I listened to the radio program last night "Living well with Hepatitis and Hiv" from NATAP out of N.Y. Dr. Don Kotler from St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in NYC was the guest. He is an expert on Lipodystrophy. He sited a study done last year that found that people who take testosterone or anabolic steroids have a better chance of developing Lipodystrophy. He also said that people who have lypodystrophy who work out might be aggravating lipoatrophy. How is someone supposed to work out if this is the case? Do you have any information about this? Your comments? Thank You!!

Lipodystrophy remains unexplained so treatment is still problematic. For some patients, exercise and attention to diet may help. For other it may aggravate things. Talk about a challenge. Everyone is a little different and good data is often lacking so no wonder it is confusing for all of us. If your HIV doc says it is OK to work out (exercise has been very good health benefits) then I wouldn't let a concern about aggravating lipodystrophy stop you. The ACTG has a study using several oral diabetic drugs to treat lipodystrophy and there is an ongoing study of growth hormone. Aging, time with HIV, a good response to HIV therapy have all been identified as factors beyond the drugs which can contribute. Again, the benefits of exercise almost always outweigh the concerns. KH