The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded a $2.7-million grant to UF researchers, who will determine whether a prescription medication can reduce alcohol consumption in women with HIV.
Researchers from Florida International University and the University of Miami will join UF researchers to conduct the three-part study on the effects of Naltrexone, a prescription medication proven to reduce alcoholic consumption.
Hazardous drinking characterizes 12 to 22 percent of women with HIV and hinders HIV patients from taking medication that can improve their health, said Dr. Robert Cook, an associate professor of epidemiology and medicine at the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions and the College of Medicine.
"Study after study has shown that people who drink are less likely to take their medication or take it on schedule," he said.
Cook defined hazardous drinking as having four or more drinks in one sitting or more than seven drinks in a week.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 290,000 women in the United States are living with HIV or AIDS.
Cook said Florida is ranked second among U.S. states for the number of women with the disease. New York has the most women with the disease.
Florida is one of the best places to perform this type of study because of its diverse population, Cook said.
"There are racial disparities in HIV," he said. "Florida's important in that context."
Cook said about 200 women ages 18 to 60 will be recruited from Dade and Broward counties, two counties in Florida with the largest number of HIV patients.
Cook said he is looking to begin recruiting patients in January 2012 for the study.
Naltrexone has never been tested exclusively in women or in people infected with HIV, Cook said in UF News press release.
This research, Cook said, will raise awareness for a drug that can make a difference in patients' lives.
"It could save costs and improve the quality of life," he said.
