Question
I am 54, will starting treatment protect my CD4 count?
13 November 2010. Related: All topics, CD4 and viral load, Starting treatment, Support.
I’m 54 and treatment naive.
My last numbers were CD4 550, CD4% 29 and VL 10,000.
I want to start treatment before my CD4 drops below 500.
My question is now that I am in my 50’s will the medication work effectively for me and so long as I am adherant will it maintain a healthy CD4 level in the years to come?
I read somewhere that the older you get with HIV the CD4 level starts to drop irrespective of the medication.
Answer
Hi
Your CD4 count is still very strong, so you have time and the choice to start treatment whenever you want to do this.
A ‘normal’ CD4 count is sometimes referred to as 500 cells/mm3, and this is a target CD4 count for someone on treatment, so you are already above this level.
Starting treatment now will keep your CD4 count above this level. If you end up starting at a slightly lower level, the treatment will still get you above 500 and is likely to keep you there.
The UK guidelines also include starting treatment at any CD4 count if you are older than 50.
Immune counts drops slowly with each decade we age over 50, but it is unclear whether this directly affects your health if you are HIV-negative.
Still, keeping your count as high as possible will help into the future.
Treatment works just as effectively in older people.
Some studies have reported that it might work slightly better.
This may be due to social factors (better adherence) or physical factors (because your body may eliminate drugs slightly slower, making treatment slightly more potent), or a combination of both.
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