[pronut-hiv] SOS

["kamogediso mokongwa" <nkamo6017@hotmail.com>]

SOS
-----


Dear Mr. Carter

I have two questions before the patient approaches the Hospital.  She has done the CD4 count which is low (240).  She is awaiting the viral load 
results before she could approach the hospital for medication.  However, she read your article on Multivitamin, and the suggestion that food, exercise and water would assist a great deal.  She also believes that if she adds the African Potato capsules then she can increase the CD4 count and she would not need treatment even if the viral load is high. I believe this is not in order as the viral load is the final determinant if the CD4 count is low.

Secondly, there are senior government officials who have been on the 
national radio and TV informing people that God cured them now they are hiv negative even without taking any medication, so they must return to God.  My opinion is that we have made strides and people are finally accepting to go for tests and to take medication if advised to.  The exhortation to go to God is fine but that they can be cured even without medication is  as far as I am concerned, foolishness.  Something needs to be done because divine intervention is not guaranteed.  The fact that one person is cured by God, if in fact she is, does not mean all others will be cured.  The Harvard Institute Vaccine is a success, people may still refuse to take the vaccine in the belief that they too will be cured.  It is not clear whether these people went back for tests after God had declared them HIV negative.  According to them it will be tantamount to lack of faith in God.

Kamogediso mokongwa


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"George M. Carter" wrote:

> >VITAMIN and MINERAL MAXIMUM DAILY DOSAGES
> >Vitamin A (regular; a total of 5,000 IU is probably best)       20,000 IU
> >!!!!!HIGH DOSES ASSOCIATED WITH HIV/AIDS DISEASE PROGRESSION, WELL >PUBLISHED

>Ah--the data are somewhat conflicting. For example, using beta carotene,pregnant women gave birth to higher birth weight babies. I don't know of data off hand that suggests faster progression. Do you have a citation?
>In the end, tho, I don't think that a) this is a high dose and b) it makes
>much sense to treat with single vitamins. That's why this is part of a
>multivitamin!!

> >Selenium (reduce dose if you get a "garlic " breath/taste)      600 mcg
> >!!!!!!!MAY SUPPRESS IMMUNE FUNCTION AT MORE THAT 200 MCG/DAY, CAUSE LIVER
> >AND NERVOUS SYSTEM DAMAGE . FROM: C FIELDS-GARDNER, CA THOMSON & SS 
>RHODES:
> >A CLINICIAN'S GUIDE TO NUTRITION IN HIV AND AIDS. AM DIET ASSOC, CHICAGO
> >1997
>
>Thanks--I know Cade. Again, there is much dispute about max daily dosages
>of selenium that are safe. Some suggest as high as 800 mcg per day, others
>say 400 mcg (e.g., see Biomed Environ Sci, 1995 Sep;8(3):187-201).  If you
>want to err on the side of safety, 200 is PROBABLY OK.  Partly, this can be
>further based on selenium levels in soil and in local foodstuffs. Keshan's
>disease (caused  by Coxsackie virus) arises in China due to selenium
>depleted soils resulting in deficiencies in humans and susceptibility to
>this disease.
>
>However, there are a lot of data on the importance and depletion of
>selenium in people with HIV, especially for its role in glutathione
>peroxidase.   Increasing data point to the role for oxidative stress in
>many aspects of HIV disease, most particularly with regard to neurological
>disease. The guru of selenium in HIV disease is a fellow named Will Taylor
>from the University of Georgia who underscores a potential role for
>selenium repletion in inhibiting HIV replication (he also discovered a
>fascinating frame shift mutation in the HIV genome that expresses GPx).
>
>Lyn Patrick also wrote an interesting series of articles and notes that
>selenium deficiency is strongly correlated with progression (see
>http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/fulltext/hiv4-6.html.
>
> >Zinc (a total daily dose of 50-150 mg is probably best)         200 mg
> >!!!!!HIGH DOSES ASSOCIATED WITH DISEASE PROGRESSION, WELL PUBLISHED
>
>Certainly, really high doses like this are NOT good if one has
>thrush/candidiasis. And in general I agree that going overboard with zinc
>is indeed dangerous. I'd err on the side of caution and say 40-50 mg. The
>extra zinc may help to offset the INCREASES of copper seen in people with
>HIV. And zinc has a great deal of effects immunologically that make it
>important. I think you're referring to a study that showed that people who
>took extra zinc had a slightly faster progression; the authors weren't sure
>if that was a statistical artifact or a genuine finding.  The most
>important studies were from Tang and Abrams back in the early 90s.
>
>So I agree that caution is advised with zinc for sure. The multi I
>suggested only has 15 mg.
>
>Remember, that list was the MAXIMUM doses that people can take without
>risking toxicity. Again, I note the philosophy of "highest tolerable dose"
>which often includes sometimes life threatening dosages of drugs. Sometimes
>that philosophy makes sense but often it does not. Yet when it comes to
>micronutrient intake, there is this fear of going a mg over the RDA. This
>is nonsense.
>
>By contrast, I utterly agree that we must thoroughly review and understand
>the data to best maximize the benefit of therapeutic dosages of
>micronutrient supplements. At this point, after years of researching these
>issues and my own observations, I feel completely utterly confident that
>the multi I have suggested is safe and indeed, I believe it can
>substantially slow the rate of HIV disease progression to AIDS. It is an
>inexpensive couple of pills that could buy people some time while
>antiretrovirals are becoming more widely available.
>
>Along with food, water, exercise...
>George M. Carter
--
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