HIV disease: Gastrointestinal manifestions in older patients

AIDS related deaths have considerably decreased since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy. Availability of potent drugs, longer survival of adults with HIV disease, lack of awareness, a feeling of personal shame and guilt and blood transfusions received in an earlier era with inadequate screening techniques of donor blood have contributed to increased occurrence of HIV in older adults. In the elderly, AIDS is associated with shorter survival and varied manifestations. Being the largest lymphoid organ in the body, it comes as no surprise that the gastrointestinal system is vulnerable to HIV infection. The following is a discussion on HIV disease in older subjects, with a focus on the gastrointestinal manifestations.