Methamphetamine is a powerful, addictive stimulant drug known for its ability to trigger a declining capacity for impulse control and rational decision-making in habitual users. For this and other reasons, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is relatively common among people who regularly take the drug. In a study published in 2013 in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, researchers from the University of California, San Diego looked at the ways in which methamphetamine use and HIV infection combine to contribute to a downward spiral of health in affected individuals.
Effects of Habitual Methamphetamine Use
People who habitually use methamphetamine gradually alter the ways in which their brains function. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, scientifically supported examples of this alteration include a reduced ability to properly coordinate normal muscle movement and a diminished capacity to learn information that’s relayed in verbal form. In addition, chronic users of the drug frequently develop structural brain damage that reduces their ability to perform memory-related tasks, control impulsive urges or recognize and control their emotional states. Poor regulation of impulses and emotions, in particular, tends to support unrestrained patterns of methamphetamine intake that can lead to methamphetamine addiction. Some of the damaging changes associated with long-term use of the drug fade gradually when that use comes to an end. However, some of the changes may last long after a former user achieves drug abstinence.
Methamphetamine and HIV
In addition to fostering the onset of addiction, the impulse control and emotional problems associated with habitual methamphetamine use can contribute to an affected individual’s chances of participating in behaviors that may potentially bring them into contact with HIV. For both heterosexual and homosexual men and women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list examples of these behaviors that include having sex with multiple partners, participating in unprotected sex, trading sexual favors for drugs or the money required to buy drugs, contracting gonorrhea or some other form of sexually transmitted disease and having intimate sexual contact with someone who uses IV drugs. In addition, in some cases, people already diagnosed with an HIV infection or a fully developed case of AIDS sometimes resort to methamphetamine use (among other forms of drug use) in order to either self-medicate existing health problems or avoid the emotional/psychological ramifications of an HIV/AIDS diagnosis.
Combined Effects on Health
In the study, researchers used an assessment of 798 adults to examine the ways in which methamphetamine use and HIV infection diminish any given person’s health and ability to function independently in everyday life. For the sake of comparison, the study included both methamphetamine users and people with no history of methamphetamine intake, as well as HIV-positive individuals and people not infected with the virus. In order to judge each participant’s health, well-being and level of independence, the researchers looked at factors that included nervous system health related to body function, nervous system health related to brain function, the presence of any obvious symptoms of mental decline, the ability to get and keep a job, and the ability to perform the activities needed to establish and maintain a workable daily routine.
After examining the interaction of methamphetamine use and HIV infection with each of the relevant factors, the researchers concluded that both of these issues substantially reduce the ability to function independently. Crucially, each of the factors used to gauge independence is negatively affected by both HIV infection alone and methamphetamine use alone. When these two issues appear in the same person, they produce a combined effect that’s significantly worse than their individual effects. The separate and combined harmful effects of methamphetamine use and HIV infection continue to exert their influence even when all other potential impediments to day-to-day function (including other forms of substance use) are taken into account.
Significance and Considerations
The study authors found that the worst combined effects of methamphetamine use and HIV infection appear in HIV-positive people who have no prior history of a serious decline in their normal immune system function. They believe that a number of strategies — including earlier referrals from doctors and earlier active interventions for HIV infection — may be needed to prevent or offset the cumulative impact of methamphetamine use and HIV exposure.