October 19, 2012 Surveys have found that tobacco use is common
among some HIV-positive people. As much as 40% of some clinic
populations have been found to smoke cigarettes. In the time
before potent combination anti-HIV therapy (commonly called ART
or HAART) became widely available, smoking cessation was not a
major concern for HIV-positive people and their health care
providers. In the present era, researchers increasingly expect
ART users to have survival rates broadly similar to those of
HIV-negative people. However, there are increasing reports of
shortened survival among some HIV-positive people due to
complications arising from cancers, co-infections and
cardiovascular disease. Smoking tobacco elevates the risk for
cancers, heart attack and other complications, ultimately
worsening quality of life and decreasing lifespan. In one
international study of more than 5,000 HIV-positive people,
researchers estimated that smoking tobacco was either directly
or indirectly responsible for 24% of the deaths that