV sharing their health information to help others learn from their experiences. In honor of today, here’s a snapshot of what patients like you are sharing and learning about in this community.
DID YOU ALSO KNOW…
- You can all find patients like you by searching by CD4 count, viral load, years since infection and more.
- In a PatientsLikeMe research study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, we revealed:
- 63% of HIV community members on PatientsLikeMe agreed they had better understanding of the consequences of taking a “drug holiday” after using our site
- 23% agreed they had decided to start therapy or counseling after interacting with others on the site
- 29% agreed PatientsLikeMe had helped them decide to start taking antiretroviral drugs
- PatientsLikeMe research scientist Mike Massagli spoke earlier this year in a PatientsLikeMeOnCallTM podcast interview about the benefits of measuring your quality of life. How’s your quality of life been recently? You can measure yours too.
How are our members treating their condition?
- Members in the HIV community are using more than 793 treatments, including prescription drugs, supplements, over-the-counter medications, life-style modifications, therapies, and more.
- The top lifestyle modifications reported by our patients includes avoiding alcohol, diet and exercise and stop smoking.
- The most widely used antiviral drugs (or cocktails) reported by members are Atripla, Truvada and Norvir; the top 3 supplements are Multivitamins, Omega 3 Fish Oil and Vitamin C.
What are their major symptoms?
- The 5 most common primary symptoms reported include: Chills/Fever, decreased appetite, night sweats, skin problems and swollen glands.
What are they talking about?
- Some of the top topics “tagged” in our forum discussions to date include blood counts, support groups, relationships, newly diagnosed patients and side effects.
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