ABSTRACT
For over 25 years, the global, scientific, and governmental communities have
been actively engaged in devising strategies to understand and combat the threat
posed to human health by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus
responsible for the development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS) (1). This period has heralded many positive therapeutic breakthroughs
that now provide regimes that have changed the initial perception of an “early
death sentence” to one of “life imprisonment” for many infected individuals.
Although an overall cure appears to be a long way over the horizon, these
treatment strategies have meant that life expectancy has significantly increased
in areas where treatment is available. Consequently, more infected individuals
will be alive and will experience the combined effects of HIV/AIDS and the
“normal” aging process. In this chapter we will examine the effects of HIV/AIDS
on the aging populations from the perspective of its impact on the immune system.
We will begin by exploring the factors contributing to ageing of the immune
system before examining the potential impact of HIV/AIDS and therapeutic
strategies to combat the infection has on the ageing population.
