Nutrition Habits in People Living with HIV/AIDS in Bulgaria: Review of Current Practice and Recommendations

The innovations in the medical science and development of new biotechnology medicines changed significantly the course of the human immune-deficiency virus (HIV) infection toward a chronic condition. Along HAART, habits in nutrition place an important role in the improvement of the health status of people living with HIV. Proper diet and nutrition may enhance the adherence and concordance to prescribed therapy and its effectiveness, to reduce the risk of adverse drug events and to boost the immune function. In the resent years a tendency towards increased food supplements consumption is observed, especially in patients with chronic diseases. There is a risk of possible interactions between selected dietary supplements with the antiretroviral medicines which may result in decrease of the drug concentrations in the blood plasma and subsequent decreased therapeutic effect and increased risk of viral resistance. Still there are gaps in respect with such information in the guidelines and recommendations for treatment, monitoring and nutrition in HIV. More studies are needed to fully evaluate such interactions and to put recommendations both for the healthcare professionals and for the people living with HIV for their use in order not to compromise HAART and to maintain the desirable therapeutic outcome.