Research on Women

Research on Women

In 1997 the FDA said that women could no longer be kept out of clinical trials just because they might become pregnant. The proportion of women in AIDS research studies is increasing but is still quite low.

More studies of women with HIV are underway. Pharmaceutical companies are trying to enroll more women into their clinical trials. This is necessary because women have been under-represented in most medical research, not just on AIDS. Most medications have never been specifically tested in women.

A recent study found a higher risk of death among HIV+ women due to accident or injury with a lower T-cell count, who were unemployed, who had more than 8 alcoholic drinks each week, who showed signs of depression, who used injection drugs, or who had 3-5 sex partners.