A Clinical Trial for People HIV+ Age > 50 at Risk for Heart Disease

This research study is to see whether blood vessel function, an early sign of heart disease, improves in HIV-infected men and women who take telmisartan for 12 weeks. The investigators will be looking at how a blood vessel in the arm, called the brachial artery, changes in response to stress before and after taking telmisartan. To determine how well the blood vessel functions, the investigators will be using an ultrasound machine. Telmisartan is not an HIV medication. It is an FDA-approved medication designed to treat blood pressure, but has been shown to improve blood vessel function in HIV-negative people with and without high blood pressure. Telmisartan is made by Boehringer Ingelheim, and this trial is sponsored by The Campbell Foundation.