Prevalence of Substance Abuse Among Anti-retroviral Treatment Naive Patients Positive for HIV Antibodies

Individuals utilise substances to elevate their mood. Alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, cocaine, and methamphetamine are examples of substances. Excessive usage of a drug that is harmful to oneself and society is referred to as substance addiction/abuse. People who inject drugs and share needles, as well as drugs that impair judgement and lead to unprotected intercourse with an infected partner, have been related to risky sex behaviour and unsafe sex, both of which increase the risk of HIV infection. Several factors, including immunologic and virologic conditions affecting host susceptibility, underlying comorbidities among drug users, use of antiretroviral therapy, and viral strain, as well as pharmacodynamic aspects of drug use, such as the pattern and type of drug administration and the route of administration, may mediate the relationship between drug use and HIV disease progression. Exacerbation of HIV progression has been shown in patients with substance addiction in laboratory research.