HIV patients with declining platelet counts appear to be at increased risk for HIV–associated dementia, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.“Human immunodeficiency virus–associated dementia (HIV-D) is a syndrome encompassing a spectrum of cognitive, behavioral and motor deficits that usually has an insidious onset and a chronic progressive course,” the authors write as background information in the article. Therapies leading to longer life for HIV patients have paradoxically increased the prevalence of this condition. Identifying biological markers for the development of HIV–associated dementia is critical both for diagnosing the disorder and for understanding its underlying mechanisms.
