What should an HIV/AIDS person do so that he does not grow lean/thin or...

[Kay]

...is there any medicine to be taking? He is a year infected

[BJC]

Hi, there.

I would say at this point (it is very early in infection if he has only had it one year) that the best thing for the person to do is to eat healthy and exercise (weight train).

Sometimes, with HIV infection it may be that a person has to increase his or her total daily caloric intake to maintain the same weight -- this is because HIV can affect the gastrointestinal system and can decrease absorption among other things.. So be sure that he is eating nutritiously and not starving.

If appetite is a problem there are drugs that can be prescribed or gotten from local distributors, shall we say. Loss of appetite is often the driving force behind 'wasting'.

The biggest thing that he can do now to protect himself later is to increase his lean body mass by exercising, paricularly with weights. It is the loss of this lean body mass that causes problem with more advanced HIV disease.

For the best and most up to date information about HIV, Nutrition, Treatment, and many other issues, check out the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange and their online publications:
http://www.catie.ca/eng/publications/publicationsIndex.shtml#web
(Especially check out the "practical guides" and be sure and give this infor to your friend. It can be very helpful!)

[silentjealousy77]

paxil an antidepressant usually causes weight gain...first month or so some weight loss then you gain.