ResearchProjects

By 2015, it was estimated that half of the people living with HIV infection in the U.S. were over the age of 50. In this group of patients, those with well-controlled HIV are aging at a more rapid pace than their non-HIV peers. Long-term chronic inflammation plays a critical role in premature aging in HIV-infected adults, and there are currently no interventions available to reduce it. This project focused on HIV-infected adults over the age of 50 with an undetectable HIV viral load. The goal was to determine the impact of an effective mind-body intervention, mindfulness-based stress reduction, on reducing biological markers associated with chronic inflammation. The study was the first to explore the impact of a complementary mind-body intervention on chronic inflammation in HIV-infected adults, and will provide crucial knowledge regarding decreasing chronic inflammation in this population.