A new HIV treatment option is now available in South Africa, but a recent comparison raises questions about its side effects. Researchers looked at nearly 3,000 people who had never taken HIV medication before. They compared a new drug called dolutegravir with an older drug called efavirenz. The study followed these patients for two years in Johannesburg.
The results show that people on the new drug gained more weight and had higher blood pressure. At one year, the average weight gain was nearly three kilograms for the new drug group. By the two-year mark, that gain was still higher than the older drug group. Blood pressure also rose more in the new drug group at the one-year point.
The study found a 35 percent higher risk of developing high blood pressure at one year for those on the new drug. However, the confidence intervals for these findings are wide. This means the data is not perfectly clear. The researchers note that future work is needed to see if the new drug directly causes these changes or if the older drug actually helps control weight.