Adjunct Therapy in HIV
The use of Immune Support along with Conventional Treatment
The single most important thing you may ever read
We live in a sea of microorganisms, each one of which would invade and live in us if they could.
But nature has evolved a wonderful system to fend off these would-be invaders.
The immune system. This is the defense system that stands between the hostile microorganism environment and us.
Considering that we get thousands of microorganisms in every breath we take and in every mouthful of food we swallow,
the immune system does a pretty good job.
But when the immune system fails to recognize these invaders and mount an appropriate response, disease results.
There are various reasons why the immune system fails. Time. Exposure to different toxins. Stress.
And viral invaders like HIV.
HIV is a terrible disease. It was once thought that it was simply exposure to HIV that would cause an infection.
It is now known that this is not the case.
Many people are exposed to HIV, even repeatedly, and fail to contract the disease.
There are many known cases of one partner being HIV positive and the other being HIV negative, even for as long as twenty years.
The negative partner obviously has greater resistance to the infection, even though the repeated exposure is there.
It is also known that HIV is more prevalent in Africa than in the western countries.
Some people have speculated that this is due to the "loose morality" or "deviant sexual practices" of the African people.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Africans, on the whole, tend to be more rigidly religious and more sexually inhibited than people in the more
developed countries. So if it is not sexual practices that account for the higher HIV rates,
we have to ask the question - why do Africans seem to be so much more prone to contracting HIV?
The answer lies in the existing challenges to their immune systems.
The average African is much more likely to be carrying a pre-existing parasite load at the time they are
exposed to the HIV virus.
And they are also exposed to more regional and seasonal illnesses like Malaria and TB than most westerners.
These parasites and other immune challenges mean that the person is much less able to fight off a new challenge when it arrives.
A new challenge like the HIV virus.
There are very effective drugs for fighting off most bacterial invaders. Potent antibiotics. But it is a different story with virus. Once a virus becomes established in the body, it is there for life. Unless the immune system becomes educated against it and maintains an adequate defense. The average human already harbors about five hundred different viruses. Some of them cause problems, but most do not. Many of them will cause an acute illness the first time a person is exposed to it, after which the immune system learns to recognize it and keep it in check. Measles and Smallpox are examples of this type of immune action. It would be nice if it were the same with HIV.
But with the HIV virus it is a bit different. Because the particular cells effected by the HIV are immune system cells. Particularly the immune T-cells known as CD4 cells. Once in the body, the HIV virus tends to infect and destroy these particular cells. The very system that should be fighting off the disease is the system under the greatest attack.
What can be done? There are some anti-viral drugs available that work well in some people. But they are far from perfect. They are all highly toxic and they are all quite expensive. Often times, the treatment is worse than the disease. A secondary approach that must be taken is to do everything possible for optimizing immune support. Actually, optimizing immune support is crucial to the success of any treatment regimen, simply because without adequate immune function, it doesn't matter what drugs are used. Ultimately it is only the immune system which will allow us to survive, and it is the collapse of the immune system that proves fatal. No one ever died of the HIV virus itself. It is the opportunistic infections, which slip in under the immune system radar, which cause the deaths. Avoid the OI's and you avoid the major problem associated with HIV.
Immune Modulators
This is where Immune Assist 247™ and other immune-modulator supplements come in. By using daily support that has been shown to assist immune function, not only is one able to avoid or delay the downward spiral caused by collapsing immune function, but also increased immune function means the person is better able to resist the negative effects of HAART drug therapy. By keeping a strong immune system the HAART drugs can be tolerated in larger doses and for a longer period of time.
The ingredients in Immune Assist 247™ are well known as immunomodulators. Mushroom derived immune enhancers have been used in cancer therapy worldwide since their discovery in 1976. Examples of these types of mushroom derived polysaccharide compounds are Lentinan, PSK, PSP, Grifolan, and the cross-linked beta-mannans from Cordyceps. These have all been used in clinical trials on HIV patients, both alone and in combination with HAART drugs. And they have all shown effectiveness. An example of one such study can be seen at http://www.alohamedicinals.com/shiitake_04.html This was a study that was done in San Francisco and which showed enough positive results that it was run a second time in New York City to confirm the results. This was a publicly funded trial, on a natural, non-toxic compound that proved effective against HIV. Why didn't it get front-page newspaper press? Simple - because the fact that the compound used was a naturally occurring compound, means it can't be patented. It is not conducive to Big Pharma profits. No big corporate profits, no further funding.
All of the many trials done with these compounds have shown good results. And in a way that is somewhat surprising, considering that the trial subjects are always chosen from late-stage AIDS patients. Those are people who are the most difficult patients to manage. They already have multiple system failure. As every doctor knows, it is very hard to turn a patient like that around. It is much easier to take a person who is essentially healthy, but who happens to be HIV positive, and keep them healthy. Keeping the immune system from going south in the first place is much easier to do than treating a dieing person.
Another group of compounds found in Immune Assist 247™ are the naturally occurring altered nucleosides from Cordyceps. Cordyceps sinensis contains a number of different compounds that have direct anti-viral replication activity. They interfere directly with the RNA synthesis as the virus is replicating. The HAART drug Didanosine is an example of a synthetic compound of this type. The pharmaceutical industry has found it quite profitable to synthesize this drug for HIV treatment, but the truth of the matter is that it is found in nature as well, found in Cordyceps for example.
EGCG
The other natural anti-viral compound in Immune Assist 247™ is EGCG, which is the polyphenol compound found in green tea. It has been shown in Japanese research to inhibit the binding of HIV to the CD4 cell itself. It acts as a viral binding inhibitor. For details on this research see [PDF] http://alohamedicinals.com/EGCG.pdf and [PDF] http://alohamedicinals.com/EGCG_2.pdf. These article mention the opinion that one could not drink enough green tea in a day to do any good for HIV. That may be true. But for Immune Assist 247™ we found a way to purify EGCG and suspend it in a time-release matrix so that it gets past the stomach acid without breaking down. That way, you get much more of it into the blood stream compared with just drinking tea. Enough, hopefully, to keep some of the virons from binding to the CD4 cells, and slow the infection process. If that can be accomplished, then HIV just becomes virus number 501. Just another resident virus in the body doing no harm. While this may sound overly hopeful and idealistic, at least it has scientific data behind it, and anyways, green tea does no harm. What have you got to lose?
So that no one misunderstands what we are suggesting here, we would like to clearly state that Immune Assist 247™ is a dietary supplement only. It is not a drug. It has not been evaluated by the FDA for use as an adjunct with any other treatment. It is intended as a daily supplement for use in optimizing immune function and increasing viral resistance. Regardless of what is being used in other countries for support of HIV patients, in the United States there are strong FDA laws regulating what information you may be given. We have provided the names of the compounds and components of Immune Assist 247™ so that you may do your own research into these. While the manufacturer is prohibited from suggesting, "this may work for you", you are not restricted from doing your own research and coming to your own conclusions. While we believe that all the information presented here is accurate and truthful, we are required to clearly state that this is for informational purposes only and is not meant to replace the advice of your physician. HIV is a very serious disease. You should discuss any supplement options with your health care provider.
There are many website presenting options for assisting HIV patients. Most of these products are combinations of various vitamins and minerals. It is important to have a balanced and complete diet. And often a vitamin supplement can help obtain the necessary nutrients. With Immune Assist 247™, we have not added any special vitamins. There are plenty of vitamin options out there. And they are cheap enough in your local grocery store. With Immune Assist 247™ we have concentrated on the natural compounds that legitimate scientific research has shown to be effective.
Immune Assist 247™ is a completely unique and new type of dietary supplement, combining immuno-modulators and direct acting anti-viral compounds from all-natural sources. These compounds have been tested in a number of different Clinical Trials, and have been found to be extremely safe and effective. Immune Assist 247™ is presently being tested in human clinical trials for use as a daily supplement in HIV infections and also for use in Hepatitis C. The results have been amazingly positive in each one of these studies. You can view some of these clinical trial results here on the Aloha Medicinals website. Immune Assist 247™ brings to the world a whole new concept in addressing and overcoming illness. U.S. and International patents are pending on Immune Assist 247™.