AIDS: Science at a Crossroads

Another approach is to give HIV-infected people infusions of purified human "messenger chemicals",
or cytokines, which may modify their immune response to the virus.
Alternative therapies
A serious handicap faced by AIDS educators throughout the world is the growth of claims made by
alternative or traditional healers that they have found a cure for AIDS. None of these claims has ever
been substantiated.
Given the paucity of good conventional therapies it is not surprising that a large number of people with
HIV have tried various alternative and complementary medicines and therapies. These range from
vitamin supplements and other simple dietary measures to crystal therapies and astrology. The lack of
research on most of these makes it difficult to present clear conclusions. Nevertheless, many
individuals say they have been helped by such therapies. As with all medicines, herbal medicines may
have toxic side effects and in addition, herbal medicines may contain toxic impurities. Because the
alternative medicine industry is less closely regulated than the conventional pharmaceuticals industry,
patients are obliged to check their practitioners' credentials as closely as possible (11), (2).
While there is evidence that some alternative therapies can provide relief from some AIDS-associated
symptoms and infections, claims that alternative or traditional treatments can cure AIDS must be
treated with extreme caution and scepticism, So far, none of the claimed "AIDS cures" has ever been
proved to work, and some practitioners have exploited the fears and weaknesses of their patients
unscrupulously.
However, particularly in developing countries where conventional modern medicine requires expensive
imported drugs to treat HIV- and AIDS-related symptoms, traditional herbal remedies can offer a much
cheaper alternative. In many parts of the developing world, traditional healers are the first port of call
for many ill people - a survey carried out a few years ago by the Zimbabwe Traditional Healers'
Association found that 80% of Zimbabweans consult a traditional healer at some point, and 30-40% of
all patients go to a traditional healer first.
Since the 1980s, pharmaceutical companies have been investigating plants used by traditional societies
as potential sources for new drugs and treatments. According to The Lancet, fewer than 10% of the
world's estimated quarter of a million flowering plant species have been scientifically examined for
their medicinal potential (12).
The following alternative therapies have been used to treat patients with AIDS:
* Homeopathy: some homeopaths claim success in treating specific symptoms of AIDS, such as
night sweats or weight loss. Some have also treated emotional symptoms linked with the disease
such as shock, depression and anxiety. Evidence is hard to obtain, however, since homeopathy is
difficult to test using the randomised controlled trials that are favoured by conventional modern
medicine. This is because homeopathic treatments are tailored to individuals, whereas clinical trials
depend on giving large numbers of people the same treatment.
* Special diets: some, such as anti-candida (a fungal infection commonly know as thrush, which
many people with AIDS are prone to) diets, are designed to reduce the risk of opportunistic
infections in immunocompromised people. Others, such as macrobiotic diets, are part of a strategy
to increase the individual's wellbeing, health and boost the immune system.
* Physical therapies such as osteopathy, hydrotherapy, chiropractic manipulation and massage can be
used together with alternative or conventional medicine.
* Chinese herbal medicine: In marked contrast to other alternatives to Western medicine, traditional

Chinese medicine has been at least partly researched. Chinese tradition considers that microbes
cause disease in the body only when its life force is depleted. Most Chinese remedies tested against
HIV appear to increase the resistance of the cells of the immune system rather than attack the virus
itself. Some increase antibody levels, many are reported to increase T cell levels. More than 30
products have been tested in animals and in healthy human volunteers.

Panos Briefing: AIDS: SCIENCE AT A CROSSROADS 14