14 Treatments for HIV/AIDS (Part 4)
Posted on March 13th, 2010 in Global Focus HIV/AIDS, Treatment
11. Immune BoosterDr. Gary R. Davis got his idea for an AIDS cure from a goat that appeared in his dreams. The late Dr. Davis never prescribed his goat serum treatment (known as BB7075) to HIV positive Americans due to legal restrictions. In 1998 one young girl, Precious Thomas, was given the serum by her mother, who stole it from Davis’ office. Some websites say the girl was cured of HIV infection, based on a viral load test conducted soon afterwards. In a 2006 interview, however, Precious Thomas made clear that she was still infected with HIV. After being denied approval in America, Dr. Davis and his associates tried to conduct goat serum trials in Ghana. Again he was stopped because “the supporting evidence for asking for registration and use of the serum was totally inadequate”. In late 2006, a few months before Dr. Davis’ death, the BBC exposed an attempt by a British company to test the substance on dozens of people in Swaziland, despite the lack of toxicity tests and other necessary preliminary studies.
The Antidote – a drug derived from a crocodile protein – has been promoted via spam email and websites with the promise that “It kills all known deadly viruses and bacteria in the body”. Absolutely no scientific evidence has been offered to support this claim.
V-1 Immunitor (or V-AIM or Immureboost) is a pink pill containing antigens taken from the pooled blood of HIV positive people. A clinic in Thailand began distributing V-1 in 2001. Demand soared when the pill’s inventor, Vichai Jirathitikal, said it had eliminated HIV in two patients. The Thai Ministry of Public Health responded by conducting a study of those receiving V-1; the findings were not encouraging. According to a government minister, “the pill does not have any effect on the body’s immune system, white blood cell count and amount of the virus in the blood”. Other studies of the so-called vaccine – all carried out by employees of its manufacturer – do not provide convincing evidence of benefit. AIDS patients treated with V-1 typically survive for a matter of weeks, as opposed to the years achieved through antiretroviral treatment. Although the company has said that people treated with V-1 have “serodeconverted” from HIV-positive to HIV-negative, this claim is based on unreliable evidence and is not taken seriously by the scientific community. The manufacturing and sales licences for V-1 in Thailand were revoked in April 2003. Apparently undaunted, Vichai Jirathitikal and a company called Immureboost have continued to promote the product under the new name V-AIM, describing it as a therapeutic vaccine rather than a cure for AIDS.
12. Spiritual Healing
This kind therapy includes metaphysic therapy such as Nursyifa energy, spiritia, meditation, through mentally patience, begging for forgiveness (taubat), taqarrub ilallah/dziqrullah (remember the God), and praying.
13. The virgin cleansing myth
The myth that sex with a virgin can cure sexually transmitted diseases has a long history in Europe and elsewhere. Since the emergence of the AIDS epidemic, there has been much concern that this belief might encourage the rape of children, especially in Africa where HIV is widespread. A number of horrific reports in the popular press have fuelled such anxiety.
Belief in the virgin cleansing myth has been reported from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. There is no doubt that it has led to abuse of not only children but also the disabled (who are often assumed to be virgins). Nevertheless, the scale of the myth’s impact is disputed because it is not the only motivation behind child rape. In many cases the goal is more likely to be prevention than cure: men are seeking partners who are less likely to have HIV.
Thankfully efforts are being made to dispel the virgin cleansing myth around the world. But to effectively clamp down on child rape, such campaigns must be accompanied by changes to the cultural and legal environment that enables abuse to take place.
14. Vaccination
An innovative treatment for HIV patients developed by McGill University Health Centre researchers has passed its first clinical trial with flying colours. The new approach is an immunotherapy customized for each individual patient, and was developed by Dr. J-P. Routy from the Research Institute of the MUHC in collaboration with Dr. R. Sékaly from the Université de Montréal. “This is a vaccine made for the individual patient – an “haute couture” therapy, instead of an off-the-rack treatment” said Dr Routy.
By “priming” the immune system, as with a vaccine, to fight the specific strain of HIV/AIDS infecting a given patient, the scientists believe they have developed a therapy that shows immense promise and could be an even more effective weapon against the virus than the anti-retroviral cocktails currently in use. The results of the first-stage clinical trials, which tested the therapy in conjunction with anti-retroviral drugs, were published recently in Clinical Immunology. Phase 2 of the clinical trial, which is nearly complete, is testing the therapy’s efficacy on its own at 8 different sites in Canada.
The new therapy uses dendritic cells which are removed from each HIV-infected patient and subsequently multiplied in-vitro. Dendritic cells present material from invading viruses on their surface, allowing the rest of the immune system to identify and attack the invaders. “They are the “grand conductors” of the immune response,” explains Dr Routy. “With them, you push the immune system, in all its functions, at the same time.” In the current trial, dendritic cells were exposed to a sample of HIV RNA (ribonucleic acid) specific to the patient involved. This exposure encouraged the cells to develop defences specific to that viral strain. The modified cells – called AGS-004 – were then injected back into the patients.
Not only were there few reported side-effects from the AGS-004, but the researchers also measured increased levels of CD8-lymphocytes in the patients – the “attack” cells of the human immune system that the treatment is intended to mobilize, thus confirming that the intervention was targeted and controlled.
By boosting the immune system in this way, Routy hopes to develop an HIV/AIDS treatment that will require fewer injections and less long-term toxicity for patients than antriretrovirals.
Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy is a practitioner in the Division of Hematology at the MUHC as well as a researcher in the Infection and Immunity Axis at the Research Institute of the MUHC. He is also an Associate Professor of Hematology at McGill University in addition to a senior clinical researcher with the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ).
Any additions?
Related posts:
- 14 Treatments for HIV/AIDS (Part 3)
- 14 Treatments for HIV/AIDS (Part 2)
- 14 Treatments for HIV/AIDS (Part 1)
- Swine Flu in Indonesia : Unfolding the Facts — (Part 5)
- WORLD AIDS DAY, WORLD CONDOMS DAY?
Assalamualaikum. Hello, I am Fauzan. Thank you for visiting my blog. To find out more about this site, please visit
*Widget By mfaisal
Leave a Comment