Weight loss and disease progression in HIV infection.

Weight loss and malnutrition continue to be important issues that clinicians face when treating patients with HIV infection. In addition to specific clinical consequences, weight loss in these patients is linked to a greater risk of death and opportunistic complications. A loss of as little as 5% to 1-% of baseline body weight can be associated with a risk of death that is 2.5 times that seen in patients with HIV infection who do not lose weight. Furthermore, weight loss in patients with HIV infection can increase the risk of individual opportunistic infections by as much as 61% to 176%. Future studies may help define the prognostic implications of lipodystrophy and changes in body cell mass in patients with HIV who are taking antiretroviral therapy.