Aids, the pathogenesis and ten good treatments
The dynamics of the HIV infection. to top
When AIDS was first considered as a new disease, in 1981, one of its most evident marks was the final
depletion of the number of T-cells, especially the T 4- cell (T helper
cell). HIV was first isolated in 1983 and rather soon the first testtube
experimental facts was ready. It was noticed that the counted number of
T 4 cells dropped rather fast., when infected by HIV. Hence the logical
conclusion was drawn, that HIV was killing the T4-cells.
Another early finding was that the rate of mutations in the viral genome was extremely high. This also
led to the very wide-spread speculation that HIV through this mechanism
avoided the antibody production, by changing its outer envelope. This hypotheses
was also held responsible for the very rare and prolonged latency from
primary infection until clinical signs. Yet it is a hypotheses unconfirmed
by experimental evidence.
These two conclusions have been the basic assumptions for the ongoing research for as well a vaccine as
a treatment. When new experimental facts appeared that was contradictory
to the above mentioned ideas - it more created confusion than rethinking.
Some of the new facts that were essential for a new understanding of the development of the HIV-infection.
a) HIV may infect both macrophages
and T4 cells by docking to their CD4 receptor.
b) HIV does not kill its host
cell in a direct way.
c) Free viruses release their
envelope knobs within a very short time, but these free knobs may still
stick to suiting receptors thereby blocking them.
d) The rate of infected cells,
T4 and macrophages, is very low compared to the uninfected, although the
total number may decline considerably.
e) In many patients a primary
infection is noticed, where clinical signs appear that has no or little
to do with an immune deficiency. These signs disappear spontanousely after
the body has started its production of antibodies.
f) In patients it was found the
thymic functions were severly damaged. By autopsy the thymus was found
to be totally depleted.
g) The last stage, AIDS is characterized
by a number of opportunistic infections. But full blown AIDS is preceeded
by another number of clinical signs like diarrhoea, wasting, dementia,
sweating, interstital pneumonia, skin rushes etc. These clinical signs
are similar to what could be noticed in the primary infection and are not
related to any immune deficiency. This pre-AIDS stage is called ARC.
h) In children with AIDS some
of the ARC signs like pneumonia and brain disorder dominate the clinical
picture and in children these phenomena are lethal themselves. The typical
opportunstic infections seen in adults are normally absent in children.
Then our main task was to logically
explain these observations without reaching a contradiction, what obviously
happened to the first AIDS hypotheses.
We also took into consideration
similarities and differences observed in animals, either they were inoculated
with HIV or had another lentiviral infection.
First we looked upon the the
experimental infection done to chimpanzees. According to the reports no
primary infection was observed. No clinical signs have been reported except
for a few animals that have been noticed to get swollen lymph nodes. The
chimpanzees have stayed healthy. When examining their blood a persistent
HIV-infection was observed and they developed an antibody production. In
their blood their T4 cells were found to be infected, i.e. the T4 cells
were host for the HIV-infection, though they didn´t seem to harm
the animals.
Secondly we compared this to
the only experimental infection done to sheep. The sheep developed antibodies
and some came down with typical clinical signs like pneumonia and brain
disorder. The experiment was then interrupted - there is unfortuneately
no more details.
Instead we undertook studies
of the more well described Visna disease in sheep. It is very similar to
HIV-infection in clinical signs when considering the first signs to appear,
the same as in ARC. These signs are normally lethal or at least the animal
is killed after these signs causing suffering to the animal. But in sheep
the visna virus infect mainly the macrophages. According to literature
studies their T4 cells are not host cell of the virus. In autopsy studies
it is found that macrophages, leaving the peripheral blood stream and invade
different tissues to fulfill their task, are creating first inflammatory
sites and later on necrosis, i.e. they kill the surrounding cells. This
is especially noticed in the brain and in the lungs. The visna disease
is thereby analogous to the HIV-infection in the ARC stage and in children.
These facts lead us to the assumption
that the HIV-infection is more to be considered a macrophage born disease
than a T4 cell disease. The final depletion of the T4 cells must have another
indirect explanation outgoing from the macrophages than the fact that HIV
infects T4 cells. Of course we take into consideration HIV has the the
property to infect both the macrophages and the T4 cells, thus we have
to consider their simultaneous infections and their interplay, but to understand
the main phenomena observed, the macrophage infection is mainly enough.
After transmitting of a sufficient
number of viruses a primary infection is noticed after a couple of weeks,
due to a proliferation of viruses and an increasing number of infected
macrophages. When the macrophages are leaving the bloodstream and invade
tissues, they create around themselves inflammatory sites. These are manifested
as headache or nervous problems when concerning nervous tissue, diarrhoea
when concerning the intestines, breathing problems concerning the lungs,
skin rashes when concerning the skin etc. Macrophages, among other cells,
excrete tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a). This substance in normal amounts
is considered to be a stimulating factor for the surrounding cells. But
in HIV infection the amount of TNF-a is highly exaggerated.
This leads us to the assumption
that an HIV infected cell has altered its regulating internal equilibrium
to an overproduction of TNF, which instead of only stimulation produces
an overstimulation or inflammation of afflicted cells in the close surrounding.
But the primary infection is
in the majority of patients met by an immune response. The body starts
to produce antibodies competent to respond to the antigenes. Thus the primary
infection fades of, leaving no more clinical signs. Also the antibody production
after this is reduced to an undetectable low level for another two to four
months. Then the antibodies can be detected again after what is called
the seroconversion. The disappearing and reappearing of the antibody production
may be explained by a temporary hampering of the B-cells and their ability.
The antibodies against gp-120 may also bind to the B-cell receptors and
thereby interfere with their action. Before new B-cells are produced there
must logically be a considerable time lapse.
After seroconversion follows
a very long period where very few clinical signs are observed. I define
it as latency, although it is better interpreted as a dynamical equilibrium
with very slow changes. The main properties of the latency are the time
span, normally 2-15 years and the rather high production of antibodies
against 6-8 of the virus´ proteins. During the latency a lymphadenopathy
can be observed. Also the growth of the fungi candida is common. But these
signs are to the patient minor and may go unnoticed.
But at a certain point of time,
the production of antibodies against the core proteins of the virus, p17
and p24, starts to decline. This decrease of antibody production is observed
to preceede an increase in clinical signs as well of virus production.
The stage to follow is called ARC and shows the same signs as in the primary
infection. The ARC is when noticed in children and also in many adults
lethal in itself, when e.g. the brain problems are increasing. Even in
many third world countries the ARC manifests itself as a wasting, giving
rise to the name "slim disease". But in many adults the ARC- phenomena
are followed, though they exist contemporary, by full-blown AIDS.
We explain the AIDS phenomena
by the destruction of the thymic functions, localized to the thymus gland
and equivalent distributed tissue. Since the thymus has got a very high
concentration of macrophages this conclusion is very logical. A severe
inflammation created by HIV infected macrophages, excreting too high amounts
of TNF, may in the thymus destroy a large part of the tissue, although
the rate of infected macrophages is low. But if the thymus is starting
to degenerate, this also logically must be of great disadvantage in the
maturing of new T cells, incuding T4 cells. The differences noticed in
children and adults are strongly supporting our conclusions, because in
healthy children the thymus has not yet started to decrease in volume.
It will thereby far longer resist a decline. Other tissues and organs are
to be first destroyed. On the contrary in adults the thymus is smaller
and is often the first organ to be fully depleted.
Hence, when the thymus has no
longer function, the reproduction of all T cells will come to a stand still.
We also notice a very fast decline in T4 cells in AIDS patients. But also
there is a decline in T killer cells, which are the foremost defense against
the growth of eucaryotic infections, like protozooans and fungi. Also the
cleaning of diseased cells e.g cancer cells are in this way hampered. So
is also the activity of cells hosting other viruses, which before where
held at a low level by T killer cells. Also the reduction of T suppresor
cells is noticed in the very final stage of AIDS where the antibody production
suddenly may go out of control, in this case the antiproduction of anti-gp
120/160.
The main defense against procaryotic
cells, like bacteria is upheld mainly by the B-cells, which are not so
severly afflicted in this progress of the disease. There is in accordance
with this also fewer bacterial diseases reported in patients with AIDS.
The main opportunistic infections observed are caused by pathogens carried
by cells of greater size and with a nucleus, i.e eucaryotic cells.
During my studies of the appeareance
of cell-wall deficient pathogens like mycobacteria and mycoplasma, which
also are frequent in AIDS, another field of microbial science must first
be recognized. In short, their appearance may be explained by a very profound
change in the equilibrium of the intercellular and intracellular fluids
due to what has already been described. This change is promoting their
growth as well as their increasing pathogenecity, and this may very well
explain the increased frequency of different cancers and tuberculosis noticed
in patients with HIV infection.
In short: The HIV infection is
characterized by the changed action of HIV infected macrophages. But the
infection is met by an adequate resistance by the immune defence, although
this is not sufficient to fully get rid of all viruses and their host cells.
As long as the production of antibodies against the core proteins is maintained
there is no life-threatening situation, but it looks as if this production
has got a limit due to time. It varies individually and can be upheld two-fifteen
years. But still during this latency minor changes occur on the cellular
level, which we prefer to consider as a dynamical equilibrium. The equilibrium
is defined as the ability of HIV to proliferate, counteracted by the immune
response. At the end of this period HIV infected macrophages are met by
less resistance and create inflammatory sites throughout the organs. If,
what is often seen , the thymic functions the first to be severly damaged,
there is a sudden drop in the maturation of new T cells, explaining the
indirect loss of T4 cells, which is a strong evidence of full blown AIDS.
By using this description of
the HIV infection we are avoiding the contradictions between the very low
rate of infected cells and the final total depletion of T cells. Also we
don´t have to speculate about the degree of relevance of the fast
mutating genome.
Instead, what must be of greatest
value, we have a firm standpoint from which it is possible with medical
treatment, to interact and help the patient to survive.
This can be done in a multiple
number of ways:
a) To hamper the virus to proliferate
and infect new cells.
b) To support the bodies own
immune defence, thereby prolonging the production of core antibodies.
c) To use anti-inflammatory drugs
to prevent the damage made by the overproduction of TNF-a.
d) To upheld the thymic functions
with artificial means.
e) To combat the growth of cell
wall deficient microbes.
Considering our view of the pathogenesis,
there are certain qualitative steps, where the application of a drug has
far more promising possibilities when it is used before, than after a certain
crucial point of time. Our main contribution may be that early therapy
can support the bodies own immune system to finally eradicate the HIV infection.
In an attempt to find clinical
investigations in the treatment of HIV infected patients, I have assembled
from scientific published paper, from books or from newspaper reports as
well as from interviews with the most succesful in this aspect. The compilation
is by no means meant to cover all the good clinical work done world-wide,
since the information gathered is hard to get , and since the establisment
looks more interested in spreading confusion about AIDS, than contribute
to a real fact finding mission, there surely exist a lot more good methods
and therapies which I havenÕt heard about.
The information given should
not be used to treat oneself. In every case there is a need for a profesional
medical doctor to monitor the treatment and to assist the patient.
Nana Kofi Drobo - the Ghanaian traditional healer. to top
Nana Kofi Drobo had got the reputation
among his patients as a good traditional healer, well experienced in the
use of different herbs. Especially, he was good at treating different inflammatory
disorders. He had his clinic in Brong-Ahafo region in the middle west of
Ghana. The drugs he used he prepared himself, and probably the mixture
he made was a well kept professional secret.
When AIDS appeared as a new disease
in Ghana in the middle of the 80-ies some patients came to his clinic for
treatment. In some of the clinical signs Drobo had success. The patients
recovered weight. Due to the experience Drobo assembled he got better results.
Also he noticed it was easier, and he got more sustaining results if the
patients came early, i .e. they only had a few clinical signs and yet hadnÕt
developed any opportunstic infections. The good rumour about the healer
spread and the number of patients increased.
After some reluctance even the
Ministry of Health became interested and were about to open up a local
facility to monitor the treatment given by Drobo. Of course, there are
no statistical record from DroboÕs clinic. Due to lack of money,
the patients were not serologically tested, neither before nor after treatment.
There is however one case reported from a French patient who went to Ghana
for treatment. Before the trip he was HIV-positve and he had started to
loose weight. Initially when given treatment he even became infected by
malaria, thus he first had to recover from that disease. But after that
episode he started to gain weight and he felt healthier. When back in France
he was examined HIV-negative.
Even the pharmaceutical companies
became interested in the achievements of Kofi Drobo. He was invited to
Japan. During his visit there he felt threatened and returned home. Soon
after his return to Ghana he was murdered under odd circumstances in the
fall of 1992.
Although Kofi Drobo let schoolboys
go to the forest to assemble the plants he needed, the decoction he made
probably was his own secret, thereby it is hard to get the knowledge back.
My comment: In many African countries
similar stories may be heard. The normal response by western scientists
is at best: It is unscientific. At worst: It is humbug. According to my
own experience after a two year stay in Ghana, the information spread by
people to people almost always has a hard kernel of truth. When concerning
medical treatment, this way of spreading information was very valuable,
because it gave the patient a stronger position. If many patients then
gave credit to a special doctor, you could recognize him as skilful. The
comparition could well be done to the western world where the patient more
or less are in the hands of the big pharmaceuticals and their one-sided
information and where the lack of strong patient organizations are more
or less absent to check the contents of their advertising. The worst humbug
concerning treatment in AIDS so far is achieved by the marketing of AZT,
performed by Burroughs-Wellcome.
The text about Kofi Drobo is
taken mainly from a Ghanian daily newspaper, but the content has been confirmed
by several persons, Ghanaians and visitors who has confirmed the facts.
Although Kofi Drobo took his secret with him by his sad death he gives
hope for the HIV-infected. Sadly the western medical establishment are
too reluctant, where even the western scientific superiority very often
just looks down upon results performed by those considered to be the inferior.
The last conclusion could well be described as the rasism within science.
Kemron or interferon- alpha. to top
Early in 1990 two Kenyan researchers
Dr. Davy Koech and Professor Arthur Obel presented their evaluation of
their tests with interferon-alpha in patients. The clinical trials had
involved 101 patients in different stages of the HIV infection. In an overwhelming
number of patients they had noticed an tremendous improvement. Even in
some cases they noticed some of the patients had converted from seropositive
to seronegative. The idea of testing the drug came from the veterinarian
researcher Joseph Cummins, Texas,USA who had used it for research in cats
with leukaemia.
The original method used by the
Kenyan researchers was to apply Kemron by mouth, where it should be kept
for about ten minutes to dissolve and to diffuse through the oral mucosa.
They considered the method very important.
Due to different obstacles, like
battle over patent rights, a lot of disinformation occured around the drug.
It was hard to repeat the result achieved in the original test.
Thus a lot of rumors were created
which gave the interferon- alpha a bad reputation.
A New York physician , Dr Abdul
Alim Muhammad, went to Kenya and got in contact with the original investigators
and by following their methods close, he started in New York to give the
same treatment. After close to one year of experience and a patient number
of 140 he notices a positive treatment response in 90% of his patients.
Alim Muhammad: "Only those patients
who have extremely far advanced disease, those who have KaposiÕs
sarcoma or underlying carcinomas, do not seem to do well. But all other
categories of patients seem to respond very well. Those who have symptoms
seem to loose those symptoms in a matter of weeks; those who are as yet
asymptomatic seem not to progress in the disease."
At the Amsterdam International
Aids Conference 22 posters presented trials with Interferon-alpha, where
most of them reported promising results, although in the majority of cases
it was given in combination with AZT. The methods of application also differed.
Interferon-alpha is a product
produced by the cells, and it is considered it has a downregulating effect
on virus proliferation.
My comment: This information
is collected from a Kenyan weekly magazine: The Weekly Review and from
a US newspaper The New Federalist:1992:24 aug. Also the summaries from
the Amsterdam congress has been read.
A reluctant attitude towards
interferon-alpha has been shown by FDA(Food and Drug Administration) in
USA and they have not carried out any large number trial. This is interpreted
as the commercial forces from Burroughs-Wellcome has a very stong influence
on the authorities and they dislike to see a competitor to their product
AZT.
Like for many other drugs there
is clear evidence, the time-point of application is very crucial for the
outcome. An early medication seems more promising than to wait for clear
symptoms to develop and then to start treat the patient.
Here a comparison should also
be made between AZT and interferon-alpha. AZT is a molecular substance
that acts against the virus and disturbs greatly its ability to produce
new RNA by substituting one of the nucleotide bases. But acting in this
way it also disturbs the formation of the DNA content of healthy cells.
Thus AZT interferes with all life cells, and is unspecific. By applying
interferon-alpha it may act as supporting the bodies own mechanisms to
defend itself and thereby moving the inner dynamical equilibrium to the
favour of health. Interferon-alpha is acting specific.
Aloe Vera - Acemannan to top
Aloe is a plant probably originating
from Africa, that has got widespread distribution due to man. It has a
long history of use as a herbal plant. It has also undergone scientific
research about its medical properties. In an article by Bruce Eric Hedendal
he gives 40 references to different investigations of the properties of
Aloe vera. Since it has got a wide range of biological properties it may
also be used against a great number of disorders.
Aloe is a common plant often
found in gardens due to its decorative shape. It can´t be patented
as a drug and following this organized medicine and pharmacology has shown
little interest in it.
One of the interesting substances
in Aloe is mucopolysaccharides. To obtain most of the herbal interesting
substances, the new developed technique to use whole-leaf Aloe only removing
aloin seems to be preferred to just using the inner gel. According to earlier
studies of Aloe it has been efficient in a multitude of conditions: radiations
and other burns, cancer in animals, digestive problems, skin ulcer and
wound healing, immune modulation, infections, toxicity and inflammatory
conditions.
Aloe vera could be taken orally
as a juice or used as an ointment.
It has also been used in treatment
of HIV patients. I refer to one report by the doctors Terry Pulse and Elizabeth
Uhlig, Texas, USA. They noticed a significant improvement in a clinical
pilot study utilizing nutritional supplements, essential fatty acids and
stabilized Aloe vera juice. In their study, which lasted initially for
180 days, 29 patients took part. 15 of them were diagnosed with AIDS. 12
met the criteria for ARC and 2 were asymptomatic. The prescription to the
patients was to follow a daily intake of the the recommended supplements.At
monthly intervals they had a clinical check-up where the main criteria
seen in HIV infected were recorded. This was also combined with laboratory
results.
Results: No adverse effects were
observed to the recommended supplements. Most patients who were symptomatic
reported that within three three to five days their energy level improved,
fever disappeared, night sweats stopped, cough decreased, shortness of
breath decreased, lymph nodes decreased in size, diarrhoea stopped and
weight gained. There was also great improvement in all patients to the
hypersensivity skin testing. After 90 days 10 of 29 had fully restored
their hypersensitivity, and after 180 days 19 of them had restored to normal
values. According to their subjective feeling, recorded according to the
Karnofsky scores, 93% improved after 90 days and 100% after 180 days. Approximately
the same figures were achieved when using the Walter Reed scores. From
the laboratory findings it was noted that the level of T4 cell count decreased
in aproximately as many as it increased. Also in detection of the p24 core
antigen a slight decrease was noticed in most patients after 180 days.
This study was concluded in November 1989, but another 180 days later all
patients who followed the regimen had no adverse effects and only one death
was reported from Kaposis sarcoma.
My comment: Here the use of aloe
vera is combined with other supplements. Nevertheless it must be considered
interesting, especially when side effects are low or absent.
References:
Hedendahl Bruce Eric, Whole-leaf
Aloe vera- almost a panacea. Health Consciousness 1992:vol 13: 1:p 14-17.
Pulse T.L. Uhlig Elizabeth. A
significant improvement in a clinical pilot study utilizing nutritional
supplements, essential fatty acids and stabilized Aloe vera in 29 seropositive,
ARC and AIDS patients. Journal of Advancement in Medicine. Winter 1990.
Volume 3-4.
Passive immunization by Abraham Karpas. to top
By passive immunization is meant
that donor blood with high levels of antibodies are transfused into a patient.
In 1988 George Gee Jackson reported he had used passive immunization in
six patients with advanced AIDS. Some of the clinical signs disappeared
and there was also a decline in the rate at which HIV could be cultured
from their plasma. Another remarkable observation was the reduction of
the antigen p24 level down to zero. Before the transfusion the anti-p24
had been negative. Due to the transfusion this antibody was given and lasted
at a detectable level for close to 10 weeks. Although all six patients
later died from opportunistic infections, the trial suggested that anti-p24
plays a crucial role in the immunological control of HIV.
In 1990 Abraham Karpas made a
similar report, using the same method, giving donor blood from asymptomatic
HIV-positives to ten patients with different stages of HIV-infection. The
same results were reported. Even with PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) the
number of HIV-virions could not be detected. The trial had gone on for
22 months before publication. During that time five of the six patients
with advanced AIDS had died. In the three patients with only ARC symptoms
they maintained their T4 cell count. Two of them got rid of their clinical
signs througout the study and in one of them there was a remarkable 8-fold
increase in his titres of antibodies.
Since that report Karpas, who
was the second in the world to isolate HIV from a patient in 1983, has
enlargened his study. At a lecture given in Stockholm he gave more details
about his trials. He got the idea of passive immunization by comparing
blood from HIV-positive asymptomatic carriers and the blood from HIV-positive
with clear clinical signs. In the microscope he noticed a great difference,
but when he mixed the samples he noticed a change to the healthy looking.
This was evidence for Karpas that the prevalence of high antibody titres
were crucial for checking the proliferation of HIV.
Close to 100 patients are now
in his programme and they are given 125 ml of transfusion blood twice monthly.
By this method they maintain a high antibody level but what is more important,
they stay healthy and perform their occupations. According to Karpas he
can´t , due to his now 5 year experience, see any limit how long
they can stay alive except for normal life-span.
The very promising results achieved
should of course be further extended but here Karpas finds a logistic problem.
There is not enough donor blood available. But this problem could be solved
if all HIV-positive donated their own blood at regular intervals and stored
it in a freezer. When the first clinical signs appear they retransfuse
their own blood into themselves. This would also have positive epidemiological
implications, since it would be of greatest value to all who suspect they
have got a HIV infection to have a serological test done. The earlier they
know of their infection the higher probability they get to assemble enough
stored blood to use later on.
At the Amsterdam conference there
were two posters confirming partially the results achieved by Karpas. Another
study by a french team using passive immunization in a placebo controled
study didn´t receive the same remarkable good results as Karpas.
It may be due to their simultaneous medication with AZT.
My comment: The results described
by Karpas fit extraordinarily well with the theory developed by Segal.
The work done by Karpas need further more interest than shown hitherto.
References:
Jackson G G et al. Passive immunization
of HIV in patients with advanced AIDS. Lancet 1988:17 Sept:647-52.
Karpas Abraham et al. PCR evidence
for HIV neutralization by passive immunization in patients with AIDS and
ARC. PNAS 1990:87:7613-17.
Traditional Chinese Medicine. to top
In September 1988 a Chinese medical
group under leadership of Lu Weibo, started a cooperation with colleagues
from Tanzania, evaluating the efficiency of traditional Chinese herbs in
HIV patients. The clinic was established in Dar Es Salaam. The action of
the different herbs used were all immune modulating. Some of them stimulated
the growth of B-cells where others had a funtion aimed at macrophages or
T cells. The 9 different preparations of herbs were given to different
groups of patients and also decoctions of herbs were given to certain groups
in order to reach statistically significant numbers of participants. The
patients treated were in different stages of the HIV infection from asymptomatic
till full blown AIDS. In 1992 the first full report from their findings
was available at the Amsterdam International AIDS Conference. In the summary
it was after four years of experience concluded that the herbal treatment
had been more or less efficient in 63 patients out of 158. The most remarkable
positive observation was that seven of them had converted to seronegativity.
Before entering the study all
patients were ELISA positive. Their T 4 and T8 status was observed as well
as their clinical status. The medication used were respectively 801, 801,
803, 806, 809, 810, 901, Shengmaiyin decoction and Liujunzhi decoction.
Every period of medication was done over three months. The average period
of treatment longed for 320 days. 142 patients out of the 158 had symptoms
of their HIV infection whereas 16 patients were asymptomatic.
To be evaluated as effective
the patient must at least show a marked improvement in clinical symptoms
and with no or just a minor change in immunological parameters. In the
evaluation 3 patients shoved full recovery, i.e. besides showing normal
health they also converted to seronegative. 36 were effective, i.e. they
had improved laboratory values combined with a marked improvement in their
health as weight increase etc. 24 were partially effective, i.e. they had
a marked improvement in clinical signs, with only minor changes in their
immune function parameters. To the chinese team, the greatest surprise
was to observe 7 patients which converted to seronegative, confirmed by
Western Blot. . When the protocol was written still 6 were seronegative
at that time, and two of them had stayed seronegative for more than a year.
At the end of the study 145 were still alife and they had improved their
health by 3 steps according to the Karnofsky scores. In the clinical signs
the following was noticed. 52 patients increased their body weight with
more than 2 kg, while 56 didn´t change. 56 patients showed improvement
concerning their fatigue. 47% of the patients reduced their fever. 30%
improved concerning their cough. 62% improved due to their diarrhoea. 32%
improved due to their skin rashes.
In a personal communication Professor
Lu Weibo agrees with the Segal conclusion that an early therapy may have
very promising effects. This was also what Wei-bo could confirm due to
his four year experience of treating HIV patients in Tanzania. The earlier
the patients came for treatment, the easier it was to retard the progression
of the disease.
My comment: If the six patients
out of seven who converted to seronegativity, and stayed so during the
available observation time, also could be confirmed by e.g. PCR to be totally
free from infection, this would mean a real breakthrough in the medical
treatment of the disease, and that the statement HIV is incurable is a
lie. Although this report was available at the International Conference
1992 it was ignored by the organizers.
Does it mean they are not interested
in a cure, or they are not competent to appreciate others work if it comes
from sources outside the influential pharmaceuticals?
References: Poster B 3448, Amsterdam
1992. Lu Weibo et.al. Compilation of theses for practice of treatment and
research on AIDS with TCM, Vol. 1, Beijing 1992. (206 pages.)
DNCB (Di nitro chloro benzene) to top
DNCB is a simple, unexpensive
organic compound that is one of the most potent skin sensitizing agents
known to man. When applied to the skin it induces a delayed-type hypersensitivity
response. The reason for this reaction is obviously an interaction with
the tissue based immune cells, among them especially the macrophages and
the Langerhans´ cells, which probably are macrophages that have undergone
a transformation due to the tissue they have been incorporated in.
Already in 1986 DNCB was proposed
as a treatment in the HIV infection. Since that time long-term use of DNCB
in HIV-infection has been documented and one pilot study of early treatment
has been successfully complemented. These studies have demonstrated that
topical DNCB is safe and immunologically active in the HIV infection.
Larger controlled studies of
DNCB treatment are recently being organized in Sweden, Canada and Brazil.
The pilot study of DNCB treatment
was in the Amsterdam conference published as Poster B 3461 by M.D. Raphael
Stricker et.al. from California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco,
USA.
24 HIV-positive patients were
enrolled in the study. All the patients were asymptomatic or had ARC, patients
within the AIDS stage were excluded. After patients were tested for prior
exposure to DNCB, topical DNCB sensitization were carried out using a 10%
solution. All patients sensitized with this concentration. DNCB were subsequently
applied at weekly intervals using concentrations ranging from 0,02% to
2%, depending on the individual´s skin reactivity. Clinical symptoms
and T-cell test were evaluated bimonthly Also the amount of virus load
in the blood was assessed using PCR.
Results: Eleven patients were
monitored for 3-18 months after DNCB sensitization. None of the patients
had progression of the disease during this period, although one withdrew
due to cosmetic effects. All patients noticed a mild discomfort, but there
were no major skin reactions or systemic complications. T-cell studies
revealed a significant rise in CD8-cell count from a mean of 1095/mcl to
1255/mcl following sensitization. CD4 T-cell count remained unchanged.
The CD8 cell count returned to baseline levels after six months. Of note
there was a ten-fold decrease in the virus load over 3-18 months. The decrase
in virus load was proportionate to the lenght of DNCB use.
The authors concluded that topical
DNCB is a safe treatment for patients in the early stages of the HIV infection.
That it results in a transient increase of CD8 cells without altering the
CD4 T cell count. Repeated application of DNCB also appears to reduce the
HIV load. They finish their report by claiming that further studies is
required to find out the interaction between DNCB and CD8 cells.
My comment: The interaction between
DNCB and macrophages is clearly shown in this study. Furthermore the significant
role played by infected macrophages in the HIV infection which has been
shown by Segal and me is strongly supported by this study. Also the importance
of an early intervention in the HIV infection is underlined by this study.
Since DNCB is an available compound,
most known for its photographic use, and used by application on the skin,
its use can´t be controlled by FDA. This is written because the legal
authority of US medical use, FDA, has clearly shown that it has taken as
its main priority to stop, instead of promoting promising treatments in
AIDS. Only if the drug has opportunities to give profit to its pharmaceutical
promoters it seems FDA are willing to contribute to the health of the HIV
positive patients.
References: Stricker R.B. et.
al. Pilot study of topical DNCB in HIV infection. Immunol Letters 1993;36:1-6
New developments in microscope technique - Enby and Naessens. to top
In monitoring and analysing the
development of the HIV infection, different methods have been used. Mainly
the measuring of T cells, the virus load count, the level of antigens or
the antibody level are the most frequent methods used. Another parameter
are to measure the amount of §-microglobulins. The route of infection
can also be followed observing the development of clinical signs.
Some researchers are also analysing
the blood in microscope. Due to the transparency of many cells and the
subjectivity involved this type of evaluation is not used too frequent
in HIV scientific articles. But there has still been some very successful
researchers or doctors who have developed their microscope technique using
what may be called as an optical colouring method.They manipulate the incoming
light before reaching the object, thereby without any dyes or any staining,
making it possible to study vital blood straight into the microscope. By
this optical colouring method many more components in the blood are seen
with far better brilliance. The methods used are the rather common dark-field
microscopy. But even better are phase-contrast developed by Zernike and
interference contrast developed by Nomarski. Another type of interference
contrast using a Kerr cell has been developed by Gaston Naessens.
In Gothenburg, Sweden the medical
doctor Erik Enby has after constructing an interference microscope in 1983,
during a decade studied vital blood from patients with chronical diseases
as cancer, rheumatism, asthma, psoriasis, etc. In all these diseases he
has made the remarkable observation that they contain a high number of
microbes, i.e. cell wall deficient forms of bacterias and fungi. Whereas
in vital blood from healthy persons there are very few of these microbes.
Instead small fast moving small particles can be seen. Due to own observations
and literature research, he has concluded that there are a normal flora
of microbes in the human body, which due to changes in the somatic conditions
may undergo a growth, were even cyclical changes in the forms of microbes
are observed. When a person is healthy they have thus a special form but
in a diseased condition they change into other larger parasitic forms,
where mycobacteria and mycoplasma are observed. These parasitic forms can
be followed for a couple days under the microscope attacking and destroying
the red blood cells. In the very few Aids patients which he has treated
the same phenomena could be observed. By the medical treatment, which is
highly individual based, there are within hours or a few days a clear response
in the blood picture. Thus the possibility to really monitor the healing
process has increased by this method.
A very similar method has been
used by the French-Canadian researcher Gaston Naessens. He has like Enby
confirmed the evolution cycle of microbes in the blood and they are together
be considered as two scientific pioneers of the twentieeth century. Naessens
has also got more HIV/Aids patients to his clinic and the treatment results
are very promising.
My comment: Due to their findings,
which are very similar to what Galilei could observe when equiping himself
with a new better instrument, naturally they are challenging many scientific
dogmas. Although Galilei observed the outer universe, whereas Enby and
Naessens study the inner "universe", mankind has not changed that much
during the past three centuries. Their findings have been met with suppression
ranging from ignorance till brutal legal action, since an approval of their
method would also disturb the pharmacological industry.
References: Erik Enby: Hidden
Killers, Sheehan communications 1990. (155 pages)
Christopher Bird: The persecution
and trial of Gaston Naessens. H J Kramer Inc.
P.O. Box 1082, Tiburon, CA 94920,
USA (315 pages)
Healing through empowerment- Joan Priestley to top
Outgoing from an holistic view
of the human being many health workers, especially among them nutritionists,
try to obtain optimal values of vitamins, spurelements, food etc. Many
of them have also achieved promising results in treating HIV/Aids patients
thereby prolonging the latency.
One of them is M.D. Joan Priestley
who is stationed in Los Angeles, USA. Her five point programme, called
healing through empowerment include: 1) Natural compounds and occasionally
drugs which combat a number of viruses, fungi and bacteria. 2) A nutritionally
sound diet, including supplements, designed to meet the special nutritional
and metabolical needs of HIV-infected patients. 3) Enhancement of a person´s
immune system and other "host responses"by using herbs and other natural
substances which are known both to increase the number and function of
white cells. 4) Lifestyle changes, including appropriate program and support
groups to help stop smoking, stop drinking alcohol and stop using recreational
drugs. 5) "Attitude adjustment" and stress reduction, using meditation,
exercise visualization cassette tapes by Louise Hay, Sally Fisher and others.
Joan Priestley states that AIDS
is not necessarily a fatal disease. The increased ability to successfully
control HIV infection indicates a future trend when it will be seen as
a chronic, manageable disease. There are now many long-term survivors and
their numbers are growing. Most survivors are using multiple treatments
and are vigorously employing a range of alternative treatments, as well
as traditional medical approaches. All of these exceptional people see
themselves as living with AIDS, rather than dying slowly from AIDS.
In following a group of 205 HIV-positive
taking part in her program, she noticed 85 patients stayed stable throughout
the study, with stabilized count on T cells, increased level of antibodies
anti-p24, increased or stable body weight. Her conclusion was: Nutrient
replacement therapy appears to confer a definite survival benefit both
quantitatively and qualitatively, and also enhances immune system function
in HIV-positive patients. Nutritional supplementation is indicated as adjunctive
therapy in the treatment of HIV disease.
The vitamin supply prescribed
by Priestley and many others include A,E,C and B-complex and the essential
minerals are zinc,selenium,manganese, calcium and copper.
The prescription by Priestley
and other are confirmed by a couple of long-term survivors. Just to collect
the data from them treating themselves and considerably prolonging their
life span would actually be a task to be evaluated scientifically by researchers
but which in the western world is neglected. Michael Callen who got his
AIDS diagnosed already in 1982 was the introduction speaker at the Amsterdam
Alternative AIDS Congress in 1992. He had himselfed searched for his fellows
who had survived AIDS far longer than the mean survival time. His description
of his friends was in accordance with the programme recommended by Priestley.
My comment: Since the holistic
approach is not part of the traditional western scientific medical approach
it would be a main task for patient´s organisations to share experiences
among their members. Obviously a full optimal intake of the abovementioned
substances are of extremely importance to obtain health and to support
the body in its own production of antibodies and white blood cells, it
must play a major role to fight the virus. This should be done in combination
with any anti-viral therapy to obtain the best result. Also a greater concern
about how food is acting in maintaining an optimal health should be part
of scientific evaluation, as well as how different herbs, mushrooms etc
are relevant for a strong immune defense. Also the knowledge about vitamins,
especially Vitamin C and its healing properties is of value.
Thymic preparations - Lurhuma, Skolnicki and Kornaszewski. to top
Already at the Stockholm AIDS
Conference in 1988 a double controlled study was presented, showing clear
evidence of the beneficial properties of the use of thymic preparations
in HIV infection.
The study was performed at the
University clinic in Kinshasa by Kornaszewski,Poland and Lurhuma, Zaire.
Also responsible was Skolnicki from Krakow in Poland.
In their report their objective
had been to test the theurapeutical value of thymic hormones in combined
chemoimmunetherapy in Aids patients. In the study 92 patients took part
of whom 44 received microbial therapy alone whereas 48 got microbial therapy
plus calf thymus extracts. The thymus therapy was given three times weekly
for at least one month.
The results from the tests showed
that the combined therapy including thymus extracts caused faster recovery
of general strenght, resolution of fever, skin changes and mouth candidiasis
with improvement of appetite and increase in body weight in 30-50% of the
patients compared to the control group that only received microbial therapy.
There was also reversion in earlier negative skin tests, increase in the
number of T cells and improvement of the T4/T8 ratio. During the following
eight months the mortality rate was 44% (21 patients) in the group that
got thymus extracts whereas at the same time the mortality in the control
group was 84% or 37 patients.
They also confirmed earlier results
that thymex is safe and have almost no side effects. In the summary they
concluded that the use of antimicrobial therapy in combination with thymus
extracts in patients with opportunistic HIV related infections also gave
raise to increased sense of well-being, decreased night sweats, reduction
of lymph node enlargement and pain and resolution of skin rashes and itching.
At the Montreal Aids congress
in 1989 the research group had got more results to provide. They also divided
patients according to if they had developed AIDS or just had got the ARC
signs. In the AIDS group 32 patients out of 54 had survived more than one
year. Six survived for more than three years, whereas in the control group
only six out of 45 survived more than one year. In the ARC group the results
were even more promising 30 of 31 had survived more than year of whom 18
had stayed alife for more than two years. In the control group only seven
out of twelve had survived more than one year.
My comment: Although the thymus
plays an essential role in the maturing of the T cells, very little research
has been done in investigating its important role in the immune system
concerning the HIV infection.
Historically two Swedes have
done important work of the understanding of the thymus. In the beginning
of this century Hammar described the thymus. He was in the middle of the
century followed by the veterinarian Elis Sandberg who also started to
develop thymus extracts and use them as immune enhancing therapy for many
chronical diseases.
Later investigations have shown
that in thymus more than 20 hormones and 20 peptides/proteins are produced
and many of them plays a crucial role for a well functioning immune system.
The description of the dynamics of the HIV infection described by me, also
gives the thymus a very central role. When the thymus is depleted of course,
the production of thymic substances must be severly damaged. If they are
to be given by injections, part of the thymic functions are restored which
have been shown by the work reported here.
References: Kornaszewski, Lurhuma.
Immunostimulation comme un support chez SIDA-malades et HIV seropositives.
Int Conf AIDS, Montreal 1989, WBP 276; p397.
Ozone therapy. to top
Ozone is a certain form of oxygen,
differing from the normal molecule, because it contains three atoms instead
of the normal two as in the oxygen available in atmospheric oxygen. The
very special molecule formation in ozone gives it properties as an oxygen
donor but it has also got a strong bipolarity. Ozone has got a long history
of use in medical treatment against a wide spectrum of diseases, among
them many viral disorders.
At the Amsterdam International
Aids Congress only one report was found including ozone therapy. The German
group with Hans -Dieter WolfstŠdter, Juliane Sacher et al had treated 175
patients on an individual bases where ozone transfusions was one of the
important medications. They also used homeopathy and nutritional therapy.
In their evaluation they used 15 different hematological and biochemical
parameters. When compared to the normal clinical development in HIV patients
given the normal medication they found 52% of the patients showed better
results, whereas 25% were below. The remaining 25% showed no difference
compared to normal development. This figure was valid for patients with
T 4 cell count 200-500.
In their conclusion they state
that patient performance under a combined and individualized naturopathic
regimen might be to some extend improved.
The clinical results by using
ozone was also confirmed by in vitro research done by a group headed by
Bernard Poiesz (Poiesz was a codiscoverer of HTLV-I). They confirmed that
ozone inactivated HIV in a dose dependent manner. Within two hours greater
than 11 log inactivation was achieved at a concentration of 1200 ppm ozone.
They concluded that the antiviral effects of ozone include viral particle
disruption, reverse transcriptase inactivation and disturbed the ability
of the virus to bind to its receptor on target cells. They propose ozone
therapy to inactivate HIV in human body fluids as well as its use to make
blood product preparations free from HIV.
The investigative author Ed McCabe,
who has studied oxygen and ozone therapies, wrote an article about oxygen
therapy. The mode of action is according to McCabe that the ozone supply
to the human body gives an excess of oxygen what hamper the growth of all
anaerobic microbes , i.e. it clears the body of many of the opportunistic
infections seen in AIDS. McCabe has also interviewed many medical doctors
who had used ozone therapy to their AIDS patients. The most remarkable
result was performed by one clinician who brought over 238 HIV positive
patients to HIV negative, each within 60 days. Another physician who had
used ozone for decades noted his AIDS patients, although they had a T4
cell count as low as 5, were stabilizing and returning to complete health.
One patient was reported HIV negative, confirmed by six retests. Another
medical doctor who combined heavy ozone treatments with mineral, vitamin,
thymus and homeopatic supplements reported he got over 50 Aids patients
virus free. He also states he usually gets results in only 12 days due
to his ten year experience and refining of the technique used.
According to Ed McCabe the interest
shown by the authorities in USA to these stories of remarkable succesful
treatment has been that of hard opposition. The FDA has sent out their
police to stop their respective clinics.
References: WolfstŠdter Hans-Dieter,
Sacher J at al. Retrospective benefit following individualized naturopathic
therapy in HIV-patients at different stages. Int Congess Amsterdam 1992,
Poster B 7588.
Wells KH, Latino J, Gavalchin
J, Poiesz BJ. Inactivation of HIV by zone in vitro. Blood 1991:Vol 78:
pp 1882-90.
McCabe Ed. Ozone has cured AIDS
in over 300 cases. Tidskriften Explore 1992:vol 3:
No 4: pp 4-8.