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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 It may sound obvious that stress and depression make people sicker. But "people want the proof, and we're providing the evidence," Leserman said. "Without that evidence, I don't think HIV researchers would really take it that seriously."
Another study in the journal suggests that interventions that improve mental health might also boost the immune health of HIV-infected people. Adam Carrico of the University of California, San Francisco, and Michael Antoni, of the University of Miami, reviewed 14 studies on the subject conducted between 1987 and 2007. They write that, "psychological interventions represent a viable adjuvant treatment that can assist patients with improving psychological adjustment and potentially enhancing immune status."
According to Leserman, researchers could definitively link mental issues to physical health by launching what's known as the "gold standard" of research -- a randomized, double-blind study. Hypothetically, researchers could track two randomly chosen groups of HIV patients, some whom are depressed and stressed and others who aren't.
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But such a study would require researchers to not let the depressed patients be treated for mental problems, which is ethically and practically not possible. Both Leserman and Ironson believe that it is crucial to boost the health of HIV patients by helping them deal with the mental challenges they face outside of their disease.
"We should not give up on these people," Leserman said. "We should work with them to try to improve their lives."
Ironson put it this way: "I would encourage patients to view the glass as half full instead of half empty. There's scientific evidence that that [good mental health] is related to slower disease progression."
More information
There's more on HIV/AIDS at the Foundation for AIDS Research.
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