Aids can be prevented with supplements?

[Justforfun000]

I came across this on a blog, and after following it through I thought for sure it'd be by a quack, but the man himself seems quite respectable, and even though he has a couple of theories on some other major diseases, he actually seems to have some science backing him on this along with some test studies. Any people out there with credentials enough to comment on this? For simplcities sake I grabbed one of the references that kind of ties things together.

http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources ... 2n03.shtml

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, April 26, 2006
AIDS: A TREATABLE COMBINATION OF NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES

AIDS MAY BE A COMBINATION OF NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES HIV Depletes Body of Selenium and Three Amino Acids

(OMNS, April 26, 2006) New clinical reports from Zambia, Uganda and South Africa indicate that AIDS may be stopped by nutritional supplementation. A number of members of the medical profession have observed that high doses of the trace element selenium, and of the amino acids cysteine, tryptophan, and glutamine can together rapidly reverse the symptoms of AIDS, as predicted by Dr. Harold D. Foster's nutritional hypothesis. (1)

These nutrients are necessary for the human body to produce the enzyme glutathione peroxidase. This enzyme is strongly antiretroviral (it is an antagonist of reverse transcriptase) and can greatly reduce HIV replication. Unfortunately, HIV has developed the ability to compete with the body for these four nutrients because shortages of them allow its more effective replication. Specifically, HIV has a gene that allows it to produce an analogue of glutathione peroxidase.

Diets high in selenium, cysteine, tryptophan and glutamine seem to have two major benefits for AIDS patients:

1. They replace these four nutrients in the body, correcting the deficiencies HIV has caused. AIDS is what we call these combined deficiency symptoms.
2. High levels of these four key nutrients push up the body's glutathione peroxidase levels, making it much more difficult for HIV to replicate. This enzyme also beneficially interferes with the replication of Hepatitis B and C. Nutritionally treated patients are still HIV-positive, but seem to generally remain in good health unless they start to eat a diet that once again is poor in one or more of these nutrients. If this occurs, glutathione peroxidase levels fall, HIV begins to be replicated and the AIDS cycle begins again.

Some countries or regions, like Senegal and Bolivia, have been very fortunate. Their bedrock is naturally elevated in selenium and their diets are normally high in the three amino acids. As a result, they are rarely infected by HIV. Others, like Finland, have wisely mandated the addition of selenium to their fertilizers, with similar results. In contrast, some regions like Kwazulu Natal have bedrock and soils that contain little selenium and diets are poor in one or more of the key nutrients. For example, corn (maize) is low in both selenium and tryptophan. As a result, populations eating a great deal of corn are easy to infect with HIV and die very quickly of its associated nutritional deficiencies (AIDS).

To halt AIDS, to stop HIV from replicating, the needed nutrient levels are high. Selenium, for example, is taken at several times the commonly recommended daily allowance for the first month. Dosage is considered in more detail in "What Really Causes AIDS." (2) This book is available for free reading and downloading at www.hdfoster.com.

References:
1. Foster HD. How HIV-1 causes AIDS: Implications for prevention and treatment," Medical Hypotheses, Vol. 62(4), p 549-553, 2004.
2. Foster HD. What really causes AIDS. Victoria, BC: Trafford, 2002. Free download at www.hdfoster.com.

For further reading:
"HIV/AIDS: a nutrient deficiency disease," Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, 2005, Vol. 20(2), p 67-69.
"Environmental factors and the pathogenesis of selenium-CD-4 cell tailspin in AIDS." Chinese Journal of AIDS and STD, Vol. 10(5), p 390-392,402 2004.
"AIDS and the selenium-CD4T cell tailspin." World Journal of Infection, Vol. 3(6), p 456-459, 2003.
"Micronutrients in pathogenesis and treatment of AIDS," Foreign Medical Sciences: Section of Medgeography, Vol. 24(2), p 49-53, 2003.
"Why HIV-1 has diffused so much more rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa than in North America." Medical Hypotheses, Vol. 60(4), p 611-614, 2003.
"How HIV-1 kills: Implications for the treatment and prevention of AIDS." Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, No. 255, p 76-78, 2002.
"Aids and the 'selenium - CD4T cell tailspin': the geography of a pandemic," Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, No. 209, p 94-99, 2000.

[Geodd]

Well, I have no idea if Bolivia and Senegal have lots of selenium in their soil, but some quick googling reveals that they both have excellent HIV/AIDS information and prevention programs. Perhaps that's part of the reason for their success in slowing down the rate of infection?

And frankly the fact that the man behind the theory is a professor of geology kinda sets my crackpot sense off.

[Spin Echo]

I'm surprised. Orthomolecular Medicine is normally considered a bit quackish. However, the Web of Science brings up a few peer reviewed journals mentioning that selenium appears to have a protective effect in AIDS. There may be some truth in the claims. Unfortunatel, my uni doesn't subscribe to the journals, so I can't see what the actual articles claim.

[Justforfun000]

And frankly the fact that the man behind the theory is a professor of geology kinda sets my crackpot sense off.

I think it's Geography...

But yeah, I was a little thrown first too, but a search on selenium and hiv brings up countless reputable sources documenting a very consistent decline in selenium and the progression of AIDS and the need for good clinical studies. From all I found so far the couple of stabs done so far were sloppy methodology and they couldn't get proper answers for it.

I do hope it's not intentional neglect because of the lack of profit.

[Geodd]

I do hope it's not intentional neglect because of the lack of profit.

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

That is if there's even any truth behind the link between selenium levels and AIDS.

Looking at Dr. Foster's webpage it seems he also knows the cause and cure for schizophrenia and alzheimer. I know it's somewhat narrowminded of me, but I have a hard time taking people making claims like that seriously, especially when their claims lie so far outside their area of expertise.

[Justforfun000]

Looking at Dr. Foster's webpage it seems he also knows the cause and cure for schizophrenia and alzheimer. I know it's somewhat narrowminded of me, but I have a hard time taking people making claims like that seriously, especially when their claims lie so far outside their area of expertise.

lol. You're the same as me. I answered back to someone on the blog:

Justforfun000 said

The other thing that raises a very big red flag about this though is that when checking out this persons link:

http://www.hdfoster.com/

It has that book for sale called What really causes Aids. But is ALSO has two others called What really causes Schizophrenia and What really causes Alzheimers.

This person conveniently discovered the "real" causes of these three major diseases? In the case of Aids, it's a workable hypothesis to run with because there is SO much we don't know about the virus and the way it impacts the system in its entirety and it's perfectly possible that certain key constituents could halt immune decline and in fact, I myself here have been enlightening people to one thing that apparently does just that called Naltrexone.

But the other two? Colour me skeptical. Those two diseases are MASSIVELY more complicated and insidious and there is no singular cause and cure that is accepted by any major medical establishments. I would be very cautious in what he's promoting after seeing that. I think the references he lists should be thoroughly examined and evaluated independently before drawing any conclusions.

But as it kept going I was told this:

All of Dr. Foster's books are totally free to download and print in PDF format, but you can also buy the books in hardcover.
The book Foster has written on Alzheimers disease I believe is based on the idea that there is a close relationship between silicon and aluminum in Alzheimer brain. This relationship between aluminum and alzheimers has been dicussed for years. Interestingly, metal aluminum has been found at the core of each plaque and within many of the cells found in these plaques. Supplementing with high level ascorbate minerals seems to benefit alzheimers patients by replacing aluminum with calcium and magnesium in those cells. I think if you read through foster's materials, you will find they well written with credible sources. I'd also add that Dr. Foster is a very intelligent man, he has published in Nature, the Lancet and numerous other medical journals. Beyond that, he is the associate editor of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine,board member of the International Schizophrenia Foundation and foreign advisor to the Chinese Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine. He is also a professor at the University of Victoria, Canada. He is definitely not a quack!

and:

I think there have already been enough reports coming in to say that this is an effective treatment for hiv/aids. I think it's a good thing to have a healthy sceptical attitude toward any theory that flies in the face of conventional western medicine. On the other hand, scurvy was once thought to be caused by foul vapours from the belly of the ships which made men ill. An obscure relatively uneducated ship's doctor came up with the idea that if you gave citrus juice to afflicted sailors then they would recover from scurvy. His idea was shunned by the medical community of the day and countless thousands of sailors died because of this. I agree with Duesberg in the sense that I believe HIV to be a relatively harmless retrovirus, but what makes it deadly is how it uses up the elements that make up glutathion peroxidase (tryptophan, cysteine, glutamine, and selenium) as it replicates. This is likely why we see normal levels of selenium with those on effective ARV treatment.

HIV patients are always deficient in selenium, and 400/500 mcg is the general guidance for the first 6-8 weeks to bring up serum selenium levels to normal levels. Generally speaking, taking 16 grams of l-glutamine, 2-4 grams of NAC, and 2-3 grams of L-tryptophan daily are good levels to take (along with selenium) to raise glutathione peroxidase levels.

If you are going to have bloodwork done, get a serum selenium test and GPX (glutathione) test done. I also think adding the supplement TMG (Betaine) is also helpful with viral loads because it helps with dna methylation. There's alot of good information on methylation and hiv out there on the internet.

I think foster's theory is a low cost and near zero risk for anyone willing to try it. I am confident anyone who tries this for at least 3 months will see at least a doubling of their cd4 count.

So who knows? Maybe he just happens to be right on with this one. It could be dumb luck....

[Darth Servo]

I came across this on a blog, and after following it through I thought for sure it'd be by a quack, but the man himself seems quite respectable, and even though he has a couple of theories on some other major diseases, he actually seems to have some science backing him on this along with some test studies. Any people out there with credentials enough to comment on this? For simplcities sake I grabbed one of the references that kind of ties things together.

My own father has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University yet he's still a YEC and can't see whats wrong with their arguments even though he admits he would be the laughing stock of the field if he tried using them in any other scientific field. Being great at field 'A' does not make one good at field 'B'