“There are certain drug toxicities associated with mostly all medications. PrEP uses antiretroviral medication, and we like to monitor our patients every three months. The toxicities that are usually associated with this medication include kidney damage, liver dysfunction, and it can decrease a person’s bone density.So we like to monitor for osteoporosis, as well. when the patient comes in – we like to have them come in every three months – we do blood work to monitor their kidney function, their liver function. We monitor their cell counts because there can be fluctuations as well. It is a safe medication to take as long as patients comply with the follow up.”
Monaa Zafar, MD, is a board certified primary care doctor at Mount Sinai Doctors, seeing patients Monday-Friday. She has a particular interest in disease prevention, health promotion, and chronic illnesses. Dr. Zafar is fluent in Urdu and Spanish. Mount Sinai Doctors is an organization of clinical relationships and multi-specialty services that expand the Mount Sinai Health System’s footprint beyond the seven main hospital campuses into the greater New York City area.