Grief counselling may lower HIV viral load

Researchers at the University of Miami (UM) have discovered providing intensive grief therapy to gay men who have lost a partner or friend to AIDS can significantly lower their HIV viral load.

The study, directed by psychiatrist Dr. Karl Goodkin, is the first to show that viral load can be affected by behavioural intervention.

The research found that men who attended 10 specially designed group sessions were notably healthier when the level of HIV was measured in their blood. The data revealed that among the HIV-infected men studied, CD4 cell counts were stable for those in intensive therapy, while the CD4 levels of the men who did not receive the UM counselling continued to decline.

The research, published in the Journal of Human Virology, received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, a division of the National Institutes of Health.