AIDS dementia complex

January 2007     View PDF     En español

Dementia is a brain disorder that affects a person’s ability to think clearly and can impact his or her daily activities. AIDS dementia complex (ADC)—dementia caused by HIV infection—is a complicated syndrome made up of different nervous system and mental symptoms. These symptoms are somewhat common in people with HIV disease.

The frequency of ADC increases with advancing HIV disease and as CD4+ cell counts decrease. It is fairly uncommon in people with early HIV disease, but it’s more common in people with severely weakened immune systems and symptoms of advanced disease. Severe ADC is almost exclusively seen only in people with advanced HIV disease.

ADC consists of many conditions that can be of varying degrees and may progressively worsen. These conditions can easily be mistaken for symptoms of other common HIV-associated problems including depression, drug side effects or opportunistic infections that affect the brain like toxoplasmosis or lymphoma. Symptoms of ADC may include poor concentration, forgetfulness, loss of short- or long-term memory, social withdrawal, slowed thinking, short attention span, irritability, apathy (lack of caring or concern for oneself or others), weakness, poor coordination, impaired judgment, problems with vision and personality change.

Because ADC varies so much from person to person, it is poorly understood and has been reported and described in many conflicting ways. This publication will shed light on some of these issues as well as the available treatments for ADC.