Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

First recognized as a disease in 1981, AIDS now ranks high among the world's most urgent public health problems. AIDS is currently the fifth leading cause of death among adults between the ages of 25 and 44.(1) "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome" is a severe depletion of the immune system that seriously weakens the body's defenses against infection. Death due to AIDS is not caused by the immune deficiency itself, but by infectious organisms that take advantage of the ravaged immune system. A normal, healthy immune system is fully able to fend off most of the diseases that kill people with AIDS.

Although infection by the HIV virus is the accepted cause of AIDS, HIV infection and AIDS are not one and the same. Just because someone tests "HIV positive," indicating their blood contains antibodies to the HIV virus, does not mean they have AIDS. People may not show symptoms of AIDS for many years following initial infection by HIV.

The HIV virus is transmitted from person to person by direct contact with blood or body fluids such as lymph, semen, and vaginal secretions. Intimate sexual activity is the most common route of exposure to the virus. HIV is not spread through kissing or household contact such as sharing a drinking glass with an infected family member. Needle sharing among IV drug users is a major route of transmission. Pregnant women infected with HIV can pass the virus to their unborn babies. Exposure to infected blood or blood products in the health care setting is another possible means of infection, although this accounts for a very small number of AIDS cases.

Once it invades the body, the HIV virus enters the "T4 helper cells," white blood cells that coordinate the various cellular functions of the immune system. The virus then penetrates the T4 cell nucleus and commandeers the cell's DNA, instructing it to make copies of the virus. In effect, HIV turns the T4 cells into virus-making factories. Eventually these cells are destroyed, leaving the immune system crippled. The HIV infected person now has AIDS.

In order to be diagnosed with AIDS, an HIV positive individual must have either: 1) Less than 200 T4 cells per cubic millimeter of blood (In a healthy person the T4 count ranges from 650 to 1200), or 2) One of a list of additional clinical conditions that includes: candidiasis, invasive cervical cancer, CMV virus disease, histoplasmosis, mycobacterium infection, recurrent pneumonia, salmonella bacteria infection, and wasting syndrome due to HIV. People with AIDS may also be inflicted with a rare form of cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma.

World Health Organization, December 2006.

• An estimated 39.5 million people are living with HIV.
• Important increases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where there are some indications that infection rates have risen by more than 50% since 2004.
• In 2006, 2.9 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.
• More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.
• Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide - around 6,000 become infected with HIV every day.
• There were 4.3 million new infections in 2006.

Centers for Disease Control, 2004.

• The cumulative number of AIDS cases reported to CDC is 944,305.
• Adult and adolescent AIDS cases total 934,862 with 756,399 cases in males and 178,463 cases in females.
• Through the same time period, 9,443 AIDS cases were reported in children under age 13.
• Total deaths of persons reported with AIDS through 2004 are 529,113, including 523,598 adults and adolescents, and 5,515 children under age 13.

One group of AIDS drugs works by inhibiting an enzyme called "reverse transcriptase," which the HIV virus uses to take over the infected T cell. Two types of reverse transcriptase inhibitors are currently in use; one hits the virus before it binds to the cell's DNA, while the second stops the virus from programming that DNA to produce more viruses.

"Protease inhibitors" are another widely used class of anti-HIV drugs. These block protease, an enzyme that assembles new viruses inside the infected cell. One way to visualize this is to imagine that reverse transriptase inhibitors tear up the blueprint for making new viruses while the protease inhibitors disable the machinery that makes them. The FDA has approved 14 of these drugs for AIDS treatment.

Anti-HIV drug cocktails successfully suppress replication of the virus and reduce the total number of viruses, called the "viral load," often dramatically. But they do not eliminate it entirely; so far, medical science has not discovered a way to completely eradicate the virus. Only this will be the final cure for AIDS.

One drawback in using anti-viral drugs to treat HIV is that the virus often becomes resistant to the drugs. This means that a particular drug "recipe" only works for a period of time. Once the virus achieves drug resistance it begins to multiply in greater numbers, and the gained ground is lost. Another cocktail must then be prescribed. Newer, more powerful combinations are being researched, and that show an even greater ability to subdue the HIV virus and stabilize the immune system.

Patients in the late stages of AIDS are often on complex multiple drug regimens. Along with antiviral therapy, they must be treated for any secondary infections that may be present. The AIDS sufferer may be taking a host of drugs, including anti-virals, antibiotics, antidepressants, pain medications, and others. Nutritional support is necessary, as people with full-blown AIDS can be dangerously prone to malnutrition.

Robert Cathcart, M.D. is world famous for his mega-dose vitamin C therapy for AIDS. Cathcart has achieved clinical remission of AIDS symptoms using high doses of ascorbic acid. According to Cathcart, "Preliminary clinical evidence is that massive doses of ascorbate can suppress the symptoms of the disease and can markedly reduce the tendency for secondary infections. In combination with usual treatments for the secondary infections, large doses of ascorbate will often produce a clinical remission which shows every evidence of being prolonged if treatment is continued." Cathcart's patients have taken as much as 50 to 200 grams of vitamin C every 24 hours.(7)

There are signs that vitamin E helps anti-HIV such as AZT drugs work more effectively. Vitamin E may stimulate immune cells that are normally destroyed by the HIV infection.(9)

One test-tube study showing destruction of the virus coat by fatty acids also uncovered evidence that fatty acids support the immune system. AIDS patients have been found seriously deficient in EPA and DHA. Essential fatty acid supplements such as fish oil and flaxseed oil are a good addition to the therapeutic nutrition plan HIV and AIDS.(21)

One study looked at the relationship between DHEA levels and various indicators of HIV progression. The results showed that DHEA levels go down as the HIV viral count goes up.(23)

Sterol is found in all plant-based foods, and sterolin is a glucoside moiety joined to the sterol chemical structure. Both sterols and sterolins were identified as early as 1922. In the natural state, these plant "fats" are bound to the fibers of the plant, making the sterols and sterolins difficult to be absorbed during the normal transit of digested food through our gut. Seeds are the richest source of the sterols and sterolins, but are usually removed during processing by the food industry.

Plant sterols and sterolins have been reported to be effective adjunctive agents in the management and treatment of disease states such as high cholesterol levels, benign prostatic hyperplasia, pulmonary tuberculosis, and stress-induced immune suppression, and HIV among others.(32),(33),(34),(35),(36) Some of the most promising uses of these plant "fats" is in the management of autoimmune disorders such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and myasthenia gravis. Of note is that the sterols should be combined with sterolin in order to be an effective agent for the immune system.(37)

Sterols and sterolins have been reported to modulate the function of T-cells, significantly enhancing the proliferation of the CD-4 TH-1 cells and increasing the production of the interleukin 2 (IL2) and gamma-interferon (FN-g and IFN-y).(38) These results indicate that sterols and sterolins are adaptogenic in that they modulate the immune and stress response.

Care should be taken if an individual is taking immunosuppressive agents. Based on pharmacology, If an individual is taking hypocholesterolemic agents concurrently with plant sterols and sterolins, a dosage adjustment in the pharmaceutical medication may be necessary.

Arabinoxylane demonstrates anti-HIV activity in the test tube, inhibiting replication of the virus.(41) In humans, 2 months of arabinoxylane consumption has increased the responsiveness of both T cells and the immune system's antibody-producers, the B cells.

Animal research finds that reishi enhances endurance by helping cells use oxygen more efficiently to generate energy.(43) Reishi also neutralizes some of the more potent free radicals in the body.(44)

Along with polysaccharides, reishi contains flavnoid-like compounds called "terpenes." Like most flavonoids, terpenes are free radical neutralizing antioxidants.(45) Test tube research suggests that terpenes in reishi may act like natural protease inhibitors to thwart proliferation of the HIV virus.(46)

Shiitake contains an ingredient called "lentinan" that shows an ability to treat HIV infection, both in the test tube and animals.(49) Shiitaki extract compares favorably to AZT in anti-viral activity.(50) A substance was recently isolated from the mushroom that acts as a protease inhibitor.(51) Along with its immune-enhancing properties, lentinan shows signs of being an anti-cancer agent.(52),(53)

Olive leaf extract has been reported to be an effective antimicrobial agent against a wide variety of disease causing bacteria, including Salmonella, Staph aureus, Klebsiella, and E. coli.(58) These organisms are some of the major causes in respiratory and intestinal infections. Research credits oleuropein for olive leaf's anti-microbial properties.(59),(60) Lab studies have found that oleuropein stimulates activity of immune cells called "macrophages" which serve as the body's garbage collectors to remove toxins and destroy foreign organisms.(61)

Nearly forty years ago, researchers began testing a synthetic derivative of oleuropein called calcium elenolate as an anti-viral drug.(62),(63) Though it showed strong anti-viral properties in the test tube, this was never followed up, as calcium elenolate was found to be inactivated by proteins in the blood.

LA is reported to stimulate various components of the immune system such as killer cells, complement protein and interferon, with anti-cancer as well as anti-viral effects.(65),(66),(67),(68),(69),(70)

Silymarin blocks the passage of toxins into the liver cells and stimulates regeneration of liver cells. It also protects liver tissue from inflammation and boosts the liver's reserves of glutathione, a key antioxidant protein that helps the liver neutralize toxins.(75),(76) In clinical studies, silymarin has been used to successfully treat liver diseases such as hepatitis and reverse liver damage caused by toxic chemicals.(77),(78)

• Get plenty of rest.
• Lymphatic massage may be of benefit to help drain toxins from the body.
• Eat a yeast free diet.
• Avoid refined sugar.
• Avoid gluten containing carbohydrates such as wheat, oats, and rye.
• Select nutrient dense foods such as vegetables fruits, whole grains.