Use of selected vitamin and mineral supplements among individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have become important health concerns in the past decade. Infection with HIV lowers an individual's ability to fight off certain opportunistic infections and/or malignancies that lead to a diagnosis of AIDS. Frequent clinical manifestations in individuals with AIDS include fevers of unknown origin, weight loss, fatigue, diffuse pneumonia, diarrhea, neurologic disorders, retinitis, and protein-energy malnutrition (1-5).

Because of their desire to gain control of their health, people with AIDS are highly susceptible to fraudulent therapies and remedies. One such therapy is megadosing with certain vitamins and minerals (4,6). A megadose level of a nutrient has been defined as more than 10 times the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) (7,8). Megadosing with certain nutrients may stimulate or depress immunity and increase susceptibility to infectious challenge. This study measured the extent of megadosing with selected vitamins and minerals among HIV-infected patients.

Methods

In 1987, the names and addresses of 200 …