According to 2014 data, an estimated 35 million people worldwide are now living with HIV infection, about half of whom are women and girls. Approximately 1.1 million people in the US have HIV, with 50,000 new infections occurring each year. Women account for one in five new infections and deaths caused by AIDS. The proportion of AIDS diagnoses reported among women has more than tripled since 1985, with African-American and Hispanic women disproportionately affected.
In 1984 at a conference in Maryland, Dr. Robert Gallo claimed to have isolated the HIV retrovirus, which he conjectured was the active agent causing AIDS. The press front-paged the story, not only lauding Dr. Gallo and his fellow researchers but also predicting a cure was just a short distance down the road.
Well, more than thirty years have passed and we find that in relation to AIDS, we are not on the high road of hope but slogging through a quagmire of failed studies that provide little sense or information about how the disease progresses; confusing and expensive treatments; and toxic drugs that often do more harm than good. That’s the bad news coming from the medical establishment. The good news is where the establishment failed, that is, in the accuracy of their doomsday predictions about the inevitable, plague-like spread of AIDS. AIDS has not spread with either the speed or decimating broadness that was foreseen. On the other hand, if there is to be any good news on the treatment front, it will have to come from the alternative doctors who concentrate on such healing remedies as the use of nutritional and lifestyle changes as well as oxygen and ozone therapies.
On December 2, 2013, President Obama marked the 25th Anniversary of World AIDS Day by pledging $100 million to research on finding a cure for HIV. Discussing his new push for funding, Obama remarked that, “The United States should be at the forefront of new discoveries into how to put HIV into longterm remission without requiring lifelong therapies, or better yet, eliminate it completely.” However laudable this commitment to ending the war on HIV/AIDS is, we must question how it is that billions of dollars spent for decades on a pharmaceutical-based treatment has not yielded better results.
For our answers let’s go back to December 9, 1993, when more than 100 persons assembled with their physicians and their medical records in New York City at a major press conference. They had been selected over a twelve month period if they could prove with medical verification, including blood work up, viral load, CD4 and CD8 count, that they had made major improvements without relapse with their AIDS diagnosis. These individuals followed more than 20 different alternative treatment programs. An independent panel of medical and scientific experts brought to the press conference more than 25,000 scientific references from the peer-reviewed literature to verify the medical veracity, efficacy, and safety of any given protocol used by the patients. Herbs, botanicals, homeopathic and naturopathic remedies, intravenous vitamin drips, ozone therapy, meditation, detoxification, stress reduction, a plant-based diet, and antioxidant therapy were all examined for their antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-yeast and/or immunemodulating impacts. Therefore, if one of the patients were to suggest that they were following the Louise Hay, Gerson, or Ann Wigmore protocols, it would not have been difficult to understand how these protocols were helping these individuals’ bodies.
All of this was precipitated more than a year and a half earlier by a group of AIDS patients who came each day to a medical facility in the Upper West Side of Manhattan to be attended by a group of physicians, nurse practitioners, and other therapists helping them to restore their immune systems and adopt a more positive, optimistic state of mind. The theoretical framework behind our program was simple: instead of trying to kill the virus with antiretroviral pharmaceuticals designed to stop viral replication before it kills patients, we focused on what benefits could be gained by building up the patients’ natural immunity and restoring biochemical integrity so the body could fight for itself.
As they began to make major improvements, one of the patients spoke up one evening. He explained that in addition to his own progress in combating AIDS naturally, he knew of other individuals who were using more natural and holistic modalities all across the country and that the world didn’t know of this. The world only knew of the official AIDS treatment: AZT. He and the other people being treated at the facility all feared the mainstream treatment because they had seen how many of their friends and partners as well as other AIDS patients had died or become extremely sick using these aggressive drugs and yet the natural modalities had been virtually ignored in any public discussion on AIDS. So it was at their urging that the press conference evolved.
That day in December could have been historic if only members of the press, scientific community, government agencies, activist organizations, and foundations had chosen to attend and been open to a different medical paradigm. Despite the fact that more than 7,000 individuals from the media and these other groups had been invited on three separate occasions in the months leading up to the press conference, not one showed up. Clearly this was an intentional boycott. As a result, the patients spent the entire afternoon giving their own testimonials, showing their records and having their physicians speak about the remarkable improvements they saw, but the findings presented largely remained a secret from the rest of the world.
Tony Brown, of PBS, learned of the press conference and began to look carefully and meticulously at the AIDS patients who had made remarkable recoveries, inviting more than eight to appear on his national television program. I was also invited to appear on Tony Brown’s program since these were my protocols and I had been working every day with these specific individuals for more than sixteen months. The program profiled one man named Louie, who submitted medical records showing that he experienced a life-affirming reversal of AIDS and all of its conditions.
Up to that point, I had spent every day for years working with people with AIDS-defining conditions, written twenty-two articles on living with AIDS naturally and a 750 page reference book with nearly 100 pages of it covering how to treat AIDS naturally. Further, I had produced a documentary, Living with AIDS Naturally: The Real Heroes, chronicling the story of AIDS patients in the nineties that did not respond well to orthodox therapy but improved after incorporating natural holistic protocols to their treatment programs.
After all this, one would have thought that this information would have permeated into the mainstream AIDS dialogue. In fact, just the opposite occurred. Because I challenged the safety and efficacy of AZT and called into question the science behind conventional AIDS treatment, I was personally attacked as an AIDS denialist, which I categorically deny. There is no debate that HIV exists and that it attacks the immune system. What is still up for debate is whether pharmaceutical drugs are the complete answer. Back then and still today, there is no opportunity for questioning, you are either on board or thrown overboard and then attacked.
Despite the array of devastating side effects that AZT is known to produce, it is still used today in combination with other medications, albeit at much lower doses. Today, if any physician were to prescribe AZT in the same amount that was typical in the 1980s and early 1990s, they would more likely than not be brought up for medical malpractice. While survival rates have increased with the introduction of new anti-retroviral treatments, the mainstream treatments continue to focus on pharmaceutical drugs to the exclusion of holistic lifestyle therapies. This is especially alarming given the extensive body of independent scientific research spanning decades that indicates that we were right all along about the critical importance of treating AIDS patients by incorporating a comprehensive, immunity-enhancing behavior and lifestyle modification approach that incorporates diet and nutritional therapies, detoxification, exercise, meditation, and stress reduction.
As public awareness about the therapeutic value of alternative approaches to health and wellness increases, a growing number of individuals and groups within the scientific community are calling attention to the benefits of an integrative approach to AIDS. Given President Obama’s recent pledge of $100 million towards a cure for HIV/AIDS, it is clear that drugs alone are not the answer. By shifting the paradigm to one that embraces and incorporates proven natural methods, we have the potential to revolutionize modern HIV/AIDS treatments and empower individuals to achieve greater health and longevity.
Among the difficulties I have with conventional programs is that they are restricted in purview almost exclusively to drugs. Various drugs are used to treat the opportunistic infections and illnesses, and to prevent HIV from reproducing and attacking the body’s immune system. Since 1995, the number of medications used to treat AIDS has more than tripled. Among the types of HIV drugs available are reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, fusion inhibitors, entry inhibitors, and integrase inhibitors. Many people take several of these drugs in antiretroviral combinations, or “cocktails.”
If one brings up measures to help the AIDS patient that go beyond ingesting pharmaceuticals, says Dr. Dean Black, “this opens up the door to all the lifestyle measures that medicine has so long discounted, the idea that it could be in the behavior of the AIDS victim, in the diet, in the lifestyle in some fashion.”
Researcher Bill McCreary points to the absurdity of doctors ignoring their own intuitions about the people they are treating in order to await orders from on high: “Doctors say it’s not approved by the FDA so we can’t touch it.... Doctors usually do a better job because they’re there, they know the patient.... Today, the doctor works from a cookbook that is issued out of the federal government. They have to abide by that cookbook or they may be found guilty of malpractice.”
AZT was developed as a chemotherapy agent in the late 1960s for the treatment of leukemia, but was never patented by its creator, Dr. Richard Beltz, after he established that his chemotherapy compound was “too toxic for even shortterm use” and “caused cancer at any dose.” Because of this, AZT was never used for its intended purpose as a cancer chemotherapy. Laboratory studies revealed some of its side effects to be hair loss, weight loss, muscle loss, anemia, and the very same pneumonia associated with AIDS. The drug was then shelved.
The drug’s antileukemic mechanism of action is to kill growing lymphocytes by termination of DNA synthesis. The rationale of AZT therapy is simple, if not naive: the retrovirus HIV depends on DNA synthesis for multiplication, and AZT terminates DNA synthesis. Thus AZT should stop AIDS.
It should—but there’s one catch. As Huw Christie explains, “Cancer cells, which AZT was designed to kill, grow faster than normal tissue cells, the idea therefore being that, when incorporating AZT, they die more quickly than normally replicating cells too. When the treatment is finished and the chemotherapy stopped, the normal tissue cells can set about making up for their own lower rate of loss.” Studies show, on the other hand, that no more than one in a thousand lymphocytes are ever infected by HIV—even in people dying from AIDS. Since AZT cannot distinguish between an infected and an uninfected cell, 999 uninfected cells must be killed in order to kill just one HIV-infected cell.
In 1984, the US Department of Health granted a contract for AZT to Bur-roughs-Wellcome, which remarketed AZT to AIDS doctors as an “antiviral.” AZT was first given to human beings in the initial AIDS treatment trials.
A campaign was then waged to get every HIV-positive person on AZT. Researcher John Lauritsen explains: HIV-positive patients “were told that they should go for what was called early medical intervention. There were slogans put out, ‘Put time on your side.’ The early intervention meant purely and simply AZT. And rather than putting time on the side of these people, what the drug did and is doing is to terminate their lives.”
Here’s another difference from cancer treatment. In cancer, you begin to take chemotherapy after you contract the disease. AZT, which, as we saw, was originally developed for chemotherapy, has become the first “chemotherapy” prescribed as a preventative before a person shows any symptoms.
Activist G. Hazlehurst put it like this: AIDS “is the only disease I know of where treatment with powerful drugs is begun several to many years prior to the actual onset of any illness, when there is still the possibility it may not even develop.”
Drugs like AZT, as Dr. Martin Feldman points out, “tend to severely weaken the immune system and make the body have to work harder to have immune strength. The body uses up its basic nutrients in the process. Really, the body is fighting against the AZT.”
Advocates of alternative treatment tell us that we need to change the focus of treatment toward “stimulating, activating, and increasing” the body’s antibody system. The best direction of treatment, according to this perspective, would be to help the body to use the immune system it already has instead of forcing it to tolerate an artificial one.
A number of alternative treatments are having some success with AIDS. In this chapter we will highlight three approaches: supporting the body’s own methods of healing and defense by bringing nutrient levels up to optimal levels and making lifestyles changes; working on improving the body’s metabolism using a special fatty acid preparation; and elevating the level of oxygen in the blood to boost the immune system and cell activity. We also include my sample protocol. It is important to discuss with a medical professional any alternative therapies you are considering or already using.
Theories and methods that seem very different can have broadly similar results. All of the treatment approaches mentioned below, at the very least, have reversed some of the symptoms of HIV infection in some patients and have improved the quality of life, according to the patients themselves, in many cases.
The approaches are not mutually exclusive. Is there any reason why they should not be used together, complementing each other? For example, it is noteworthy that some of the reported actions of the vitamin C infusions were very similar to those of the ozone infusions used by Dr. Pittman. Both were found to be highly effective in inactivating many viruses, and HIV in particular; and both seemed to augment the effectiveness of the immune system. Perhaps if they were used together, the effects of each would potentiate the other, with results better than either alone.
One of the very important advantages of many of these “nonconventional” methods is that, whether or not they are effective (and there is evidence that some are), they are generally safe. Most nutritional and herbal methods cause far fewer side effects than the pharmaceutical and surgical methods now in favor. This is a major argument for permitting them to be used at the discretion of the individual.
That is a reason for not bringing these modalities under the regulatory authority of the state or organized medicine. It is a matter of constitutional freedoms. But there are also strong economic arguments. The costs of these alternative techniques are almost always far lower than the treatments now approved by organized medicine for the same disorders. Thus, encouraging the use of these other approaches can save the American public, both as taxpayer and as health care consumer, vast amounts of money.
Yes, the physicians whose work with HIV infection we have examined approach health and illness from different perspectives. But they do share a basic worldview that separates them from the practitioners of conventional medicine.
According to the conventional view, my body consists of congeries of mechanisms, with subsystems that can be adequately understood separately, with little regard to the status of the myriad other subsystems. The view of the body found in alternative health care is one that sees its level of interconnectedness as far higher. In a healthy organism all the subsystems are supporting each other in myriad ways, most of which are not yet observable or understood. In the first (allopathic) worldview, most disease originates through the breakdown of some one mechanism, or a few discrete mechanisms; disease, then, is to be treated by fixing or bypassing the defective mechanism. In the second (holistic) worldview, however, disease has to do not only with individual mechanisms but also with weakening of many kinds of couplings between mechanisms, and with overstressing supporting systems through excessive demands for support.
Evaluations of the health conditions of HIV-infected persons before they show any disease symptoms indicate that many have poor nutrition, including decreased body mass, fat, and protein, resulting from malabsorption. Malabsorption can lead to immunosuppression, infection, and mucosal damage. Dr. Christopher Calapai sees the body’s inability to profit from food nutrients as stemming not only from absorption problems but also from anorexia and high resting energy expenditure (REE). REE means that the body is overstimulated. While it should have slowed during rest, the metabolism is still using up nutrients at an accelerated pace. In any case, the HIV-infected person is either not getting or using too quickly the nutrients he or she needs to support bodily functions.
There is no question that certain vitamins are needed to maintain immune response. These include E, B6, C, and beta-carotene. In fact, there is evidence that certain vitamins as well as herbs can counter the progress of AIDS as they bolster the immune system. The Institute for Traditional Medicine in Portland, Oregon, has done some vital work in looking at how Chinese herbs can be used in treating AIDS. The founder of the institute has developed a specific herbal combination that combines strong tonic herbs with those that fight inflammation and infection. Of 150 patients who have undergone therapy with this herbal formula over three months, 76 percent experienced an increase of energy, and 62 percent of the patients who suffered from diarrhea saw a cessation of the problem. Other symptoms were similarly improved.
Dr. Chang of the Sun Yat Sen Medical Center also found a mix of Chinese herbs to work strenuously against AIDS. He found that extracts from eleven different herbs inhibit the activity of HIV. Dr. Quingcai Zhang notes these Chinese herb treatments are effective because they work with the body to fight infection, rather than by trying to override the body’s own creative functioning, the way drugs such as AZT do.
Some of the vitamins and herbs that have been used for treating people with AIDS with positive results are listed below.
GLUTATHIONE—Glutathione is an antioxidant that protects against cellular damage. It stimulates lymphocytes that help defend the body against viral illnesses, such as AIDS. When N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) is given to a patient, the body will convert it to glutathione.
A study in Nutrition Review indicates that HIV-positive individuals are deficient in glutathione. On the other hand, results have been reported from a number of studies that indicate HIV activity is reduced by glutathione’s presence.
Dr. Joan Priestley gives her HIV-infected and AIDS patients intravenous glutathione, because, she says, “Glutathione specifically attacks the AIDS virus in about four different steps.”
At an AIDS symposium, Dr. Calapai stated, “When we add glutathione intravenously with vitamin C, we see a significant turnaround in the patient’s comfort, attitude, and well being. . . . NAC taken intravenously can inhibit reverse transcriptase [HIV replication] activity better than 90 percent. There is no drug available for any treatment or disease that can do better than 90 percent with minimal or no side effects.”
BETA-CAROTENE—Beta-carotene is a safe form of vitamin A, which stops damage from bodily pollution, bolsters the immune system, inhibits viruses, and prevents premature aging.
A study done by Dr. Semba of Johns Hopkins showed that a vitamin A deficiency found in HIV-positive and AIDS patients was a serious risk factor for the disease. In a different study, Dr. Semba’s team found that a lack of vitamin A was positively correlated with death from AIDS.
On the other hand, a number of studies chart improvements when betacarotene is administered. In one, eleven HIV-positive patients received 60 milligrams of the vitamin per day for four months. They recorded an increase in natural killer cells and other vital parts of the immune system, which HIV infection tends to diminish. Another study was done on ten patients who had just gotten off AZT and began taking 120 milligrams a day of beta-carotene. Although one died a few months into the treatment, the other nine experienced an HIV-burden diminution, clinically measured improvements in health, and evaluated themselves as having a better quality of life.
VITAMIN C—Vitamin C is one of the stars among the vitamins in treating AIDS. Basing his opinion on numerous clinical studies, the late Dr. Robert Cathcart confidently stated, “Vitamin C can double the life expectancy of AIDS patients.” He said that his treatment, which involves using massive doses of buffered ascorbate of 50 to 200 grams every twenty-four hours (in combination with other treatments for secondary infections), will produce a clinical remission of the disease that shows every evidence of being prolonged if the treatment goes on.
Other doctors report similar results. Dr. Raxit Jariwalla, a virologist from the Linus Pauling Institute, says, “In laboratory cultures of HIV-infected cells. . . vitamin C can significantly suppress both the activity and the replication of the AIDS virus.”
Joy DeVincenzo, who is HIV positive and has used massive doses of vitamin C, explains, “A lot of doctors. . . do not believe in giving me vitamin C. . . [but] without it, I know I wouldn’t have stayed stable for so long.”
These statements are supported by a host of studies, such as the one that appeared in the volume Nutrition and AIDS, which summarized the results of various examinations of C’s value. The authors point out, “A striking property of ascorbic acid is its ability to inactivate viruses and inhibit viral growth in their host cells.” Experimental studies reported in the same volume show that vitamin C will directly interfere with HIV replication, carrying the assault on the disease into the enemy’s camp.
VITAMIN E—Vitamin E is an antioxidant that seems to prevent many diseases caused by environmental stressors. It is found in fish and vegetable oil, nuts, and whole grains. However, most Americans do not get enough of this vitamin in their foods and need supplementation.
Studies are piling up showing that vitamin E is a warrior against AIDS. One study showed that the administration of 50 milligrams per kilogram per day over five days already began to inhibit the replication of HIV. Another study showed that if the dosage of E was increased fifteen-fold (to 160 IU/liter), immune system functions that had been suppressed by HIV presence were restored.
ASTRAGALUS—Astragalus root has been used for centuries in China because it was thought to strengthen the immune system. Current research shows the truth of this belief, since astragalus is now known to correct T-cell (part of the immune system) deficiency and to promote antiviral action.
A study at the University of Texas showed that taking astragalus extract stimulates T-cell production in healthy animals and restores it in cancer patients who have seen their T-cell production impaired. In another study involving nineteen cancer patients with weakened immune systems, an extract of astragalus induced such a complete recovery that it was noted, “People whose immune systems were devastated by cancer experienced full restoration of immune function.”
Of course, studies need to be conducted on AIDS sufferers, but astragalus’s aid to the immune system is evident.
GARLIC—Garlic has a number of antitumor and antiviral mechanisms. It stimulates the immune system’s production of phagocytosis, which eliminates abnormal cells from the body. It is toxic to some abnormal cells and inhibits the implantation of others. It has even proven effective against some bacteria that do not respond to antibiotics.
In fighting AIDS, it is especially good in eliminating the opportunistic infections that set in once immune systems have been weakened. A German study of seven AIDS patients who were given 5 grams of garlic daily found that five of them showed significant improvements in their T cells, along with other improvements in health and fewer outbreaks of opportunistic infections.
GINSENG—Numerous studies of ginseng’s benefits were conducted in Russia in the 1960s and 1970s. Norman Farnsworth collected and translated many of these studies, which indicated that various types of ginseng acted to normalize body temperature, enhance the body’s ability to resist infection, improve cells’ ability to dispose of the by-products of metabolism, and counter the effects of environmental pollution.
Its effects in treating AIDS patients have also been shown. In a study by Y. K. Cho and others, Korean red ginseng improved weakened immune response in subjects infected with HIV.
LICORICE ROOT—Licorice root has also been effective in stopping the HIV virus from replicating. A study, done at the World Life Research Institute, recorded no toxicity to normal cells.
The plant is known to strengthen the immune system by increasing macrophage activity and that of interferon-gamma, both vital actors in combating infections and viruses. Licorice is a detoxifying agent and has anti-inflammatory, antiallergic, and antispasmodic properties.
ST. JOHN’S WORT—Studies at New York University have shown that St. John’s wort contains two potent chemicals that are highly effective in preventing the spread of retroviruses, such as HIV, both in laboratory samples and in patients.
One of the researchers found that one of these chemicals would stop the spread of AIDS, even crossing the barrier into the brain, which serves as a reservoir of HIV cells, to combat the disease there. This researcher comments that St. John’s wort’s “antiviral activity is remarkable both in its mechanism. . . and in the potency of one administration of a relatively small dose of the compounds.”
Phytochemicals are disease-preventing or healing substances found in edible plants, such as those found in licorice root, which are believed to account for the plant’s valuable immune-system strengthening qualities. These chemicals are found in frequently consumed foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and seeds as well as in less common foods such as soy and green tea. They have already been associated with the prevention and treatment of four of the leading causes of death in this country: cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. Although not enough studies have been done on these substances, those that have been done hint that quite large benefits are to be expected.
Research on limonene, found in citrus fruits, shows that it increases the body’s production of enzymes that help it dispose of potentially carcinogenic substances. It is well known that people whose diets are heavy in fruits have lower rates of most cancers than do those who don’t have such diets. Many are attributing this low cancer rate to the effect of the phytochemicals.
Research supports the long-term efficacy of dietary counseling and use of nutritional supplementation for people with AIDS to increase or maintain weight, restore lean tissues, and lessen the effects of the disease. Patrick Donnelly, program coordinator for the Whole Foods Project, says AIDS patients must be made aware of the need to eat nutritious foods. He advises working with “the new four food groups, which are grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.” These foods are high in antioxidants and have nutrients like beta-carotene, vitamin C, zinc, and selenium. Such nutrients are not found in the high-fat, high-protein standard American diet. Donnelly says, “We’re trying to get people to look at a new way of eating that is not about providing calories so much as supporting the immune system.”
Another member of the project staff, Richard Pierce, comments, “You only have to look at this food [we provide] to see that it’s full of life. . . . The vitality of the food is what nurtures us.”
Along with eating healthy foods, one must learn to avoid the foods that contribute to the growth or virulence of disease, counterproductive foods, particularly yeast and sugar. Yeast is a natural part of our makeup, but it can wreak havoc on the body when it gets out of control. Sugar is an immune suppressant. If one takes 100 grams of sugar, it will cut antibody production by 50 percent for twenty-four hours.
Studies have shown that regular exercise has long-term benefits on the biological condition of HIV and AIDS patients as well as on the course of the illness. Researchers have found that exercise will improve a patient’s health at all stages of the disease. Moreover, it seems that complications of the disease will be delayed by exercise.
Acupuncture has proven to be one of the most popular treatments for people with HIV. One study found that people with HIV who use the treatment have extended survival rates. In addition, they regularly report a substantial reduction in symptoms and side effects from HIV-related drugs. Acupuncture frequently provides relief from AIDS-related diseases, and most patients report a reduction in fatigue, abnormal sweating, diarrhea, and acute skin reactions after four to five treatments. Some patients have a fifteen- to twenty-pound weight gain and return to long hours of work.
Abigail Rist-Podrecca, a registered nurse, notes that acupuncture works by “dilating the blood vessels, so that the vessels can open. You get more circulation, more of the nutrients, more oxygen flowing through those meridians [the places where the acupuncture needles are stuck].”
She believes one of the reasons people with AIDS weaken is that they lose the ability to take up nutrition through the intestines. Acupuncture acts to reverse this digestive problem as well as working on the lungs and other bodily centers.
Studies conducted at the Lincoln Hospital Acupuncture Clinic in New York, the AIDS Alternative Health Project in Chicago, and the Quan Yin Herbal Support Program in San Francisco have reported symptomatic relief and overall physical improvement following acupuncture.
Reflexology is a form of relaxation treatment. It was used in an AIDS program in Uganda. Four months after the program began, 85 percent of those treated noted pain relief, better relaxation, and better sleep following the reflexology sessions.
Aromatherapy is the use of plant essences in healing. Pure oils are used, some of which have already proven to have antifungal and antiviral effects. One study looked at the effect of aromatherapy when used in conjunction with other therapies to see if it would lessen the need for toxic drugs. Using eighty randomly selected AIDS patients, the study concluded that the group that utilized aromatherapy, in contrast to the control group, reported fewer aches and pains, faster healing of wounds, greater physical strength, and a better ability to cope.
The late Dr. Emmanuel Revici also believed that AIDS must be managed by addressing nutritional deficiencies. His approach, though not based on Chinese medicine, did resemble the Asian system in viewing the body as driven by two crosscurrents, yin and yang, that create the body’s vitality. The body’s health depends on their balance. Dr. Revici’s program saw two basic processes in the body: the anabolic, which builds up, and the catabolic, which breaks down. When an organism is working normally, it maintains its characteristic rhythms and intensities by means of this oscillation. However, when there is a breakdown, it will be because the alternations are lopsided, and either catabolic or anabolic influences are unduly dominating. It is as if a pendulum’s swing were being artificially pulled to one side.
In the case of AIDS, there is a deficiency in certain of the body’s phospholipids (a type of fat), which normally play a role in disease prevention. The course of the disease is as follows: A primary viral infection occurs, which brings about the weakening of the body’s line of lipidic defense. This is followed by secondary, opportunistic infections that are allowed to run wild due to the body’s lowered defense threshold. Then comes an exaggerated catabolic imbalance whereby the body’s breakdown of substances is outrunning its construction of others.
The treatment called for in such a case is a four-pronged one. To deal with the viral infections, antiviral agents should be introduced into the system. To deal with the lipid deficiency, these lipids have to be reintroduced by injection. For the secondary opportunistic infections, proper antibiotics are applied. And for the catabolic imbalance, balancing agents are prescribed.
I examined ten of Dr. Revici’s cases and I can make these generalizations about them: Of these patients, only three seem not to have improved during therapy. Yet, of these three, one, though worsening in immunologic markers, nevertheless felt “well” at the end of ten years of treatment. Another, though his T4 count also declined considerably over four years of treatment, was still “feeling fine” at the end of that period. Thus, of the ten patients, eight currently (or recently) report feeling well after an average period of 5.2 years of therapy. Five of the eight also report no remaining symptomatic complaints, and two of those have had a marked improvement in immune markers. All are currently continuing in therapy.
Dr. John Pittman of the Carolina Center for Integrative Medicine has developed a treatment based on the use of ozone and oxygen. Oxygen is an essential nutrient. It is, in fact, the most essential, as it is the only one that must be continuously available, at pain of quick death. As we all know, life ceases if the supply of oxygen is cut off for more than a few minutes. A number of studies indicate that ozone inactivates HIV at low and safe concentrations. It has been conjectured that ozone kills HIV cells. Ozone is also able to strengthen immune responses.
Dr. Pittman believes that ozone can arrest the progression of AIDS diseases and turn the syndrome into a manageable condition. He values ozone’s ability to help alleviate chronic problems that plague patients, including dermatological conditions and low-level infections. He also notes a relationship between ozone and improved T-cell and CD4 counts. Best results occur when an intensive series of treatments is taken every four to six months.
Dr. Pittman uses ozone as an integral part of a wider treatment protocol. He explains, “The first ten days of their program entails a modified juice fast. Everyone drinks fresh-pressed vegetable juices and eats no solid food.” Patients are then put on an intensive detoxification program. Nutritional supplements are given. The patient begins autohemotherapy. This involves the removal of blood from the body so that it can be filled with ozone and then reinfused.
After five days of autohemotherapy, Dr. Pittman says, “if the patient has tolerated that. . . we begin with the direct intravenous infusion of ozone gas. . . on a daily basis, gradually increasing concentrations and volume until we observe a healing crisis in the patient.” The patient will experience fevers, chills, and sometimes flu symptoms. When the healing crisis passes, the doctor tapers off dosage and concentration, and goes into lower doses, “which have a more immune-stimulating effect.”
Concurrent with ozone therapy are other intravenous therapies, which include intravenous vitamin C and mineral infusions as well as EDTA chelation therapy. The doctor also employs acupuncture and other dietary therapies throughout the program.
Although I was not able to obtain the same detailed case histories from Dr. Pittman that I had from the other practitioners mentioned here, I did gather very positive anecdotal evidence, including the story of a man who came to the clinic with a CD4 count of 42. In two weeks of intensive therapy, his count soared to 285.
As you can see, Dr. Pittman believes in a nontoxic multifactorial approach in the treatment of AIDS. He says, “I think the approach for AIDS has got to be one from a multimodality standpoint. There is no one single approach. It is only through the combination of appropriate antiviral therapy, immune-stimulating therapy, diet, and detoxification programs that a patient is really going to be maintained and have any hope of improvement.”
Here is a sample AIDS protocol outlining the program I have used for decades to help countless individuals deal with their HIV/AIDS naturally. As with other protocols in this book, it is not in any way to be construed as a prescription to cure the condition, but as nutritional, lifestyle, and behavior modification suggestions only. Always consult with a physician for guidance on specific health issues and before following this or any other protocol. A patient’s diagnosis, treatment, and medications must be considered in determining if any of the suggested vitamins, minerals, foods, and herbs are contraindicated. Special consideration should be given to pregnant and nursing mothers. Many supplements do not have a suggested dosage. Individual clinicians must make individual recommendations based on the patient. Finally, the protocol below must be implemented in gradual steps. It is suggested to begin with low doses of one or two items to determine the patient’s acceptance and tolerance. Once it is determined that the patient has adapted, the dosage should be increased in gradual steps.
The diet is an immunosupportive DNA-reparative, cleansing, and pH-rebalancing program. It is recommended to begin the day with a large smoothie containing a tablespoon of one of the following healthy oils: black cumin seed oil, coconut oil, or flaxseed oil. Add a handful of either walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or chia seeds; concentrates from blueberry, pomegranate, tart cherry, noni, or papaya; a teaspoon of probiotic powder containing at least 5–10 billion CFU, as well as 30–40 grams of a highquality, non-GMO protein, either from rice, pea, hemp, or soy.
Include smaller meals throughout the day with a full spectrum of sea vegetables, fermented foods, starchy vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and liberal amounts of garlic and onion, and wild fish (preferably sardines and salmon).
Drink either wheatgrass juice, bitter melon juice with raw honey and bee propolis, or combinations of vegetable and fruit juices throughout the day, ideally 16 ounces each.
L-Carnosine/Acetyl L-carnitine
Whey protein: 30–60 g/day
SAMe: 400–800 mg/day
Magnesium: 400–500 elemental mg
Calcium: 400–500 mg
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
Vitamin B12
Folic acid
SOD
DMG
Pancreatic and proteolytic enzymes
Multimineral supplement
EFAs: borage, omegas 3 &6, GLA, EPA
Lecithin
CoQ10: 1,000 mg
Curcumin
DHEA
Citrus bioflavanoids
Ginseng
Milk thistle
Green tea extract
Monolaurin
Melatonin
NAC: 1000–1,800 mg three times a day
Grape seed extract: 400 mg
Alpha lipoic acid: 300 mg twice a day
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
Beta-carotene/vitamin A
Vitamin B1 (thiamin)
Vitamin B3 (niacinamide)
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)
Evening primrose oil
Vitamin C: 2,000–10,000 mg/day
Quercetin: 3,000 mg
St. John’s wort: 300 mg
Vitamin E—mixed tocopherols
Vitamin K
Zinc
Vanadium
Garlic/cayenne
MSM
Selenium: 200 mcg twice a day
Chromium picolinate
Activated lipids (AL7/21)
Germanium
Astragalus
Silymarin
Eurocel
Lactoferrin
Probiotics
Ozonated colonics/coffee enemas
HBOT—hyperbaric oxygen therapy
IV Vitamin C drips and bio-oxidative therapies require MD orders
IV DMSO
Chinese herbs/AMMA/Acupuncture
Bach flower remedies
Hyperthermia
Homeopathic remedies
Positive visualization
Guided imagery
Stress management therapy
Hydrazine sulfate if wasting syndrome occurs
Check cortisol levels regularly
Virgin castor oil
Calendul
a Aloe/avocado oil baths
Colloidal copper spray
Take the following daily as directed:
Two (2) – 16 oz. glasses of green juice per day:
Juice 4 oz. dark & light green vegetables. Add 12 oz. water
or
1 tbsp. of powdered dry green concentrate. Add 12 oz. water.
In the above juices, add 1 oz. of aloe concentrate and 1 tsp. of red fruit dried concentrate.
Antioxidant complex: Follow the instructions on the label Garlic with cayenne powder: Follow the instructions on the label Psyllium bifidis fiber: Follow the instructions on the label Vitamin C: 500–2,500 mg
Quercetin: 550 mg 3X/day
Pycnogenol: 50 mg 3X/day
L-Carnitine: 250 mg 2X/day
Brain complex, 3 capsules per day or
Ginkgo biloba: 100 mg (consult your doctor if on blood thinners)
L-Phenylalanine: 5 mg
L-Glutathione L-Taurine
Choline bitartrate complex Inositol
L-Glutamine
L-Tyrosine
Phosphatidyl Serine Naturleaf (enzyme enhanced)
Plant-Sprout sterols/sitosterolins: 500 mg 4x/day
MGN 3: 500 mg 3x/day
Increase antioxidant complex to 5 times per day
B-Complex: 50 mg
Replace with: cold water fish (wild salmon, sardines) 4 times/week; nuts, nut butters, seeds, soybeans and soy products, organic eggs, quinoa. Mix grains with beans.
Replace with: rice milk, soy milk, almond milk, Amazake, Silken tofu, oat milk. Nothing with “casein” in the ingredients.
Replace with: herb teas, grain beverages (postum, cafix, Rajs’s cup), lemon water, and green tea.
Replace with: stevia root, raw manuka honey, molasses, brown rice syrup, and pure maple syrup. May use chromium picolinate (200 mcg) for sugar cravings.
Replace with: spring water, distilled water, filtered water, or fresh-squeezed organic fruit juice.
Replace with: spelt bread, sprouted whole grain bread, rice bread, Essene bread. Read the labels.
Replace with: organic produce, include potatoes (NOT Idaho), squash, sweet potatoes, yams, grains, beans, fruits, vegetables.
Replace with: steamed, sautéed, stirfried, grilled, broiled meals. Oils for cooking: coconut, macadamia, safflower. For baking: hazelnut, macadamia nut. For salads: Walnut, flax seed. Extra virgin cold pressed olive oil is okay to add to cooked foods; avoid cooking with the olive oil.
Eat primarily during the day; have your large meal between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., a very light breakfast and a light dinner (grains and any salad with dressing, sea vegetable and/or soup).
Quality protein and amino acids: 9/10th gr/kg of body weight/day
Approximately 40–60 g/day for women and 50–80 g/day for males
(Suggestion: Begin by getting your protein from grains, legumes, and seeds. If needed, protein powder supplements are useful in guaranteeing sufficient amounts. The diet should provide you with 40–50 g of fiber per day.)
Tofu and tempeh
Grains and sprouts: millet, buckwheat, brown rice, spelt, rye, quinoa Organic raw vegetables and fruits—all types
Fatty deep water fish: salmon or sardines, 6–8 oz. Raw seeds and nuts
Tubers: yams, potatoes, or sweet potatoes
3–4 servings of cruciferous vegetables daily: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and onions.
Sea vegetables.
Drink a minimum of 1 gallon of liquids which include purified water and juice.
1–2 cups green tea daily.
Lemon juices daily—to alkalize the body.
Digestive enzymes for fatigue.
If candida is present: use grapefruit seed extract, 5–10 drops in water 3x/day
Oil of oregano—as directed
Olive leaf extract—as directed
Build up gradually to 1 hour/day of aerobic activity. Take your pulse throughout your aerobic workout to make sure you are neither undernor over-exerting yourself. Generally, your target rate is determined by taking 220 and subtracting your age and then multiplying the result by 70 percent. So a thirty-one-year-old person would have a rate of 220 minus 31 times 70 percent or 132. In addition to aerobic exercise you must do weight training three times per week.
An increasing body of evidence is showing the benefits of natural modalities to overall health and well-being. Following is a sample of recent peer-reviewed scientific studies in the area of HIV/AIDS.
Publishing in PLoS One in 2014, German researchers found that extracts of the geranium plant Pelargonium sidoides inactivate HIV-1 and stop the virus from attacking human cells. Scientists at the University of Missouri reported that EFdA, a nucleoside analog related to a component used in soy sauce as a flavor enhancer, was significantly more effective than the first-line HIV drug Tenofovir, and less likely to cause resistance and lose effectiveness over time. Their research was published in 2014 in the journals Retrovirology, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and the International Journal of Pharmaceutics.
An article on the Life Extension website details numerous other recent scientific studies confirming the effectiveness of natural compounds and treatments. For example, in 2011, researchers at the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Obesity Society reported that green coffee extract produced high levels of chlorogenic acid and other polyphenols that promote healthy blood sugar control and reduce the risk of disease in HIV-infected patients. This is important because long-term antiretroviral drug therapy can cause metabolic problems, including insulin resistance and diabetes. Subjects who took 200-milligram supplements experienced a 14 percent decrease in blood sugar, and those who took 400 milligrams had double the effect at 28 percent. Another 2011 study, published in Clinical Therapeutics, added to the evidence showing the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids: 48 HIV-infected patients given 4 grams per day for twelve weeks had significant reductions in triglyceride levels when compared with placebo.
Additional 2010 reports, in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports and AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, found that physical activity supports immune function and reduces the risk of metabolic abnormalities in HIV-infected patients.