I was diagnosed 2 months ago. Apart from all the other issues I'm trying to deal with right now, I am really worried about lipodystrophy. I am a medical student and have been doing modeling here and there. I understand that fat redistribution problems are not seen as frequently while on newer regimens. What percent of HIV patients on popular regimens, like Atripla, experience lipodystrophy or facial fat loss?

The risk of lipoatrophy on Atripla would be in the 10 percent range after 3 years of exposure. This estimate is an extrapolation from the ACTG 5142 trial where body fat measures were tracked in response to different starting regimens. The risk would be slightly lower with a protease inhibitor-based regimen but at the cost of more toxicity and slightly lower efficacy. What we do not know yet is whether we will see lower rates of lipoatrophy with newer agents like integrase inhibitors. Thanks for posting and best of luck!