VAT (visceral adipose tissue) is a type of hard fat that can affect people with HIV, surrounding the organs and making it difficult for people to do things like bending over to tie their shoes. Many people don’t know that VAT is different from regular fat. When you think about stomach fat, you normally think about the doughy fat around your midsection that usually can be addressed by a healthy diet and exercise. But VAT doesn’t work that way. It can be challenging to reduce VAT with exercise and healthy living alone.
Don’t Take VAT is a new initiative that is helping people to learn more about excess abdominal VAT, how to identify it, and what questions to ask their doctor. For too long, many people have thought of VAT as only a cosmetic issue, but VAT can have health consequences that need to be discussed with a health care provider. You can visit the DontTakeVAT site to find fact sheets about VAT and healthy living with HIV, watch a video that provides a deeper look at VAT and find tips about what to ask your doctor.
Excess abdominal VAT is associated with a variety of health concerns, like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which is why it’s important to talk to a doctor about it. It’s not known exactly why patients with HIV are prone to excess abdominal VAT, but research has shown that up to half of patients with HIV who are treated with common anti-retroviral therapies (ART) develop body fat abnormalities, including VAT. Others things to consider are gender and age. Women are more prone to developing VAT, as are people older than 40. Risk for VAT also increases the longer someone was treated with ART. A doctor can determine if a person has excess abdominal VAT by assessing the individual’s medical history and HIV therapy regimen and by calculating waist-to-hip ratio and measuring around a patient’s waist and hips.
While having VAT can have both physical and emotional ramifications, it’s important to remember that no one should feel ashamed or embarrassed about it, especially since up to half of all people who are treated for HIV have body fat changes, including too much abdominal VAT. Visit www.DontTakeVAT.com to learn more and take the first step toward talking to your doctor.
Richard Holaday
Value-Added Tax? ð???
youarekiddingme
@Richard Holaday: NOT funny
onthemark
@Richard Holaday: @youarekiddingme: Not necessarily funny, but that’s the first thing I thought of – the VAT tax like in Europe. I’ve heard of this phenomenon before but I’ve never heard it called VAT.
brandon
A pharmaceutical ad with no mention of the drug. There must be something new on the horizon.
CivicMinded
@brandon:
Ah! That’s why this sounded like an infomercial.
Realityis
I love how there is an article about lipodystrophy being talked about now… but for the past 5 years, nothing. Now with PrEP around, we finally hear about it again. I have posted numerous comments and questions to sites like the body.com and have always been told that funding is gone and research is all but done.
But we can’t have our HIV – population looking “different” now can we? And who cares about the positive population, you are already infected and have this debilitating condition….
One thought I have is that negative people, on PrEP, are starting to exhibit the symptoms and now Big Pharma realizes something has to be done or all hell will break loose. If this is the case, I’ve, and many others, have predicted it.
All you bareback boys, advocating PrEP with out a condom may have a new story to tell, but don’t include the word victim in it. Ample warning provided.
Hoping this is not the case, but just the fact that this article is on this website makes me very fear that it is.
Good luck everyone. You don’t want what I am dealing with…
alphacentauri
@brandon: Yes it does sound like an ad.
@Realityis: Agreed. PreP is not without side effects both short and longterm, and only fools think that they can bareback like it’s the 70s while on it and not get HIV or other STDs. Condoms are far easier to use, less expensive, and free from nasty side effects and if you’re allergic to latex there’s always polyurethane ones.
Mykaels
Value added tax was the first thing I thought of as well, haha. I got all excited about an article covering the effect of taxes on HIV… and then found out its about fat 🙁
Stache99
@alphacentauri: Yet we’ve heard from many on PreP on Queerty and other sites reporting no such issues. Plus, the latest research shows PreP to be 100% effective when used properly. You can’t say that about condoms.
I have no problem with being cautious but stop with the false fear mongering.
Stache99
@alphacentauri: Between vaccinations and regular testing which most on Prep do I think that would keep any STD’s in check.
alphacentauri
@Stache99: It’s wishful thinking and these people are being paid off by pharm companies. IF you take PreP and bareback you will wind up HIV+, and get other STDs, and you’ll also get the not so fun short and long term side effects of Truvada. Vaccinations do not protect against most STDs like herpes, HPV, and others.
frshmn
@alphacentauri Please cite any studies proving your “facts”. So far everything Ive seen has shown no one taking prep as recommended is sero-converting. And there is a vaccine against HPV and every gay man should speak to their doctor about it.