HIV info, hiv natural therapy hiv vitamin and herbs

HIV vitamin
hiv disease hiv natural therapy hiv herbs hiv vitamins hiv

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. When HIV enters your body, it moves inside white blood cells called "CD4 lymphocytes." HIV takes over the CD4 cells and makes billions of virus pieces each day. The virus pieces spread through your body. Your body tries to defend itself against HIV by making antibodies (these hook on to the virus and keep it from making virus pieces) and by special cells called macrophages and natural killer T-cells. These cells help you to get rid of some of the virus pieces. If antibodies against HIV show up in your blood, you know your body is trying to protect you from the HIV infection you have picked up. However, it's usually several months before your body makes enough antibodies to measure.
The AIDS virus entered the United States in about 1969 from Haiti, carried most likely by a single infected immigrant

After acute HIV infection, your body works hard to attack the virus. With your body fighting, the virus can't make so many virus pieces. Even though you still have HIV infection, you'll begin to look well and feel well again. The usual blood tests will be normal. However, during this time, the virus pieces are still attacking your lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are the centers of your body's immune system. The virus may also attack your brain tissue and slowly cause damage there. Over 10 to 15 years, HIV would kill so many CD4 cells that your body could no longer fight off infections. At this point, a person is diagnosed as having AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Once you have AIDS, you can easily get many serious infections.

38 million people around the world, half of them women, are living with HIV/AIDS, according to the latest figures from UNAIDS, the United Nations agency spearheading the battle against HIV or AIDS.

HIV Medical treatment
The medical treatment of HIV or AIDS is with several antiviral drugs.

HIV Natural options
There are no natural therapies that are endorsed by the medical profession. However, studies have shown several nutrients and herbs to have antiviral properties. It is difficult to predict what clinical effect, if any, these herbs and supplements have in the natural progression of HIV.

Antioxidant--There is evidence suggesting that patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are under chronic oxidative stress. People infected with HIV may benefit from treatment with antioxidant vitamins.
Green Tea--Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), one of the components of green tea has been suggested to have antiviral activity. To determine the effects of EGCG on HIV infection, peripheral blood lymphocytes infected with HIV were incubated with increasing concentrations of EGCG. EGCG strongly inhibited the replication of the HIV virus.
Glutamine, the amino acid, could be helpful for those on anti-HIV medicines. Glutamine-antioxidant nutrient supplementation can increase body weight, body cell mass, and intracellular water when compared with placebo in HIV patients.
Hyssop has antiviral activity against herpes simplex and HIV-1.
Licorice may be helpful.
Olive Leaf--has anti-HIV activity
Rooibos tea has anti-HIV activity.
Ginseng CD4+ T cell counts in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-infected patients are maintained or even increased when treated with Korean red ginseng.
Catuaba, an Amazonian plan, has anti-HIV activity.
Danshen, a Chinese herb

There is very little information on how these herbs interact with antiviral medicines used to treat HIV or AIDS. For instance, Garlic reduces saquinavir blood levels by 50% and may affect other drugs.

Chinese herbal medicine, Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi and its identified components (i.e., baicalein and baicalin), have been shown to inhibit infectivity and replication of HIV.

Other options for those infected with the HIV virus.
Writing about emotional topics appears to reduce stress in HIV-infected patients and may improve immune responses.

HIV infection and circumcision
Circumcision reduces the risk of HIV infection by up to 60 percent in African men, but does not have a noticeable affect in gay and bisexual men of color in the U.S.

HIV Research Update
A study of HIV-infected African women found that daily doses of multivitamins appear to slow down the disease and cut the risk of developing AIDS in half. The researchers who conducted the study in Tanzania suggested that vitamin supplements could be used in developing countries to delay the need for HIV drugs, saving them for use at more advanced stages and avoiding their side effects.

A randomized trial of multivitamin supplements and HIV disease progression and mortality.
Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. mina@hsph.harvard.edu
Results from observational studies suggest that micronutrient status is a determinant of the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. We enrolled 1078 pregnant women infected with HIV in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to examine the effects of daily supplements of vitamin A (preformed vitamin A and beta carotene), multivitamins (vitamins B, C, and E), or both on progression of HIV disease, using survival models. The median follow-up with respect to survival was 71 months (interquartile range, 46 to 80). Of 271 women who received multivitamins, 67 had progression to World Health Organization (WHO) stage 4 disease or died--the primary outcome--as compared with 83 of 267 women who received placebo. This regimen was also associated with reductions in the relative risk of death related to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, progression to WHO stage 4, or progression to stage 3 or higher. Multivitamins also resulted in significantly higher CD4+ and CD8+ cell counts and significantly lower viral loads. The effects of receiving vitamin A alone were smaller and for the most part not significantly different from those produced by placebo. Adding vitamin A to the multivitamin regimen reduced the benefit with regard to some of the end points examined. Multivitamin supplements delay the progression of HIV disease and provide an effective, low-cost means of delaying the initiation of antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected women.

Advances in studies on flavonoids of licorice
College of Chemical Engineer, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116012, Liaoning, China.
Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2003 Jul;28(7):593-7.
The progress in the research of the active ingredients of licorice flavonoid and the pharmacological activities was reviewed. Licorice flavonoid constituents mainly included flavones, flavonals, isoflavones, chalcones, bihydroflavones and bihydrochalcones. Pharmacological investigation concluded that they had antioxidant, antibacterial, antitumer and inhibiting HIV activities. It is important to study further the flavonoid constituents and pharmacological activities.

A clinical review of micronutrients in HIV infection.
Ottawa Health Research Institute, Canadian HIV Trials Network, Ottawa, Canada.
J Int Assoc Physicians AIDS Care (Chic Ill). 2002 Spring;1(2):63-75.
This article reviews current literature on the role of micronutrients in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Deficiencies of micronutrients are common in HIV-infected persons. They occur due to malabsorption, altered metabolism, gut infection, and altered gut barrier function. There is a compelling association of deficiencies of micronutrients in HIV-infection with immune deficiency, rapid disease progression, and mortality. Also, there is increased risk of vertical HIV transmission from mother to child with deficiency of vitamin A, and of neurological impairment with vitamin B12. The last five years have been exciting in micronutrient research, and there is promise that some micronutrients may be key factors in maintaining health in HIV immunodeficiency, and in reducing mortality. Selenium appears important in reducing virulence of HIV and slowing disease progression. Vitamin A supplementation in pregnant women with HIV may reduce maternal mortality and improve birth outcomes. Supplementation in children with HIV may accelerate growth. Carotenoid supplementation is being evaluated. Vitamin B12 may slow HIV immune deficiency disease progression, and reverse neurological compromise. Clinical benefit of supplementation with some micronutrients may be measurable in the presence of pre-existing deficiency. Apart from improved general nutrition, the impact of micronutrient supplements on health and their optimal use in HIV infection is controversial because there are so few controlled clinical trials. Further research is needed to elucidate the role of micronutrient deficiencies on the course of HIV infection, and the preventive and therapeutic role of supplementation in its clinical management. Nevertheless, current knowledge supports the use of routine multivitamin and trace element supplementation as adjuvant to conventional antiretroviral drug treatment as a relatively low-cost intervention.

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