Justin B Smith from Justins HIV Journal has been smoking since the age of 17. He is 29 years old so he has been smoking for about 12 years. According to TheBody.com, people with HIV disease are more likely to smoke than healthy people. Smoking can interfere with normal lung function in healthy people. In people with HIV, smoking can make it more difficult to fight off serious infections. People with HIV disease are now living longer. Smoking and related problems can interfere with long term quality of life. Smoking weakens the immune system. It can make it harder to fight off HIV-related infections. This is especially true for infections related to the lungs. Smoking can interfere with processing of medications by the liver. It can also worsen liver problems like hepatitis. People with HIV who smoke are more likely to suffer complications from HIV medication than those who dont. For example, those who smoke are more likely to experience nausea and vomiting from taking HIV medications. Smoking increases the risk of some long-term side effects of HIV disease and treatment. These include osteoporosis . HIV treatment slightly increases the risk of heart attack, but smoking is the major controllable risk factor for heart attacks or strokes. Recent studies found that quitting smoking reduced heart attack risk in HIV patients more than other factors such as changes in medications. People with HIV disease who smoke are more likely to develop several opportunistic infections <b>…<b>