Adverse Effects Associated with Antiretroviral Therapy In recent
years, excitement about the benefits of combination anti-HIV
therapy has been tempered by a growing awareness of the problems
that accompany the use of anti-HIV drugs. In addition to drug
resistance and the difficulty of adhering to complex regimens,
side effects associated with highly active antiretroviral
therapy (HAART) have become a major concern. Side effects due to
anti-HIV drugs are not new. Since the late 1980s, the earliest
drugs used to treat HIV infection -- AZT (Retrovir) and other
nucleoside analogs, generally at higher doses than are currently
used -- were associated with several adverse events including
nausea, diarrhea, muscle disease (myopathy), and hematologic
effects (e.g., bone marrow suppression leading to anemia and low
white blood cell counts). However, the most recently approved
class of anti-HIV drugs -- the protease inhibitors -- has been
associated with a new set of strange side effects including
metabolic abnormalitie