A U.S. research team recently announced evidence a simple multivitamin reduced the advance of HIV in pregnant women in Tanzania. This could mean women in developing countries have an affordable option, in addition to expensive medications, to keep HIV in check and slow its debilitating symptoms.
Almost 1,100 women in Tanzania, a country in which some 3 million people suffer from AIDS, were enrolled in the six-year study. Participants were given a pill including vitamins B, C and E, a placebo, vitamin A alone or the multivitamin pill including vitamin A.
Of the four options, women who took the multivitamin with vitamins B, C and E were 30 percent less likely to advance to a later stage of infection or die than those who received the placebo. The benefits are staggering:
Reducing the incidence of painful mouth inflammations, rashes and fatigue
Higher levels of disease-fighting cells and reduced levels of AIDS
A year's worth of nutritional multivitamins in Africa costs about $15 whereas more expensive medications in developing nations can cost 20 times more
According to the World Health Organization, some 25 million people in Africa live with HIV
Taking a multivitamin in the early stages of HIV can delay the use of more powerful drugs that people must take every day but can cause side effects
Broad nutritional benefits, although scientists don't know how long the benefits of taking multivitamins lasts
The results of this study have been so positive researchers in other African countries as well as Thailand and India have begun treatment campaigns of their own.
However, scientists aren't recommending that their AIDS patients in Western countries should begin taking extra vitamins or abandoning their medications, because Western patients already get more vitamins from their diets and many take supplements too. Experts also cautioned, however, vitamins work their best in the earliest phases of infection and should not be considered substitutes for more powerful AIDS medications.
New England Journal of Medicine July 1, 2004;351:23-32 (Full-Text Article)
This is great news for those struggling to slow the HIV epidemic in developing countries like Africa. Nevertheless, some reports have pointed out mega-billion pharmaceutical companies are probably far more interested in the fat bags of money they can make prescribing newer top-of-the-line medications to people in the West than testing and producing a simple multivitamin.
Although no one has found a cure for HIV or AIDS yet, there are simple ways to keep your immune system strong. One of the most important is avoiding grains and sugars. Sugar immediately decreases how your immune system functions.
To learn more about rebuilding your immune system to its peak--the best way to void chronic disease--take a look at my book, The Total Health Program, which has helped more than 20,000 patients at the Optimal Wellness Center. This easy-to-read book presents a dietary and health plan that took me two decades to develop.
To slow down the progression of AIDS and the breakdown of your immune system, you must keep your body as healthy as can be. Following a nutritious eating plan will take you in the right direction.
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