Global Pulse Blog

We all know the “ABC’s” of HIV prevention: Abstinence, Be faithful, and use a Condom (the second C is circumcision)- but should we add a D as well?  Some evidence suggests that we may need to, for ‘Don’t Smoke’.  Cigarette smoking has been linked as a possible independent risk factor for contracting HIV.  The exact mechanism by which smoking would increase your risk for HIV is unknown, but it is thought to be by weakening your immune system.  You can read about the story here.  According to the study (Furber et al., Sexually Transmitted Infections, 8/21), smokers are between 60% and 300% more likely to become infected.  There seems to be, however, plenty of room for confounding factors, and more research is needed to clarify the issue.