Alcohol
IN PHOTO: Labourers pour vodka to bottles while packaging at the Hanoi Alcohol factory in Yen Phong industrial Park at Bac Ninh, outside Hanoi August 14, 2014. Vietnam's alcoholic beverage industry grew an average 17.61 percent per year over the 2009-2013 period despite an economic downturn that hurt most sectors in the country, according to VietinBank Securities, the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper reported. Reuters

Study found that men diagnosed with Human Immunodeficiency Disease (HIV) are more likely to feel the effects of alcohol, compared to men who do not have the disease. This finding was yielded after researchers from Yale and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System compared the data stating the number of drinks that men with and without the infection should consume to feel a buzz.

The scientists are well aware that drinking alcoholic drinks can put patients with HIV infection in danger. Aside from the similar fatal effects to the liver, alcohol and HIV can also pose some health hazards. "Alcohol makes it more likely you're going to get HIV due to risky sexual behavior," said Dr. Amy C. Justice, professor of medicine and public health at Yale. She added that individuals with HIV often fail to take their antiretroviral medications due to alcohol consumption.

The study, which was published in the journal Aids and Behaviour, was conducted by the Yale team and their colleagues by analysing the data of more than 2,600 men in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study. This group has a continuing multi-site study of veterans. The information they collated include survey answers from veterans regarding the number of alcoholic drinks they usually have to take to feel a buzz. The participants, were composed of both HIV-infected and uninfected veterans. The researchers took the comparison study further by investigating the responses of the men with unsuppressed or detectable HIV versus those who have a suppressed disease.

After the review, the researchers discovered that the participants with unsuppressed HIV were more affected by the consequences of alcohol, compared to those who have suppressed infection or are not infected at all. It was also found that on the average, it only takes a quarter less of a drink of others for patients with HIV to feel the buzz.

With all other factors having equal presence and impact, Justice explained that patients with HIV have lower alcohol tolerance compared to others. The reason behind the low tolerance is not yet clearly established, but they are looking at the possibility of whether individuals with HIV are simply more susceptible to alcohol effects or if they exhibit higher blood alcohol concentrations after drinking the same amount of booze.

In the end, the researchers said the results of their study confirmed that there is no concise level of safe alcohol consumption. This should then prompt health care providers to educate patients with HIV that they are more prone to the adverse impacts of alcohol.

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