To begin with, it would be good to answer this question: “What does HIV stand for?”
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
What is immunodeficiency?
HIV is a virus that impairs the infected person’s immune system so that it is deficient or not strong enough to fight off infections that a healthy person would be able to tolerate.
Hence the term Immunodeficiency. HIV is a virus that makes the immune system of the affected person impaired.
What are the causes of HIV? HIV is transmitted by person to person contact. Since HIV is in the blood and bodily fluid, it may be caused by having sexual contact with an infected person, or by sharing a needle with that person.
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It may also be transmitted through blood products and blood transfusion. In some cases, a pregnant woman may also transmit HIV to her child.
What are the symptoms of HIV? According to the
there are three stages of infection. Please click on the link for full information, and note that this opens in a new window.
I will briefly summarize them here.
Early infection may include fever, headache, sore throat, swollen lymph glands, and rash.
Later infection includes swollen lymph nodes, diarrhea, weight loss, fever, cough and shortness of breath.
The latest stage of infection usually occurs 10 years or more after the initial infection, and at this point the infection may be classified as AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
The spread of AIDS is the most serious health crisis of our time and has now reached epidemic proportions worldwide.
Because of this, much has been learned about the human immune system and the nature of viruses and their effect on our immunity.
Now we will focus on treatment for HIV.
This can be broken down into three types of approaches : pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and lifestyle.
We will cover all three areas, but the focus of this page will be about the least well known approach : A nutraceutical approach for boosting the patient’s own immune system.
Treatment for HIV : A Pharmaceutical Approach
There are several pharmaceutical or drug-based options in the treatment for HIV.
Since it was identified in the early 1980's, there have been a number of medications developed to treat both HIV and also resulting infections.
There is an aggressive approach being used now called Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy or HAART. This is usually a combination of three or more “drug cocktails” that is aimed at reducing the amount of virus to low or undetectable levels.
When these are used as a treatment for HIV, there are varying levels of success, and the physical and financial costs of these may be heavy.
There is a treatment for HIV that you may not have heard of before. The treatment involves boosting your immune system with raised levels of glutathione, brought about by ingesting a special
undenatured whey protein.
This is a pharmaceutically prepared nutraceutical, or medicinal food, that has been used successfully in human clinical trials to boost the
human immune system.
One of the components of this approach is aimed at boosting T-cell production. Why is that important?
HIV is very destructive to a person’s T-cell lymphocytes. T Cells belong to a group of white blood cells known as lymphocytes, and play a central role in cell-mediated immunity.
There are 3 main types of T cells: Helper, Killer, and Suppressor T cells. About 80% of our lymphocytes are T-cells.
You can learn more about Immune System Definitions by visiting
Helper T-cells let the immune system know there is an enemy present , and these are effectively destroyed by HIV. So basically HIV kills the good guards at the gate. There is no one left to say that the bad guys have gotten in.
This prompts the buildup of killer T- cells that would normally combat viruses. The result is immune deficiency.
In cases of mortality, HIV is not directly responsible for a person’s death, but it leaves them defenseless against even normally harmless infections.
Since the immune system has been compromised, it cannot do its job properly, and opportunistic infections may cause great harm to the person suffering with HIV.
Treatment for HIV : The Role Of Glutathione
It has been found that those suffering with HIV have high levels of
Oxidative stress consumes glutathione, and causes the helper T cells to malfunction. Once this happens, opportunistic infections such as pneumonia, diarrhea, candida, and unusual cancers may take over.
It is this immunodeficiency that becomes generalized and leads to malnutrition, wasting, and eventually death.
In 1992, a team led by Dr. Gustavo Bounous investigated the properties of milk protein isolates at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. They already knew from previous published studies that raised glutathione levels enhanced human immunity.
When they realized that those with HIV were suffering from low glutathione levels, they wanted to learn more about how this could help as a treatment for HIV.
They conducted a trial where this glutathione enhancer was given to AIDS patients, and they found that it diminished and sometimes reversed the wasting effects of AIDS. They also had higher helper T-cell counts and decreased viral load.
Think of that! It diminished and even reversed the wasting or cachexia seen in end stage AIDS patients.
And their helper T-cell production was boosted, leading to lower viral count!
This study is available for viewing online.
To view the study, "Whey proteins as a food supplement in HIV-seropositive individuals”, click
As a result, Immunocal was presented at the Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research in 1994 by Sylvain Baruchel, Rene Olivier, and Mark Wainberg, the incumbent chairman of the International AIDS Research Association.
Dr. Luc Montagnier, who was the co-discoverer of HIV, drew attention to the promising effects of this in his opening address at the 10th International AIDS conference in Yokohama, Japan in 1994.
Dr. Montagnier won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2008 for this discovery, and you can learn more about this by clicking
Regarding treatment for HIV, this research was significant enough to receive funding from the Canadian HIV Trials Network, and as a result, a large multi-center study is now in progress.
As one of the famous Nobel Prize Winners, Dr. Luc Montagnier recently became part of a cast of recognized doctors uncovering the truth about HIV. The result is a film called House of Numbers, and is currently being screened in select theaters worldwide and has already won numerous awards.
Note what he has to say about the importance of a strong immune system in clearing HIV from a patient's sytem:
The Center For Disease Control has weighed in on this issue of glutathione as treatment for HIV as well.
On their AIDS web page in February 1997, they reported:
“...laboratory studies have shown that a new whey protein concentrate, called Immunocal, can inhibit HIV replication while also stimulating the production of glutathione, an amino acid that helps control the virus.”
This led to further studies, and two more are provided below for your consideration.
Treatment for HIV : Three More Glutathione Studies
Regarding treatment for HIV, there are two more published studies that were done in Germany using Immunocal to raise glutathione. They are available for viewing on PubMed, (www.pubmed.gov), which publishes medical studies from around the world. You can
learn more about PubMed here.
You can view the studies directly on PubMed here:
To view the study, “Oral supplementation with whey proteins increases plasma glutathione levels of HIV-infected patients”, click
(this link opens in a new window)
The study concluded in part: "...Therapy was well tolerated. In glutathione-deficient patients with advanced HIV-infection, short-term oral supplementation with whey proteins increases plasma glutathione levels. A long-term clinical trial is clearly warranted to see if this "biochemical efficacy" of whey proteins translates into a more favourable course of the disease.”
To view the study “Effects of long-term supplementation with whey proteins on plasma glutathione levels of HIV-infected patients.”, click
This study concluded, similarly, that “Supplementation with whey proteins persistently increased plasma glutathione levels in patients with advanced HIV-infection. The treatment was well tolerated. A larger long-term trial is clearly warranted to evaluate whether this positive influence on the glutathione metabolism translates into a more favorable course of the disease.”
To view the study “Role of cysteine and glutathione in HIV infection and other diseases associated with muscle wasting and immunological dysfunction”, click
This study concluded, among other things, that “The combination of abnormally low plasma cystine and glutamine levels, low natural killer (NK) cell activity, skeletal muscle wasting or muscle fatigue, and increased rates of urea production defines a complex of abnormalities that is tentatively called "low CG syndrome."
These symptoms are found in patients with HIV infection, cancer, major injuries, sepsis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and to some extent in overtrained athletes...cysteine supplementation may be a useful therapy if combined with disease-specific treatments such as antiviral therapy in HIV infection.”
In treatment for HIV, we need to understand the important role that the immune system plays in the patient’s health. AIDS attacks the immune system and can be seen by low glutathione levels and a general resistance to pathogens.
Glutathione deficiency is associated with a decreased survival rate in HIV.
Studies have shown that raising glutathione can be an effective treatment for HIV. It can even reverse the wasting effects of AIDS. It also boosts T-cell production, which is necessary to keep a strong immune system and mount a defense against opportunistic infection.
More clinical trials are currently underway.
Treatment for HIV : Method of Use Patent
There is currently a Method of Use Patent on file with several countries, including the US Patent Office to use Immunocal to raise glutathione as a treatment for HIV.
A method of use patent is special in that it guarantees the product will do what it says it will do. It is much more difficult to obtain than a formulation patent.
This is not a cure, but the clinical trials just referred to have laid the basis for this patent to be issued. Until a cure for HIV and AIDS is found, this holds much promise for the treatment for HIV.
It should be noted that Immunocal itself makes no claims for the treatment of HIV. Immunocal does one thing: it raises glutathione, and it is the resulting raised levels of glutathione that is showing this promise. Glutathione is made by your body, and your body uses glutathione to obtain these results.
To view the US Patent #5,456,924 online entitled: “Method of treatment of HIV-seropositive individuals with dietary whey proteins”, click
This listing states in part that "Immunocal ...is clinically proven to raise glutathione values...Glutathione augmentation is a strategy developed to address states of glutathione deficiency, high oxidative stress, immune deficiency...glutathione deficiency states include, but are not limited to: HIV/AIDS,...certain types of cancers,...malnutritive states...and has been associated with sub-optimal immune response."
"Low glutathione is also strongly implicated in wasting and negative nitrogen balance, notably seen in cancer, AIDS, sepsis, trauma, burns, and even athletic overtraining. Cysteine supplementation can oppose this process and in AIDS, for example, result in improved survival rates."
Immunocal supplies this cysteine in the form of bonded cysteine, which safely survives the digestive process and enters the cell where glutathione is made. To learn more about this process, please click
For the successful treatment of HIV, attention must be given to several factors. The same article referred to earlier from the Mayo Clinic provides excellent advice in this area, and should be referred to for further information.
I will briefly summarize these factors here:
Make sure your doctor understands the nature of HIV, and you are completely comfortable working with one another.
Always follow his instructions for taking medications.
Make sure to get your necessary immunizations, and don’t smoke or use illicit drugs.
Give attention to a
and avoid foods that may put you at risk for infection.
Drink lots of pure water and get regular exercise and sleep.
Take care with your companion animal if you have one, and give extra attention to good hygiene.
Find a way to relax, since stress is a very real factor when dealing with HIV.
In conclusion, what is the best treatment for HIV? A number of answers may be combined to come up with the best one for you.
There are pharmaceutical options, nutraceutical options, and lifestyle factors that all should be taken into consideration.
One nutraceutical option for treatment for HIV that is becoming more well known is the administration of an undenatured whey protein to raise glutathione and boost the patient’s immune system.
This has been well researched, and has gained notable attention and funding from key areas. There is also published research and patents that are available to you to demonstrate efficacy and credibility.
So what is the best treatment for HIV? The one or ones that you decide are best for you! So do your own research, and make the best choice that fits your individual circumstances.
If you or someone you love is suffering from this serious illness, please bookmark this page to share with them. It may save their life!
Dr. Jimmy Gutman is the world's most published author on the subject of glutathione. His current bestseller is entitled "Glutathione - Your Key To Health."