From californ@netcom.com Sat Dec 16 19:50:39 1995
Date: Sat, 16 Dec 1995 15:47:47 -0800 (PST)
From: californ@netcom.com
To: Greg Nigh gnigh@asu.edu
Subject: Nutritional approach to AIDS

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is not a death sentence. Although it has proven to be an unyielding opponent, the war is not over. Many experts believe this battle will be won on the nutritional front.

The "magic bullet" that researchers have pined for over the past decade is just not available. It will take a multidisciplinary approach that concentrates on nutritional intervention, said Shari Lieberman, Ph.D., C.N.S., RD. According to Dr. Lieberman, "Physicians are now stepping beyond the boundaries of typical medicine."

Joan Priestly, M.D. (known as the "Queen of AIDS" because of her innovative work in this area) agrees with Dr. Lieberman. "It (AIDS) is too complicated a disease, and has too many other factors involved." The magic bullet mentality will never work, concluded Dr. Priestly.

What is showing the most promise in AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) treatment? "The nutritional and plant substances being studied presently are getting statistically far greater results than the drugs that have been made available," said Dr. Lieberman.

It should be emphasized that so far, there is no proven cure for this dreadful disease. Nutrition-oriented researchers look for ways to extend and improve the quality of life.

Dr. Lieberman explained that simply raising T-cells, the goal of available AIDS drugs, is no longer significant. Dr. Lieberman said T-cells are just one component of a very complicated immune system.

"Unless you significantly improve survival time, you are not successful," she concluded. Because of the toxicity of AIDS drugs and the havoc this disease wreaks on the immune system, Dr. Lieberman believes nutritional intervention is the key to life extension for the HIV-infected patient.

Soldiers of immunity
Many nutrients and herbs have a long, proven history as immune system protectors. The feed the immune system, allowing it to do its job more effectively. The immune system is the battlefield where the war against AIDS takes place.

White blood cells provide us with the ammunition we need to fight off illness and remain in good health. Lymphocytes and phagocytes are white blood cells that protect us from invading organisms.

Lymphocytes take the invading organisms to the spleen where these organisms are filtered out. Phagocytes are important because they travel throughout the body eating invading organisms. Lymphocytes originate in the bone marrow and then travel to the thymus gland, the master gland of immunity, where they mature.

According to Julian Whitaker, M.D., even though the thymus gland "controls and modulates the immune system, it is virtually ignored" by physicians and researchers.

These lymphocytes are called T-cells, T for thymus. There are many important types of T-cells, such as killer T-cells and helper T-cells. According to the textbook Health Psychology, by Edward Sarafino, the HIV virus is thought to destroy the body's T-cells, specifically the helper T-cells, which causes its victim to become defenseless against AIDS.

According to Dr. Lieberman, whose New York-based practice is about one-half HIV related cases, the AIDS patient does not die of AIDS, but of "opportunity infections" such as pneumonia and skin cancer.

HIV wears down the immune system, leaving its victims vulnerable to all kinds of immune diseases. That is why nutritional support is so important.

"Nutritional intervention is critical because the nutrients take over, in part, some of the functions of the immune system which become impaired because of the virus, said Dr. Lieberman.

Cancer of the immune system
It was Dr. Lieberman who first coined the phrase. She is convinced that AIDS is cancer of the immune system.

"The manifestations of the illness (symptomology, outcome, etc.) are very similar to cancer," Dr. Lieberman explained. The changes in the immune system, she said, are very similar in both the AIDS patient and the cancer patient.

Lieberman said researchers, doctors and patients should start looking at this like a cancer. Just as with cancer, there is no one cure; however, people have survived. A multidisciplinary approach is needed.

For her patients who are HIV positive, Dr. Lieberman establishes a strict diet, a nutritional supplement protocol, and a comprehensive exercise program. Because the HIV patient is usually susceptible to parasites and microbes, Dr. Lieberman also recommends a pancreatic enzyme supplement. New AIDS research utilizing pancreatic enzymes is showing promise, she said.

Dr. Lieberman also does not recommend that her patients use AZT or other AIDS drugs on the market.

The problem with drugs...
AZT was the first FDA-approved drug introduced to fight AIDS. Unfortunately, the results have been not only disappointing, but deadly. Countless references report that AZT causes severe anemia, to the point where frequent blood transfusions are necessary.

According to Living With The AIDS Virus by Parris Kidd, Ph.D and Wolfgang Huber, Ph.D, "Another unfortunate complication of AZT therapy may be an increased risk for cancer." The authors report that the risk for developing non-Hodgkins B-cell lymphoma can be as great as 46% higher than normal.

Not only is AZT expensive (nearly $3,000 per year), the authors believe "Its benefits are fleeting, and its side effects can be life-threatening."

Dr. Priestly, whose AIDS practice is in Florida, wrote, "Ten years and one ineffective drug is not a very good track record."

Dr. Priestly developed a five-point plan for survival for her patients, which consisted mostly of uninsured individuals who could not afford AZT. (For an overview of Dr. Priestly's protocol, refer to the side bar featured on page 27.)

Dr. Priestly reported in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine in 1991, "My patients just seem to coast along without complications. They do extremely well."

Out of 100 patients who are following Dr. Priestly's protocol religiously, she has seen only 20 deaths in over two years. She noted that those 20 deaths were people who came to her with more complicated clinical manifestations of the disease.

Because AIDS is a retrovirus, it mutates against drugs after a period of time. Dr. Lieberman and Dr. Priestly report higher success rates in their nutritionally-oriented, holistic clinics than among those patients who have pursued AZT protocols.

Antioxidants are critical
Antioxidants are at the heart of any nutritional AIDS protocol. Vitamin C, beta carotene, Vitamin E, zinc, and selenium are widely used in therapeutic doses by nutrition-oriented AIDS physicians.

"Vitamin C is really the foundation, a cornerstone of an AIDS management, AIDS prevention program," said Dr. Priestly. She usually recommends as much as 18 grams a day. Dr. Lieberman concurred, as her patients usually work up to between 9 and 15 grams per day.

According to Living With The AIDS Virus, vitamin C has been shown to enhance phagocyte activity. Too little vitamin C causes impaired phagocyte function, limiting "their ability to track down and kill bacteria and other infectious agents."

In his book Vitamin C: Who Needs It?, Emanual Cheraskin, M.D., cites the work of the Linus Pauling Institute in California. The Pauling Institute has demonstrated in both humans and in the test tube "the antiviral activity of vitamin C against a broad spectrum of viruses," including HIV-infected cells.

Dr. Kidd and Dr. Huber note that beta carotene has been shown to boost human T-4 helper cells, which are the cells the AIDS virus attacks. They cite a study featured in Immunology Letters which concluded "high oral doses of beta carotene increased the number of T-4 helper cells, and the total mature T-cells, in the blood of healthy subjects." The data suggests "that beta carotene administration might be considered for patients with AIDS."

Vitamin E is not only an important antioxidant, it has also been shown to increase lymphocyte activity. According to Living With The AIDS Virus, "Supplementation with vitamin E beyond levels of the standard diet was found to enhance antibody production in a variety of animal studies."

"For best results, you need to use the antioxidants together," explained Dr. Lieberman. Because the nutrients work synergistically, far better results are reported when a complete antioxidant approach is used.

Minerals are also important, particularly zinc, said Dr. Lieberman. Dr. Priestly has found that AIDS patients are deficient in most minerals, specifically calcium, magnesium, selenium, molybdenum, iron, and zinc.

According to AIDS researchers Patrick Donovan, N.D. and Herb Joiner-Bey, N.D., "Zinc is widely recognized as an immune system potentiator." (For more information about zinc, see this issue's Spotlight on nutrition on page 36.)

Dr. Priestly believes the AIDS patient is not absorbing proteins and minerals because of pancreatic problems. She corrects the problem by giving pancreatic enzymes as replacement therapy. (For more information about pancreatic enzymes, see page 41 of this issue.)

A recent report in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry touted the antioxidant activity of green barley leaves. The researchers concluded that in addition to the antioxidant activity, the plant flavonoids possess antiviral activity, and possibly anticarcinogenic effects.

Other promising nutrients
Much of the nutrition-related AIDS research points to other nutrients that work like antioxidants. On of the most talked about is glutathione, a complex of three amino acids. According to Living With The AIDS Virus, phagocytes carry very high levels of glutathione. "They use it as protection from the free radicals which they secrete to kill the infectious agents they encounter."

Just as with the other nutritional antioxidants, Living With The AIDS Virus reports that studies indicate there are abnormally low levels of glutathione in HIV patients.

Dr. Priestly gives her patients N-acetyl cysteine, which becomes glutathione in the body. She is presently investigating intravenous glutathione. "I think this substance has tremendous possibilities," she writes in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. "But we have to use all the major antioxidants -- C, A (in the form of beta carotene), E, glutathione -- and the major minerals that are involved too."

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is another antioxidant used by Dr. Priestly. According to Living With The AIDS Virus, "The dual role of CoQ10 as energy carrier and antioxidant may help account for its potential benefit for virtually every category of cell, tissue, and organ function...There seems to be little to lose, and much to gain, from adding CoQ10 to the list of nutrients to help with the containment of HIV."

The authors of Living With The AIDS Virus believe the benefits of CoQ10 are far-reaching. "Extensive clinical studies conducted around the world, many of them double-blind, have proven that CoQ10 is useful in the treatment of a broad variety of diseases, including AIDS."

Quercetin is another frequently recommended nutrient. "Quercetin is a jewel of the program," said Dr. Priestly. "Quercetin is a bioflavonoid which synergizes vitamin C." It is also the only natural substance that Dr. Priestly has found to block the AIDS virus the same way AZT does, without the side effects and hefty price tag.

Herbal breakthroughs?
Herbal extracts are showing a great deal of promise in our fight against HIV and AIDS.

One of the most promising extracts to be used in the treatment of HIV is from the herb St. John's wort (Hypericum). According to Natural Health, by Jim O'Brien, "In an FDA-approved Phase I trial which started in November 1991, the drug did increase T-cell counts."

The active compound in St. John's wort is hypericin, which has demonstrated antiviral activity in laboratory studies. "Organized efforts to gather clinical data have begun," reports the authors of Living With The AIDS Virus. "It is hoped that these will provide answers to some of the many unresolved questions about what may well be a promising antiviral therapy."

Because of its antioxidant properties, garlic has also been used in the treatment of AIDS. Dr. Priestly gives all of her patients garlic. "Anyway they can get it down," she wrote. "Garlic is another superb antioxidant."

According to The Healing Power of Herbs, by Michael Murray, N.D., "Garlic extracts and allicin (an active component of garlic) have displayed antitumor effects and are known to inhibit formation of cancer-causing nitrosamine."

Lentinan, the active compound found in Shiitake mushrooms, has been shown to increase T-lymphocyte activity. Japanese clinical trials have shown lentinan to actually reduce cancerous tumors and prevent them from spreading.

Lentinan's ability to stimulate the immune system is piquing the interest of AIDS researchers. According to Living With The AIDS Virus, "Phase I/II double-blind, placebo-controlled studies on lentinan are in progress in San Francisco and New York."

The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D. states that licorice extract "has demonstrated, in animal studies, its ability to enhance many aspect of immune function."

The authors of Living With The AIDS Virus concluded, "We believe that glycyrrhizin (licorice) holds promise."

The Nutrition News reported that promising evidence regarding aloe vera AIDS research was "so compelling that in February 1989, it appeared on the AIDS Medicines in Development list presented by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association in cooperation with the FDA."

As reported in Vol.5, No.2 of Health Counselor, the active compound in aloe vera, acemannan, has been shown to enhance T-cell activity. Vaderbilt University, who initiated the studies, reported that encouraging results were also with acemannan achieved in Europe and Canada.

Dr. Joyner-Bey and Dr. Donovan report that enchinacea,goldenseal, and astragalis are also powerful "botanical potentiators of immune system function."

Regarding herbal therapies, Dr. Lieberman cautions that we should not pin our hopes on just one therapy. "Herbs (just like nutrients) work much better when used in concert," Dr. Lieberman concluded.

Although the side effects of most herbs can be minimal, consult a nutrition-oriented health care professional before trying new therapies.

Lifestyle changes
Dr. Lieberman believes proper nutrition and nutritional intervention are just a part of the entire holistic AIDS treatment package.

Psychological support is critical. Utilizing a variety of techniques available (message, group therapy, meditation, etc.) the HIV patient must get psychological support.

Reducing stress is also a key part of recovery. According to The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, "the diverse and numerous health damaging effects of stress on the whole organism, particularly on the human immune system, have been well documented."

Negative emotions can also have damaging effects on physical health. "Negative emotions can have detrimental effects on cellular, humoral, natural killer cell activity, and other components of immune response, and may contribute to the progression of the disease," writes Dr. Murray.

Smoking, drugs, and alcohol use should be discontinued immediately. Dr. Priestly is very strict about these lifestyle choices. "If my clients will not stop drinking and not stop smoking, I won't see them again."

A holistic approach which includes appropriate lifestyle choices has been proven to be the most successful approach.

Patient control
No, there are no cures. And as for a vaccine, Dr. Priestly wrote, "I can tell you no one is ever going to stick an 'AIDS vaccine' into my body. I'd rather take my chances with the AIDS virus. At least then I know what I'm dealing with, rather than whatever virus is in the so- called vaccine."

We may be closer to knowing what we are dealing with; however, AIDS remains one of the most complex killers of our time.

The United States Agency for International Development wrote in its report to the U.S. Congress, "The HIV/AIDS pandemic is among the most deadly and destructive the world has known." The report concluded, "The action we take now will determine whether or not additional millions of lives will be saved or sacrificed after the year 2000."

Patients must recognize they do have choices. Dr. Lieberman is very proud of her patients. They are insistent on becoming educated about their condition.

"Some of them know just as much as I do," she said. Dr. Lieberman insists on this type of patient self-education. Her patients read, they ask questions -- when they don't get a straight answer, they ask more questions. They are taking control of a situation that seems completely out of control.

Conclusion
The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine concluded, "Although we do not yet know how to cure AIDS, many traditional natural therapies significantly enhance immune function while others inhibit viruses, thus offering hope for improving the quality and length of life of the person infected with HIV."

There is no question that AIDS is a very complicated condition. In our search for weapons against this killer, let us not forget to look at the complete arsenal. [HC]

Karolyn A. Gazella is the president of Impakt Communications Inc., publishers of Health Counselor magazine.

***NATURAL TREATMENT OVERVIEW***
Joan Priestly, M.D. is a holistic AIDS physician practicing in Key West, Florida. This is an overview of Dr. Priestly's five-point health protocol featured in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine (Vol.6, Nos.3 and 4, 1991).

1 Stress reduction: this includes stopping smoking, drinking, and recreational drugs, and reducing other stressors.

2 Dietary changes: more protein and higher quality calories are needed; reduce sugar and yeast completely; a vegetarian diet is preferred including salads, vegetables, grains and legumes; eliminate red meat, cow's milk and milk products; eat mostly fresh, whole, unprocessed uncanned foods.

3 Nutrients: this includes as much as 18 grams of vitamin C daily, 25,000 units of beta carotene, and 400 to 800 units of vitamin E; glutathione, minerals, pancreatic enzymes, quercetin, CoQ10, evening primrose oil, fish oils, B vitamins, and garlic are all given supplementally.

4 Use of western drugs: Drugs do have a place in the treatment of AIDS, but it is a minimal one.

5 "Nutrition of the mind": Emotions including guilt, shame, rage, hatred, etc. must be dealt with; do visualizations, affirmations, forgiveness exercises, massage, deep breathing, and other techniques to "feed the mind."

***HIV/AIDS FACTS AND FIGURES***

* The Berkley Wellness Letter reported that there are at least one million Americans infected with HIV in the United States and over 13 million people infected worldwide.

* The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that as of March 1993, 182,275 people have died of AIDS since the epidemic began in 1981.

* The CDC also reported that in 1991, one in five men and one in 20 women died of AIDS, making it the third leading cause of death of young adults aged 25 to 44.

* The Global AIDS Policy Coalition estimate that by the year 2000, there will be 110 million people infected with HIV.

* Dr. Joan Priestly reported in 1991, "after 10 years of virtually ignoring this disease, we're at the point now where 88 cases of AIDS are reported to the CDC every day."

* December 1, 1993 is the fifth annual World AIDS Day. The role communities play in controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic will be emphasized. For more information, contact the CDC National AIDS Hotline at 1-800-342-2437.

***Dietary Dos and Don'ts***

Shari Lieberman, Ph.D., C.N.S., R.D. has a private practice in New York City. One-half of her patient load is comprised of HIV-related cases.

Because she feels proper diet and exercise are critical components of any HIV/AIDS treatment program, Dr. Lieberman makes the following recommendations to her patients:

* Exercise: Work out regularly with a program including aerobic exercises and lifting weights 2 to 3 times a week. Because muscle wasting is a common occurrence with AIDS patients, it is critical to keep muscles strong.

* Avoid a high-fat diet: Even though weight gain is an important consideration, avoid getting calories from high-fat foods. It has been proven that a high-fat diet leads to disease.

* Use fats that enhance the immune system, such as primrose oil, fish oils, and flaxseed oil. Do not use corn oil.

* Increase carbohydrates: Carbohydrates spare muscle and contribute to healthy weight gain.

* Increase proteins: Choose lean protein sources and increase the amount of protein.

* Increase fiber intake: Eat grains, brown rice, fruits, and fresh vegetables.

* Eat organic foods: Whenever possible, choose organically grown foods; be sure to wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly.

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©COPYRIGHT, AIDS Authority; reprinted with permission