| Interest In Nutritional Status |
Little was known about problems impacting
nutritional status. The majority of AIDS patients had little interest in
their nutritional condition. In the early 1980s, health care professionals
caring for hospitalized AIDS patients rarely considered their nutritional
care. More time was spent considering feeding options. Access to information
on nutrition and HIV/AIDS was very limited and many HIV-positive people
based their treatment decisions purely on speculation. Extremely limited
nutritional services were offered to people with AIDS after Congress passed
the first Ryan White Care Act
in
1990. A very limited number of nutrition professionals began to focus on
the care of people living with HIV and AIDS. Few HIV-positive patients,
however, received advice on how to deal with the various aspects that affected
their nutritional status other than food and water safety issues. |
Problems impacting nutritional status were
defined. More people living with HIV became interested in learning about
nutrition and HIV. As the decade progressed, more clinicians began to recognize
the value of providing early nutritional services to HIV-positive people.
The advent of protease inhibitors
and other medications used to delay the progression of HIV dramatically
changed the way HIV infection was treated. New concerns were associated
with the use of these medications. We learned that nutritional therapies
can be effective in the nutritional repletion of malnourished people living
with HIV. Access to the World Wide Web increased the amount of nutrition
information available to the general population. Some HIV-positive people
began to base treatment decisions on Internet information without knowing
if the information was reliable. Reauthorization
of the Ryan White Care Act helped more HIV-positive people receive
nutritional services.
|
Information on the need for nutritional services
will
continue to grow as more nutrition professionals report
positive outcomes and raise awareness of the importance of nutrition
in HIV care. More HIV-positive people will also strive to improve their
nutritional status as they learn about the benefits of nutritional services.
Access to the World Wide Web will increase sources of reliable nutrition
information due to increased pressure from government regulators and groups
such as the Health
Information Technology Institute of Mitretek Systems, Inc. Some health
care professionals will correspond with their patients through the Internet.
Around 2009, Medicare,
Medicaid,
and Medical
Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is likely to be accessed more by HIV-positive
people living with heart disease and diabetes allowing more people to obtain
nutritional guidance. The use of 'natural remedies' will also increase. |
