ABSTRACT
Only modest attention has been paid in the medical literature to the unique aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in elderly persons. A crucial potential cause of a more rapid progression to death is the known greater toxicity of many antimicrobial drugs in elderly persons. Anecdotal reports have found that older patients are less tolerant of zidovudine (AZT) therapy and have more undesirable effects, perhaps due to the altered rates of absorption, distribution, and clearance seen with most drugs in elderly individuals. Finally, a probable cause of decreased survival of older individuals with AIDS is the problem of delayed diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, which clearly can contribute to a poor prognosis. One of the most challenging and often overlooked diagnoses in HIV-infected elderly persons is AIDS dementia.
