Question
Will diet and exercise increase my CD4 count?
26 March 2012. Related: CD4 and viral load, Starting treatment.
My last cd4 count, taken 05/2011 was 453,and my most recent one taken last month came back as 280.
Now this has come as an extreme shock to me and hard to accept. I am not ready to start meds.
Can I re-take a cd4 test just for reassurance?
All my other previous ones have been above 500. Yes my diet has been beyond poor but what could be the main/possible cause for such a drastic drop?
Also need to know if I can boost it up by getting back on track with my diet and exercise?
Answer
I can appreciate your concern about the drop in your CD4 count. This is not uncommon as the change could be due to any number of factors. Firstly, CD4 counts do generally tend to drop over time, especially if someone has not started treatment. CD4 counts also fluctuate (vary) depending on lots of other factors including lab errors and the time of day the test was done. There is, therefore, certainly no harm in re-taking the test for reassurance.
Your second question was whether you could boost your CD4 count through diet and exercise. Staying healthy by eating a nutritious balanced diet, excercising regularly, reducing stress levels, etc, can all help to maintain a healthy immune system. However, this will not necessarily increase your CD4 count.
In general, the only way you can increase your CD4 count is by taking ARVs (antiretrovial treatment for HIV). ARVs are the only proven way of increasing and maintaining a good CD4 count.
You mentioned that you are not yet ready to start treatment. The WHO (World Health Organisation) treatment guidelines recommend starting treatment with a CD4 count of 350 or less. Even if your confirmatory test indicates that you do not need to start treatment straightaway, you may find it helpful to start preparing for when you will need to start treatment in the future. Our guide to An introduction to combination therapy answers a lot of questions you may have around starting treatment.
Good luck with the test.
Hi Mary,
CD4 counts can fluctuate during the course of the day, therefore its hard to say when the best time is. It doesn’t matter what time your you have a viral load test done.
When will be the best time during the course of the day when you go to the doctor to take your blood work for your viral load and your T-cell count does it matter what time of day does it make a difference in your accounts
Hi Isaac,
I’m sorry to hear about your son’s diagnosis. And having a CD4 count below 200 means that he can be at increased risk of other infections.
What county do you live in? Do you have access to HIV treatment (ART) there?
Here is an Introduction to ART. This explains how ART can help reduce levels of HIV and help a CD4 count recover.
Please let us know if he can access HIV treatment.
Once on ART a balanced diet is good for physical and mental health.
Hi,
My son is 13 years old, was diagnosed recently and his cd4 count is below 200, your kind and urgent advice for treatment and nutrition please.
thank you.
Hi Shiva,
It’s great that you’ve been on ART for 6 years. Please see this Q&A for what is a normal CD4 count. Anywhere between 460 and 1600 is normal for someone who is HIV negative. So since you started ART your CD4 count has been in this normal range.
But do you have access to your viral load result? Your viral load can tell you if your HIV meds are working well.
When you are on ART your viral load should go down to undetectable level (less than 50 copies/mL). Once your viral load goes down, then slowly your CD4 count will increase, although sometimes not to the level before you had HIV.
Please see this Q&A on what is an undetectable viral load.
I am Shiva, working in Bangalore. I am HIV positive since 6 years, and I am in ART since 6 years.
My initial cd4 count was 350 and after I started ART it has increased slightly, September 2018 cd4 count was 690 and now again after 6 months Feb 2019 my cd4 is 574 it has decrerased.
I am really worried now because of the cd4 count result. Why this fluctuation? and since I am in ART from 6 years my cd4 count never went above 700.
Please advise me.
It will be better if you give some diet plan.
Hi Alok,
Please see Q2 here: https://i-base.info/qa/what-are-the-most-asked-questions
Thanks for that but I wasn’t to know how we increase cd4 without any medical help
Hi Sunny,
Its not possible to say when someone contracted HIV from their CD4 count. To know when you contracted HIV you’ll need to think about any possible risks that you may have had.
In April 18 my cd4 count was 297
When was the possibility that I was infected first time
Would you please suggest