A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Alabama is one of the first to conclude that older African Americans with HIV/AIDS use religion and spirituality to cope with the disease but rarely disclosed to friends or family that they have it. Researchers were surprised to learn that 75 percent of those polled (especially in the South) felt they couldn’t disclose details about their illness usually from a fear of lack of support and understanding. A July 2008 report from the Southern AIDS Coalition indicated more than 190,000 Southerners died from AIDS-related illnesses between 2001-2005 when AIDS-related deaths decreased in the regions except the South. –WLW