HIV /
AIDS is speeding up.
Dr. Sayeed Ahmad D.
I. Hom. (London)As per The Guardian dated 7th July, 2004,
the lethal spread of the HIV/Aids pandemic across the globe is speeding
up, in spite of intensifying efforts on the part of UN agencies, the US,
Britain and other European governments to turn the tide. A record five
million people were infected by the virus last year and nearly three
million died.The UN’s latest bi-annual report on the state of the
pandemic made it plain yesterday that the HIV virus that causes Aids is
defeating man’s best efforts to contain it. There are 38 million people
carrying the virus, sub-Saharan Africa is being devastated, and the
fastest spread is in Asia and eastern Europe.“More people than in any previous year became
infected with HIV. That is clearly a failure to reach the people who
need it with prevention methods. More people than ever before died of
Aids. That is a failure to reach them with treatment,” said Peter
Piot, executive director of Unaids, at the launch of the report in
London yesterday. The epidemic, he said, is reaching its global phase,
and is no longer is a problem largely confined to sub-Saharan Africa.One in every four new infections is occurring in
Asia, where huge populations are at risk, said the report, published
just before the international Aids conference in Bangkok which opens
this weekend. There have been sharp increases in the numbers infected in
China, Indonesia and Vietnam, while India alone has 5.1 million people
with HIV – the second largest number infected in any country, after
South Africa.In eastern Europe and central Asia, 1.3 million have
the virus, spread largely by injecting drug use. Russia, with more than
three million injecting drug users and 860,000 with HIV, is one of the
worst hit.It is a dispiriting picture, because more work and
money is going into the battle against the world’s worst disease
outbreak than ever before, both in helping people to protect themselves
against contracting the virus and more recently in efforts to get drugs
that can prevent HIV developing into Aids to people in poor countries.But still not enough is being done, said Dr Piot.
“The world is falling short on prevention. Preventing new
infections will at the end of the day stop this epidemic,” he said.
“Only one in five who need it have access to HIV prevention – [such
as] education of children in schools, access to condoms and access to
clean needles for those who are injecting drugs.”
What Is AIDS?
AIDS stands for Acquired imunodeficiency (or immune
deficiency) Syndrome. It results from infection with a virus called HIV,
which stands for human immunodeficiency virus. This virus infects key
cells in the human body called CD4-positive (CD4+) T cells. These cells
are part of the body’s immune system, which fights infections and
various cancers.When HIV invades the body’s CD4+ T cells, the damaged
immune system loses its ability to defend against diseases caused by
bacteria, viruses, and other microscopic organisms. A substantial
decline in CD4+ T cells also leaves the body vulnerable to certain
cancers.There is no cure for AIDS, but medical treatments can
slow down the rate at which HIV weakens the immune system. As with other
diseases, early detection offers more options for treatment and
preventing complications.AIDS affects women differently than it does men, and
it presents unique issues related to sexuality, childbearing, and side
effects of treatments.
What Is The Difference Between HIV And AIDS?
The term AIDS refers to an advanced stage of HIV
infection, when the immune system has sustained substantial damage. Not
everyone who has HIV infection develops AIDS.When HIV progresses to AIDS, however, it has proved
to be a universally fatal illness. Few people survive five years from
the time they are diagnosed with AIDS, although this is increasing with
improvements in treatment techniques.Experts estimate that about half the people with HIV
will develop AIDS within 10 years after becoming infected. This time
varies greatly from person to person, however, and can depend on many
factors, including a person’s health status and health-related
behaviors.People are said to have AIDS when they have certain
signs or symptoms specified in guidelines formulated by the U. S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC’s definition of AIDS includes:
All HIV-infected people with fewer than 200 CD4+ T
cells per cubic millimeter of blood (compared with CD4+ T cell counts of
about 1,000 for healthy people).People with HIV infection who have at least one of
more than two dozen AIDS-associated conditions that are the result of
HIV’s attack on the immune system.
AIDS-associated conditions include
:
Opportunistic infections by bacteria, fungi, and
viruses. Opportunistic infections are infections that are rarely seen in
healthy people but occur when a person’s immune system is weakened.The development of certain cancers (including
cervical cancer and lymphomas)Certain autoimmune disorders Autoimmune disorders are
illnesses that result when the immune system attacks an individual’s own
tissues or cells.Most AIDS-associated conditions are rarely serious in
healthy individuals. In people with AIDS, however, these infections are
often severe and sometimes fatal because the immune system is so damaged
by HIV that the body cannot fight them off.
The
History Of AIDS :The symptoms of AIDS were first recognized in the
early 1980s:In 1981, a rare lung infection called Pneumosystis
carinii pneumonia began to appear in homosexual men living in Los
Angeles and New York.At the same time, cases of a rare tumor called
Kaposi’s sarcoma were also reported in young homosexual men. These
tumors had been previously known to affect elderly men, particularly in
parts of Africa. New appearances of the tumors were more aggressive in
the young men and appeared on parts of the body other than the skin.Other infections associated with weakened immune
defenses were also reported in the early 1980s.Groups most frequently reporting these infections in
the early 1980s were homosexuals, intravenous drug users, and people
with hemophilia, a blood disorder that requires frequent transfusions.
Blood and sexual transmission were therefore suspected as the sources
for the spread of the infections.In 1984, the responsible virus was identified and
given a name. In 1986, it was renamed the human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV).
Need To Know
:
Because many of the first cases of AIDS in the United
States occurred in homosexual men and intravenous drug users, some
people mistakenly believe that other groups of people are not at risk
for HIV infection. However, anyone is capable of becoming HIV-infected,
regardless of gender, age, or sexual orientation.
Facts About AIDS
:
As of the year 2000, nearly one million people in the
U. S. were confirmed to be HIV-positive.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reports that 2.2 million Americans now carry the HIV virus but do not
yet have symptoms.About one out of every three people with HIV
infection in the U. S. is a woman.AIDS is a leading cause of death for American men and
women between the ages of 25 and 44.Since 1992, AIDS has been the fourth leading cause of
death among U. S. women between the ages of 25 and 44.Through June 2000, 438,795 people in the U. S. had
died from AIDS (374,422 men and 64,373 women).By the end of 2000, 36.1 million people worldwide
were living with HIV/AIDS, with the vast majority living in developing
countries.Through 2000, 21.8 million people worldwide have died
from AIDS.Between 1991 and 1996, there were more new cases of
AIDS among people older than 50 than those between ages 13 and 49.
Today, 11% of all new cases of AIDS in the U. S. are now in people over
the age of 50.The HIV carrier rate in the U. S. is now 1 carrier
for every 100 to 200 people.Teenage and young adult women currently make up half
of all new HIV infections reported in people 13 to 24 years old.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions related to
AIDS And Women.Q: What
if I’m attracted to someone I don’t really know? What should I do?A: Know
the sexual history and health status of partners. Avoid anonymous sexual
contact and learn about safe sex practices, such as the use of condoms.Q: Are
my children going to get AIDS if I have it?A: Research
indicates that HIV is NOT transmitted by casual contact, such as
touching or hugging; sharing household items such as utensils, towels,
and bedding; contact with sweat or tears; sharing facilities such as
swimming pools, saunas, hot tubs, or toilets with HIV-infected people;
and coughs or sneezes. HIV transmission requires intimate contact with
infected blood or body fluids (vaginal secretions, semen,
pre-ejaculation fluid, and breast milk). Activities that don’t involve
the possibility of such contact are regarded as posing no risk of
infection.Q: Is
an AIDS test required of new job applicants and/or employees?A: Probably
not. In fact, under most state laws, employers cannot ask whether
applicants or employees have AIDS – only if they can do the job.Q: Should
I avoid sharing personal hygiene items, like razors or toothbrushes?A: Yes.
These devices might be contaminated with blood. However, this is an
unlikely mode of transmission for the AIDS virus.Q: Does
everyone who has AIDS die from it?A: When
scientists first recognized AIDS in 1981, most people died within a year
or two. Now, with numerous drugs available to help suppress HIV’s attack
on the immune system and prevent or treat AIDS-related opportunistic
illnesses, many people with AIDS are living longer and healthier lives.
However, AIDS still is considered a fatal illness. Few people survive
five years from the time they are diagnosed with AIDS, although this is
increasing with improvements in treatment techniques.Q: How
can a person tell if she is infected with HIV?A: A
blood test can determine whether or not a person is infected with HIV.
The most commonly used test detects antibodies (disease-fighting
proteins) against HIV. It may take as long as three to six months for
HIV antibodies to reach levels that are measurable in standard blood
tests.Q: Can
I keep my test results private?A: People
can have the procedure done at HIV testing centers that offer anonymous
HIV testing.Q: Can
HIV be spread through kissing?A: Although
studies have found tiny amounts of HIV in the saliva of some people with
HIV, researchers have found no evidence that HIV is spread to other
people through kissing. However, the CDC recommends against
“French” or open-mouthed kissing because of the possibility of
contact with blood if the people kissing have any cuts or sores in the
mouth.Q: Can
HIV be transmitted during oral sex?A: Although
the risk of infection during oral sex is considered lower than during
vaginal or anal intercourse, HIV may be transmitted during oral sex
through contact with vaginal secretions, semen, pre-ejaculation fluid,
and blood.Q:
Is a home test kit for HIV available?A: No
approved HIV test kit will give you a result at home. There is a kit
available that is designed for you to collect a sample of your blood at
home. Then you send the sample to a laboratory where it is tested for
HIV.Q: How
likely is an HIV-positive woman to infect her baby?A: Approximately
one-quarter to one-third of all untreated pregnant women infected with
HIV will pass the infection to their babies during pregnancy or
childbirth. But this risk is significantly reduced if the mother is
treated with AZT (during pregnancy, labor, and delivery) and her baby
receives AZT during the first six weeks of life.Q: Can
HIV be transmitted in breast milk?A: HIV
can be transmitted from a nursing mother to her infant through breast
milk. Women who live in countries where safe alternatives to
breast-feeding are readily available and affordable can eliminate the
risk of transmitting the virus through breast milk by bottle-feeding
their babies. In developing countries, however, where such safe
alternatives are not readily available or economically feasible,
breast-feeding may offer benefits that outweigh the risk of HIV
transmission.Q: How
effective are latex condoms in preventing HIV?A: Health
authorities say that latex condoms are highly effective when used
consistently and correctly. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention recommends using latex condoms (or dental dams ) whenever
having oral, anal, or vaginal sex. If a lubricant is used, it should be
a water-based lubricant.
HOMŒOPATHY AND HIV / AIDS
In his Article, “
AIDS:
The Real Cause“, Dr.
George Vithoulkas views are described
as under:I think that a controversy has already started
between two main and opposing points of view:a. That Aids is caused by the HIV virus and
b. That AIDS is the result of drug overuse
As I think I have already contributed a lot to such
arguments through my writings, I believe Nature will give me the
privilege to express my views in a nutshell.It seems to me that both the above assumptions are
over-simplifications of a much more complicated issue.In case (a) the final phenomena, which is the
appearance of a virus in the body, is considered asthe
cause of the disease when in effect it
is actually the result
of it.In case (b) only part of the truth is stated. Not
every one who takes antibiotics will risk developing the AIDS
symptomatology – though they may risk developing other syndromes like
the post-viral syndrome (the chronic fatigue syndrome). Only those
individuals who have been repeatedly infected by venereal diseases and
who have used repeatedly and for long periods of time antibiotics are in
the risk group.The whole of the above argument has been dealt with
in a hypothesis I wrote in 1986 with all the supporting evidence I could
find at the time. The title of this book was “A New Model for
Health and Disease, the real cause of AIDS” published first in
Dutch in 1988 by Elmar, in Italian in 1989 by the Editora Cortina and in
English in 1991 by North Atlantic Books in the U. S. A. I first spoke
about these ideas in a congress in Burlingame in California as early as
1984 as well as in different other seminars.The main points that I support through this
hypothesis about the specific AIDS syndrome are the following:
1. The AIDS virus first appeared in the promiscuous
group of homosexuals. The research, at least in the beginning, showed
clearly that these individuals had already been infected several times
by venereal diseases and treated repeatedly with antibiotics.
Actually the high-risk groups (promiscuous
homosexuals, prostitutes, promiscuous heterosexuals or bisexuals,
Haitians and finally the African people during their sexual liberation
era) were all people with repeated exposure to venereal diseases and
consequent treatment with antibiotics. Actually, promiscuous homosexuals
with AIDS had confided to me and to my students that they would take
antibiotics every day, before their casual encounters and for long
periods of time as a preventive measure.
2. The initial appearance of a specific virus in the
human body was only the result of a depleted and harassed immune system
and not the cause of it.It is a similar phenomena with worms eating up a dead
body. Every stage of degeneration of a human organism has its own
particular microbes, bacteria, virus, etc. thriving on it. The
appearance of the virus took place initially because the immune system
was degraded to a specific degree through a series of repeated assaults
of antibiotics in a considerably short time, while it was already under
the stress of a venereal disease – mainly syphilis and/or gonorrhœa. It
seems that the combined stress of an organism, which is repeatedly
infected with venereal diseases and treated with antibiotics, develops a
state that resembles the AIDS syndrome.
3. The virus must have initially developed through an
endogenous process of repeated mutations. After staying in the bodies of
the victims for long periods of time it became stronger and stronger as
if in a friendly incubator. This fact
had a two-fold effect:a. That the sick individual
was
quickly destroyed andb. That the virus
became
stronger and more virulent during
this incubation. Research will most probably show in the future the
different states of the virus and its different virulence in different
stages of the disease and in different individuals. At the moment
there is confusion because of these issues.
4. Once the virus had become mature -virulent-
through such nurturing, it could then infect other organisms more easily.
I believe that we are actually witnessing in our
times the maturing of different viruses with unknown consequences. We
are observing a part of a process and we are confusing it for the cause.
5. The severity of the infection depends on the
predisposition and the state of depletion of the immune system during
the time of infection. I believe that
soon some genetic parameters will be found accounting for a
predisposition in the severe AIDS cases. Some people with great
susceptibility were infected and immediately developed the disease,
culminating speedily in a fatal outcome, while others with not such a
great predisposition will either develop a milder or a similar disease
or will not develop the disease at all..
6
. If the above
assumptions are correct then
there must be several other viruses that will be discovered soon to
account for similar symptomatology, in different predispositions.
It may not come as a surprise that in the future we will be creating
newer and newer species of viruses through mutations if we do not stop
unwisely intervening in to the human organism with stronger and stronger
chemical drugs.The whole argument cannot be expostulated here but
one can read it in my book ”A New Model for Health and Disease – the
real cause of AIDS”.
Conditions under which the correct homeopathic remedy
is foundTo find the right homeopathic remedy means to save a
lot of suffering to the individual, it means that you give him the
greatest boon, that you give him the possibility to be happy. A healthy
person is one who feels free, with a sense of well being. You give him
something, which has immeasurable value.Let us now consider the difficulties and the
conditions that should prevail in order for such a fortunate change to
take place.We all know the difficulties encountered by the
practitioner in order to strike the right remedy. In the beginning of a
case taking everything looks blank, everything is possible and as you
proceed towards the investigation and the evaluation your brains speeds
up in analysing and combining the symptoms.
The greatest difficulty that you will encounter is
the evaluation of symptoms.
Which are the symptoms that you will take into
consideration? Which are the symptoms that you will ignore?The struggle is difficult mainly because you do not
know whether the patient is giving you the whole story:
Is he omitting some small but strange and therefore
important symptoms?a.
From lack of
care?
b.
Or lack of
observation?
c.
Or out of shame?
d.
Or out of false
thinking that certain of his ailments or discomforts do not concern you?
e.
Or he feels that
a symptom is insignificant or irrelevant to the case, yet this very
little symptom constitutes the clue to the case?
f.
Or he is not
aware of the most important thing that is happening in him, which is
perhaps an excessive fear of death, a fear that he is going insane but
that he does not want to acknowledge or to admit to himself?
Intellectuals will give you a false impression about
their overall health condition most of the time.It is strange that so many times intellectuals have
told me that as they understand (and surely they are fast to understand)
that homeopathy is very difficult to practise as it requires
“intelligent” people (like themselves) to be able to describe
their symptoms correctly. The truth is the opposite. Simple uneducated
people describe their symptoms much more intelligently than them because
they express their feelings directly without filtering them as the
intellectuals do. They express nature as it is while the others distort
nature interpreting it according to their whims.
For all these reasons I consider that finding the
right remedy is like accomplishing a miracle.So our investigation should be: what are the inner
conditions when two people meet -the practitioner and the patient- that
enable the miracle of the balance of health of the patient to take
place?If you want to see the true picture of a person’s
soul, that person has to undress in front of you. The idea of the old
doctor undressing the patient, never mind what the problem was, was
symbolic of materialistic medicine. The doctor wanted to see everything
he could with his eyes, on the physical/material level.The homeopathic practitioner who deals with the
subtle energies of the human being wants to see the subjective symptoms,
wants to see the patient’s inside structure. The idea is of confession.
The individual has to stay naked in front of the practitioner in order
that he will see the whole picture.There are some requirements, as everybody
understands, for someone to undress in front of you and allow you to see
his soul, his sorrows, his hurts, his fears, and his unnatural desires
and perversions, in order to allow you to see him totally naked in
physical ailments, mind and soul.The first is the desire of the healer to do well, to
help the person who seeks help to restore his health.The second is a mutual sympathy or homogeneity, which
can be created instantly, or as the taking of the case progresses, which
allows communication on another level not simply the verbal.Once this communication is established then the
patient can decide whether he can trust the practitioner or not.The patient perceives the inner intentions of the
healer and if they are egotistical or of self-interest, he will not open
up, nor will he “undress”, never mind how hard you may try.Do not be lured into thinking that because you have
cured some patients without all these requirements, you can bluff the
patient. Quite simply, the patient has had no other occasion or no other
way of comparing, as he has not experienced the warmth of the really
interested healer against the coldness of a logical examiner with a
white coat.Yet this must not be mistaken for familiarity and
cheap exhibition of affection or love. I would say that if this sympathy
takes a turn towards the erotic, there is no chance that the individual
will be helped by the healer, as the healer is then seeking out to take
things from the patient and not to give.The third condition is
respect
for the freedom and the integrity of
the patient. Do not try to intrude and rape his soul by rude force just
because you want to find the remedy quickly.The fourth is a
silent
moment of meditation when you have been
given all the information from the patient. You have taken all the
pieces and you are putting them together, and through the process of
constructing the picture it suddenly clicks and you arrive at the right
remedy. The miracle has been accomplished! This is a great moment, which
gives great satisfaction to the healer even before he has seen the
actual result of his prescription.Do we have today in our settings all these
conditions? Surely not.In order to have these conditions you first of all
need a quiet environment, an environment that will be pleasing and will
give the patient a feeling of safety. Do we have this environment?I want to show you the art of taking the case under
the situation in which we find ourselves today. I want to communicate to
you my thoughts during every step of the process. This automatically
stops the continuity and the rapport with the patient and makes the
whole process extremely difficult and tedious.I need absolute respect for what we are doing,
because I am not doing it myself, we are taking the case together. Your
good intentions will be crucial to the outcome, whether positive or
negative.If we could synchronise out feelings and intentions,
I can assure you that you could be learning in those few hours we will
be together more than you could learn in a thousand hours.I know that in the class there are people who have
all these qualities and they exercise them but there are others who are
still learning, who are disbelievers.Is it possible??
During my 4-year course on Alonissos I have shown the
art of taking a case under the situation in which we find ourselves
today. I communicated all of my thoughts to the students during every
step of the process and I honestly believe that if they have followed
the whole process with full attention, they will have learned in these
few hours, which we had together, more than they could learn by
themselves in a thousand years!Over and above,
Dana
Ullman, M. P. H., describes this
subject in his Book “Consumer’s Guide to Homeopathy” with a
heading “A
Homeopathic Perspective on AIDS”
as follows:As horrific as the AIDS epidemic is, it has had one
silver lining: it has implanted into the awareness of the medical
community and the general public the importance of the body’s immune
system. Prior to the emergence of AIDS, few people were familiar with or
cared about the immune system.Now more than ever, the general public is interested
in exploring ways to bolster immune response to prevent the progression
of AIDS, as well as to reduce the number and intensity of opportunistic
infections and to improve the overall state of their health. The medical
community, however, has focused its AIDS resources on creating antiviral
medications, which despite great hope and expectation have not achieved
the results anticipated. In fact, the leading AIDS drug, AZT, has been
found to prolong the lives of people with AIDS by only seven or eight
months,1 but due to its side effects, the quality of life
during this time is not high.What is yet to be understood by the medical community
is that they need to direct more attention and research to ways to
augment immune response, rather than ways to inhibit viral replication.
By strengthening a person’s own defenses, the body is best enabled to
defend itself.Homeopathy is one way to do this. Although no therapy
can or will help every HIV+ person or everyone with AIDS, homeopathy is
beginning to develop a reputation for helping people at varying stages
of this disease. To understand what homeopathy has to offer, it is
necessary to learn something about a different approach to infectious
disease than simply attacking a pathogen.Louis Pasteur, who initially suggested that bacteria
cause disease, later realized that bacteria may not necessarily be the
“cause” of disease as much as the “results” of
disease.2 Like Claude Bernard,3 the father of
experimental physiology, Pasteur came to realize that the susceptibility
of the individual, the “host resistance,” was a greater
determinant of the development of disease than the infective agent
itself.Despite the later recanting by Pasteur, he had
already set in motion a medical mind set that focused entirely on
eliminating pathogens and that ignored exploring ways to augment immune
and defense response. Just as physicians and scientists are finally
realizing the limitations and problems inherent in antibiotics as
antimicrobial agents, antiviral drugs will inevitably suffer a similar
fate. While physicians tend to know this both rationally and
intuitively, they ignore these obvious problems in their clinical
practice, in part because they don’t know what else to do and in part
because their biomedical paradigm limits their vision of alternatives to
antimicrobial therapy.As increasing numbers of physicians learn about
homeopathic medicine, they will be exposed to viable alternative
treatments which can play an integral role in the care and treatment of
people with HIV and AIDS. A recent survey of physicians in the
Netherlands verified this possibility. The survey showed that 50% of
Dutch physicians instigated and supported the use of homeopathic and
natural therapies in the treatment of people with AIDS.4
Preventing AIDS
The best and most certain way to prevent AIDS is to
avoid exchanging bodily fluids with people who are HIV+. Exposure to
these bodily fluids most commonly occurs through sexual activity,
sharing needles, or receiving blood transfusions. However, just because
an individual is exposed to a person with HIV does not necessarily mean
that the individual will get the virus. And further, just because an
individual becomes infected with HIV does not necessarily mean that he
or she will get AIDS.The various factors that influence whether exposure
leads to infection and whether infection leads to disease remain
unknown. However, as with many infectious conditions, a stronger immune
system reduces the chances of getting the disease or at least decreases
the chances of complications from the infection. It therefore seems
prudent to avoid the factors that inhibit immune response and to utilize
those that augment it. The factors that inhibit immune response include
an unhealthy lifestyle (i. e., smoking, poor diet, significant stress,
sedentary habits) and the use of therapeutic and recreational drugs,
while those that augment immune response tend to be a healthy lifestyle
and utilizing natural therapeutics, including homeopathic medicines.While the precise mechanism of action that leads to
AIDS isn’t known, a new and significant study suggests that homeopathic
medicines may have a dramatic effect on some people with HIV. A study
performed by a government research center in India with 129 asymptomatic
HIV+ patients (120 male and 9 female) showed that during homeopathic
treatment over a period of 3 to 16 months, 11 patients changed from HIV+
to HIV-.5 No conventional drugs of any type were prescribed
to these patients.The medical literature has on rare occasions reported
individual patients who for unknown reasons converted from being HIV+ to
being HIV-. This study is the first to report more than one.It should be noted that this writer acknowledges that
it does not initially make sense that people can turn from HIV+ to HIV-,
because the tests that determine this status are simply evaluating a
person’s antibodies, not the disease itself. It is generally assumed
that people who become HIV+ will remain that way throughout their lives.
It therefore seems obvious that the work by the Indian researchers
should be more carefully studied to evaluate this potentially
significant clinical result. It should also be noted that these
researchers have elsewhere published more up-to-date data which shows
significant improvement in immune panels and blood work in HIV+ and AIDS
patients as the result of homeopathic treatment.6These same researchers also conducted a study on the
immunological status of 34 HIV+ patients.7 After six months
of individualized homeopathic treatment, 23 (67%) of the 34 subjects’
immune profiles improved. Thirteen patients experienced a 0-10% increase
in CD4 lymphocytes (a higher number of CD4 lymphocytes suggests a
stronger immune response) and 10 patients experienced a greater than 10%
increase. Because there is a tendency for people with HIV to have
continually decreasing CD4 lymphocytes, this study suggests that
homeopathic medicines provided a benefit to the subjects.A San Francisco Bay Area homeopath, Lawrence Badgley,
MD, reported on a six month study of 36 patients with AIDS or HIV whom
he treated with homeopathic and other natural medicines. He observed a
13% increase in T4 helper cells and an average weight gain of two
pounds.8 AIDS tends to have increasingly degenerating effects
on the body, and improvement in the immune profile and weight gain seem
to be rarely experienced under conventional medical treatment.In addition to what homeopathy offers in the
prevention of AIDS, other natural therapies that strengthen the body’s
own defense should also be considered. For instance, a recent study of
HIV+ patients who were given only a multivitamin/mineral supplement were
found to develop AIDS at a substantially slower rate than those who did
not supplement their diet. If this simple addition to one’s prevention
program is so effective, it isn’t hard to imagine what more
individualized nutritional and natural medicine programs can do to slow
down onset of this dreaded disease.
Treatment of Acute Illnesses During AIDS
Because of the seriousness of this disease, the
treatment of people with HIV or AIDS requires professional health care,
even when their ailments are seemingly minor. Ideally, they should
receive treatment from a homeopath who is an M. D. or a D. O., but
otherwise the best care is one that integrates homeopathic treatment
with appropriate medical diagnosis and, in emergency situations, with
appropriate medical treatment.People with AIDS are prone to opportunistic
infections due to their immunodeficient state, ranging from fungal
infections in the mouth to respiratory infections. The use of
conventional drugs can provide valuable temporary relief; however,
occasional or repeated use of these drugs takes its own toll on their
health and immune system, and thus provides short-term relief but
longer-term immune complications. Safer therapies that are not as
physiologically disruptive as conventional drugs are necessary for the
long-term improvement of people with AIDS. Homeopathic medicines can
play an important role in the treatment of these opportunistic
infections.One of the advantages of using homeopathy in treating
people with AIDS is that they tend to get various unusual symptoms,
diseases, and syndromes which evade immediate diagnosis. A homeopath,
however, can prescribe a remedy before a definitive conventional
diagnosis is made. Because homeopathic medicines are prescribed on the
basis of a person’s unique pattern of symptoms, a conventional diagnosis
is not necessary for a curative remedy to be prescribed.
Treatment of People with AIDS
Despite the seemingly positive results that
homeopathic medicines provide for people who are HIV+, for those with
early onset of AIDS, and for those with nonextreme cases of AIDS, most
homeopaths do not observe significant improvement in treating people who
have advanced stages of AIDS. That said, it should also be noted that
there are exceptions to this general rule, and numerous homeopaths find
that select patients with advanced stages of AIDS experience dramatic
improvement in their quality of life.The experience of Bill Gray, MD, a homeopath in
Davis, California, is typical of many homeopaths. He has had 33 AIDS
patients, only three of whom have survived. The remaining three patients
were the only ones who insisted on avoiding AZT and ddI (another popular
AIDS drug). Dr. Gray has also had 30 HIV+ patients for an average of
five years, only one of whom developed AIDS. Although this one patient
has suffered from two bouts of pneumocystis pneumonia, he is actually
doing quite well under homeopathic treatment.Dr. Gray and most homeopaths utilize classical
homeopathy in the treatment of people with AIDS, using a single remedy
prescribed individually to the unique pattern of symptoms experienced by
the patient. This highly individualized treatment generally includes the
use of homeopathic medicines which are highly potentized (usually higher
than the 200th potency).Because of the urgency of some AIDS patients’
situations, some homeopaths experiment with new homeopathic remedies and
with nonclassical approaches to homeopathy. For instance, Dr. Elliot
Blackman, an osteopathic physician in San Francisco, occasionally
prescribesCyclosporin
in homeopathic doses as an intercurrent medicine (an intercurrent
medicine is one that is prescribed after another medicine which is
individually determined). In conventional doses, Cyclosporin is an
immunosuppressing drug, thus suggesting that it can be effective in
homeopathic doses for treating people who have an immunosuppressed
condition (this prescription is not “classical homeopathy”
because each immunosuppressing drug creates its own unique pattern of
symptoms, and the classical use of this drug would be more
individualized).In addition to the nonclassical approach, some
homeopaths have been experimenting with giving AIDS patients
homeopathically potentized doses of their own blood. The clinical
benefit of this approach, however, has not yet been systematically
tested.Alan Levine, MD, a San Francisco physician who
integrates homeopathic and other natural medicines with occasional
prescription of conventional drugs, has one patient who was so sick with
AIDS that he developed dementia, a state of mental deterioration that
tends to occur in late stages of AIDS. This patient refused all
conventional drugs from Dr. Levine and from all other physicians. Using
homeopathic medicines, acupuncture, and herbs, the patient is now very
healthy, has no signs of dementia, and has not had a single
opportunistic infection in several years.This case is mentioned because, despite the small
chances of surviving late stages of AIDS and despite the generally
accepted experience that dementia represents an irreversible
neurological change, it is inspiring to know that significant and even
substantial improvement is sometimes possible.It should be noted that people with AIDS occasionally
develop a fever shortly after taking the correct homeopathic medicine.
This fever is considered a beneficial response of the body to the remedy
and should not be suppressed. Physiologists recognize the therapeutic
value of fever as a response to infection, and homeopathic medicine
seems to be one way to augment this healing response.
Homeopathic Treatment of Infectious Diseases and
Immunological Disorders
In order to fully appreciate the potential of
homeopathic medicine in the treatment of AIDS, it is useful to get some
historical perspective as well as to investigate what homeopathy has to
offer in the treatment of viral and immunological disorders.Homeopathy has an impressive history of successes in
treating infectious disease, including many of the most serious and
potentially fatal infectious diseases known to humankind. The
significant successes of homeopathic treatment of the infectious
diseases that raged during the 1800s in the United States and Europe
created tremendous support for this natural therapy. Death rates in
homeopathic hospitals from cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, scarlet
fever, and pneumonia were commonly one half to as little as one eighth
those in conventional medical hospitals. Besides hospitals, prisons and
insane asylums that employed physicians who specialized in homeopathy
experienced a similar success rate compared to other institutions under
the care of conventional physicians.Just as homeopathy became known in the 19th century
for its successful treatment of infectious diseases of that era, based
on growing clinical and laboratory evidence, it is likely that it will
become known in this era for its results in treating contemporary viral
infections.Although homeopathic medicines are not considered to
have traditional antiviral action, their ability to augment the body’s
own defenses suggests that they have antiviral effects. One study on
chicken embryo viruses showed that eight of ten homeopathic medicines
tested inhibited the growth of the viruses by 50 to 100%.9 A
similar study done by the same researchers did find, however, that none
of the four homeopathic medicines tested for their effects on a mouse
virus had any effect.10 Taken together, these studies suggest
that homeopathic medicines can have significant antiviral effects, but
it is necessary to find the individualized remedy for each situation.Despite this preliminary work, it is conjectured that
homeopathic medicines do not have traditional antiviral effects but have
immunomodulatory effects (“immunomodulatory effects”refers to a tonification of the body’s immune
system–that is, an ability to augment immune response when it needs to
be stimulated and to depress an already overstimulated immune system).
One laboratory study showed that the homeopathic medicineSilicea
had dramatic effects on stimulating macrophages, an important
part of the body’s immune system, by 55.5% to 67.5%11. On the
other hand, another clinical trial showed the efficacy of individualized
homeopathic medicines on the treatment of people with rheumatoid
arthritis,12 an autoimmune disease, which is when a person’s
immune system is overly active, leading the body to attack itself. This
study suggests that homeopathic medicines decreased the overly
active immune system.Other studies have shown the immunomodulatory effects
of homeopathic medicines,13 though their description is too
technical for this book (See P. Bellavite and A. Signorini,Homeopathy:
A Frontier in Medical Science.
Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1995).
In Summary
The history of homeopathy’s successes in treating
infectious disease epidemics, the research that suggests the
immunomodulatory effects of homeopathic medicines, and the clinical
research on HIV+ and AIDS patients that indicates beneficial response to
homeopathic medicines should command attention by physicians,
scientists, and public health officials. Despite this body of work, it
is both surprising and depressing that homeopathic medicine has been
consistently ignored as a viable part of a comprehensive program in
treating HIV+ and AIDS patients.Homeopathy is not the only alternative that is being
ignored by the AIDS medical community. Even though a large number of
people with AIDS, especially long-term survivors, are using one or more
alternative treatments, there is little data on their use or success.
The leading AIDS organizations are likewise ignoring any serious
investigation of their use. Until AIDS activists, the concerned general
public, and open-minded health professionals start insisting that
research on alternatives be performed, the potentially valuable
therapies will continue to be ignored, and the AIDS epidemic will
continue to devastate our society. When these alternative therapies are
integrated within a comprehensive program which includes public health
measures that seek to prevent infection, the AIDS epidemic will finally
begin to recede.
Reference:
1. Above information has been taken from various
sources in the best interest of the general public awareness to know
much about HIV / AIDS and Hompœopathy so that they can protect
themselves from this deadly disease. I express my thanks and gratitude
to the contributors of the valuable information.
2. “AIDS: The Real Cause” by Dr. George Vithoulkas.
3. “A Homeopathic Perspective on AIDS” by Mr. Dana Ullman, M.
P. H.Copyright © Dr. Sayeed Ahmad
2004