A study of nearly 1,700 HIV-infected women has found that use of crack cocaine results in a deterioration of immune status and can counteract the effects of antiretroviral medication, Reuters Health reported Aug. 6.

Judith A. Cook of the University of Illinois at Chicago and colleagues looked at a study sample in which 29 percent of the women used crack at some point over the eight-year course of the study period. The researchers found that persistent crack users were more than three times as likely as non-crack users to die from AIDS-related causes.

The researchers said theirs is the first study using a national cohort that has been able to link crack cocaine use in HIV-positive women to deterioration in immune status, development of AIDS-defining conditions, and death from AIDS-related causes.

"Our findings suggest that a multi-pronged research agenda is needed to understand the effects of crack cocaine on HIV disease progression," Cook said.

Research findings were published in the July 11 issue of AIDS.