ISSN: 2642-1143
Increased Risk of HIV-Associated Pulmonary Diseases by Environmental Factors
People living with HIV (PLWH) are at increased risk of airway abnormalities and exacerbation of several lung diseases. Several diseases such as primary lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, pulmonary arterial hypertension, bronchial hyper responsiveness and sleep-disordered breathing can be exacerbated by environmental factors such as second-hand cigarette smoke, diesel exhaust, etc. In the United States, HIV smokers outnumber HIV nonsmokers by a 3-fold margin. Moreover, use tobacco is one of emerged as a leading cause of death and comorbidities in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. For pulmonary diseases in particularly, smoking is the most prevalent but preventable causes of morbidity and mortality affecting PLWH. Incidence of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is already elevated in HIV-infected compared to uninfected patients and current smoking and alcohol abuse further substantially increases the risk of AECOPD. Several studies have also reported a link between high exposure levels of air pollution and the development of airflow obstruction as well as prevalence of COPD. Some other environmental factors due to rapid urbanization and industrialization may also contribute to COPD in HIV, This is possibly due to increased occupational dust exposure. This review will discuss the current highly risk of HIVassociated pulmonary disease by environmental factors such as tobacco smoke and air pollution (includes outdoor and indoor air pollutant).
Keywords:
HIV; Pulmonary disease; Cigarette smoke; Alcohol; Air pollution; COPD; Asthma; Chronic bronchitis
