Recent information in the Journal of the American Medical Association notes sub-optimal intake of some vitamins is common in the general population. Authors suggest one vitamin supplement per day for the general population to avoid an increased risk of chronic disease. Recommendations for HIV positive people include everything from an inexpensive multivitamin with minerals or a prenatal vitamin to individual vitamin and mineral supplements. Pre- HAART much of this need for supplementation was due to malnutrition and wasting as well as chronic diarrhea, all of which led to specific deficiencies. To date, there are more studies looking at vitamin and mineral deficiencies from the pre-HAART era than from the post-HAART era. Post-HAART some questions arise as to which vitamins and minerals are still necessary, or how HAART medications affect the function and use of vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, research in these areas is scarce. Some of the side effects of HAART have led to research in a few, specific areas of vitamin and mineral supplementation, leaving other areas unaddressed. Much of the focus is on specific conditions that are vitamin and/or mineral dependent as opposed to the benefits/risks of specific vitamins or minerals in general. There are also nutritional supplements other than vitamins and minerals that are used to treat some of these conditions.
 
 

Few studies have looked at the role that vitamins and minerals have in immune response and the inflammatory response in HIV positive populations. Most studies measured plasma concentrations of various vitamins and other micronutrients and focused on the antioxidant systems in the body. (1) Others looked at specific micronutrients such as vitamin A (2) and selenium (review the 2003 March/April HIV Nutrition Update  article on selenium). (3)