By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- Drugs that suppress HIV are keeping infected individuals alive and relatively healthy for years, even decades. But studies suggest that a new health risk is emerging for these long-term survivors: increased odds for heart attack and stroke.

It's not clear whether the cause is the virus itself or the drugs used to treat it, said Dr. Steven Grinspoon, professor of medicine at Harvard University.

TUESDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Improved prediction of a person's heart attack risk can be achieved using calcium coverage scoring, which takes into account not only the amount, but also the distribution, of calcified plaque build-up in the coronary arteries, new research shows.

"Now we know that the location of the calcium in the arteries is particularly important in estimating a patient's potential risk," lead author Elizabeth Brown, a research assistant professor in the department of biostatistics at the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a prepared statement.