A new study conducted by researchers at the UCLA indicates that since the introduction of stronger drugs that are more effective at treating AIDS, teens with HIV are engaging in more risky behavior including more unprotected sex, more drug use and more sexual partners.

The study compared a group of 500 American teens some of whom were HIV positive before the introduction of new drug treatments with another group who had the new drugs available to them. The medication in question, known as HAART is The treatment of HIV was revolutionized in a highly active anti-retroviral therapy that has prolonged the lives of AIDS patients and improved the quality of their lives as well.

While the groups were similar in ethnicity and socioeconomic background, the group that had access to HAART medications was twice as likely to engage in unprotected sex.

Dr. Marguerita Lightfoot, the lead researcher of the study said: 'Evidence suggests that many people living with HIV believe that sexual behaviors that could lead to the transmission of HIV, like unprotected sex, are less risky if viral levels are low.'

'This means that the young people studied may be taking a greater risk than they realize,' a spokesman for an AIDS related charity told the BBC.

So modern medical treatments may help AIDS patients feel better and live longer but they also may be helping to spread the very disease it seeks to treat.