Question
I'm 40 plus and positive – what is my life expectancy?
30 January 2012. Related: All topics, Life expectancy, Living with HIV long-term, Newly diagnosed.
If I’m diagnosed HIV positive in my mid forties can I hope for a life expectancy of 35 plus years?
Answer
Estimating life span is only ever a rough guess, as there are too many factors involved and only some of them you know about. How long anyone lives depends on things you can change (smoking, exercise, medication) and things you can’t (genetics and good and bad luck).
The most important thing you can do is to get into care, start HIV treatment, monitor the response to treatment carefully and maintain a positive attitude with healthy eating and regular exercise. Regular exercise can also help to reduce stress and anxiety.
Today’s HIV meds have less side effects and only involve a few pills a day – sometimes only one pill a day. Currently there are over 30 different types of drugs and with the kind of combination drugs; HIV treatment can give you a near normal life expectancy and a good quality of life. The estimates of life expectancy with HIV continue to rise each year, as the HIV positive population grows.
A study in Denmark (2005) estimated that the survival is more than 35 years for a person diagnosed with HIV and another study in Canada (2003) showed that in the US, life expectancy increase to 58.3 years.
We have also answer similar questions to yours and they are available at the FAQ section. Please take your time reading them and if you have further questions, then do come back to me.
Good luck and all the best.
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