Meth Use Increases Risk for HIV
Because the use of methamphetamine among male homosexuals is 30 times higher than in the general population, urgent prevention, intervention and treatment efforts are need to reduce the risk of transmitting the HIV virus that causes AIDS. A North Carolina study found that one in every 20 men who have sex with men use crystal meth in the past month.
Because meth impairs judgment, decreases inhibition, increases impulsivity and enhances sexual sensitivity, the can increase the potential for transmitting HIV, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
"Until now, there has been little data on meth use in the Southeast," said lead author Scott D. Rhodes, PhD MPH. "Our findings, including that meth users were more likely to be HIV-positive, suggest that prevention, intervention and treatment efforts are urgently needed."
More Risky Behaviors
The study found that participants who reported using methamphetamines were more likely to report inconsistent condom use, a history of STD infection, being HIV-positive and using medications designed to treat erectile dysfunction.
"The HIV/AIDS epidemic is clearly not over. We must develop innovative intervention approaches designed to reach communities at highest risk. Men who have sex with men, whether or not they identify themselves as gay, who use drugs like methamphetamines are clearly at higher risk. Yet currently nothing is being done in the Southeast," Rhodes said, in a news release.
The Wake Forest study was published in the journal AIDS Patient Care and STDs in August 2007.
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Comments
I see an error in the first paragraph. The author first states that male homosexuals use Meth at 30 times the rate of the general population. Later on in the same paragraph, he goes on to state that 1 in 20 men who have sex with men (MSM) have used crystal Meth in the last month.
Nationwide, the average rate of use for the general population is 2-3 percent who have EVER used Meth. In some regions the rate of use is much higher, up to 10-15% or even more. Of course, the number of “past month” use is lower than the number of those who have “ever used.” Even so, I don’t think these figures possibly add up to MSM using at a rate 30 times greater than in the general population.
I am sick and tired of seeing such exaggerations throughout the media and Internet. They do no good to our cause for prevention, treatment and enforcement to reduce the impacts of this deadly drug on our people.