ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFIENCY SYNDROME [ AIDS ]

Introduction:

AIDS is a disease caused by viruses known as HIVI & HIV2:

They enter our lives through unsafe ,unnatural, adventurous sex .Statistical figures peak alarmingly of its dread and destructiveness. 50 millions of people world wide ( 1% of all sexually active population), adding 16000 cases a day or 11 persons every minute. It has already destroyed 15 millions of sweet lives ---- men , women and children . It has depleted families, overfilling orphanages with forlorn despised children. Sex has become a source of terror rather than one of pleasures. One sexual lapse and panic till death lasts . It is irony that the germ that cannot withstand even 3% of hydrogen peroxide or 70% alcohol or ordinary detergents few minutes can be so fatal , contagions and tenacious. It is really strange , but true that the virus which is so weak and vulnerable turns a demon, a globally , potent demon, as it finds a place in the human body. It enters into yon treacherously and makes you a traitor against the very lives of those, you love most.

Modes of Spread:

80% of spread is through unprotected sex --- heterosexual , mono sexual or isexual ----- man to man ,woman to woman or woman to man . Incidence rises sharply, when we deviate from missionary sex . Anal sex , gay sex , experimental sex and violent sex are more dangerous. Woman to man spread is more common. Anal sex (1% ) has more chances than vaginal ( 0.1 % per sexual episode ) . In India , 75 % spread is through heterosexual activity . Presence of other venereal diseases makes it 4 times faster. HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases help each others’ propagation . 10% spread is through parenteral route e.g. . unsterilized injections , unscreened transfusions and semen donations. Even after screening transfusions ,it may spread AIDS due to window period . Drug addicts have more chances due to sharing unsterilized syringes. 10% of transmissions are perinatal , from mother to the new- born/infant through placental transfer during birth and through breast milk.

The mother becomes a killer by allowing viral spread through placenta (nutritional conduit in pregnancy) or by infecting the baby while delivering it or through her milk during breast feeding . 30 to 40% of babies get infected through HIV positive mothers. Deep kissing may spread it , if saliva has high concentration of germs (high viral load ). Sharing public places, social activities and contacts are safe.

Pathogenesis [ Disease Process ]:

The whole pathogenesis can be summarized in one sentence --------- the virus destroys the police of the body, medically known as CD4 plus T lymphocytes ( also called T4 helper lymphocytes ) slowly over months or years . The virus keeps on killing CD4 cells .The subsequent decrease in CD4 + count , body defenses get weaker day by day and is unable to protect the body even against the weakest of germs . When the number of CD4+ cells goes bellow 400/microlitre the protective power of the body falls critically and the disease named AIDS starts with the manifestation of frequent opportunistic infections leading to premature death . Just as we require an optimum police force to guard the city against routine criminals and miscreants , so we require an optimum number of CD4 + cells to protect it from routine infections . HIV attacks CD4 + lymphocytes or macrophages and the victim is killed through repeated opportunistic infections.

Clinical Picture of AIDS:

Symptoms vary with different phases of the disease:

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Acute HIV infection :– The patient develops fever within 2-6 weeks of the first infection of HIV with flu like symptoms such as headache, pain in muscles and joints, lethargy, diarrhea, sore throat, skin rashes, ulcers in month. Here, patient is converted from HIV negative to HIV positive ( called seroconversion ).

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Asymptomatic Infection :– There may not be further symptoms for 1 to 15 years. The patient gives positives test for HIV and can infect others but apparently, he has no symptoms himself. However, during this phase, he remains the carrier and propagator of the disease. Sometimes, he may have associated autoimmune conditions nations.

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Persistent Generalized Lymphadenopathy (PGL) :– 20% to 30% of asymptomatic patients may have enlarged lymph nodes (>1cm) at many places.

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Symptomatic HIV infections :– When CD4 cell count falls below 400/ul, the patient develops full-fledged constitutional AIDS. There may be recurrent fevers, night sweats, diarrheas weight loss and opportunistic infections. Opportunistic infections which are not ordinarily a threat to life, prove fatal here. Skin and mucosal infections, leukoplakia, fungal infections (thrush), gingivitis, bacterial follicullitis, chronic ulcers, warts, molluscum contagiosum, herpes infections etc are noticed frequently, when CD4 + cell count falls below 200 /ul, irreversible damage occurs.

Lab Diagnosis :

Several tests are available, but we prefer the following tests:

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Screening Tests:- Here, Elisa Test is most important. It is used to screen out AIDS primarily in normal population or in early doubtful sexual exposure cases. It has an accuracy and sensitivity above 90%.

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Supplemental Tests :- Western blot assay is the most favored test to confirm AIDS from cases screened out already through Elisa test. It has high accuracy above 99%.

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Confirmatory Tests :- The following methods are employed to test virus itself or viral load [ number of circulating viruses in blood ].

Prevention:

Prevention is thousand times better than difficult illusive cures

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Safe and straight sex is the most important preventive measure:

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In case of doubtful sex situations , use of condom is the best possible protection.

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Avoid IMPROPERLY sterilized syringes or sharing of injection syringes, unscreened blood transfusions or semen donations.

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Segregation of new-born from HIV positive mothers to avoid breast feeding.

Treatment:

This is the saddest aspect of the AIDS story . For want of any sure shot Medicines or Vaccinations for cure or prevention, the strategy has so far been to contain AIDS rather than to cure it.

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Allopathy :- It has a battery of antiviral drugs like Zydovudine , Lamivudine , Ritonavir , Sesquinavir , Efavirenz etc. They do not cure , but help to contain it temporarily . They have to be taken for very , very long and are too costly to continue life-long . They have many side-effects to prevent its prolonged use.

Homeopathy and Amish Hospital:

Homoeopathy has proved and served miraculously effective in other viral diseases in combating and curing so many tenacious and threatening viral diseases . In light of this fact , homoeopathy flashed to me for a yet another viral disease --- AIDS , no matter how fatal , it seemed . I worked on this line. Our research confirmed it to be true. We found that hom medicines made it possible to raise CD4+ T cell count to its normal range; so that patients under treatment reverted back to their healthy asymptomatic stage. The patients became free from all opportunistic infections, that were solely due to low CD4 counts. Once , policing work was restored , the patient regained almost normal life. Day-to-day infections , fever, diarrhea and fatigue disappeared in 5 to 20 days . Weight gain of 10 to 15 Kg was restored within 1 to 2 months . We treated patients for 3 months only . Even after withdrawal of medicines , the patients remained stabilized , symptom-free.

Reduction in viral load [ number of viruses in blood ] was Seen in majority of patients to undetectable level in tests like PCR.Our first trial batch was small [50 patients], but its pattern was conclusive to prove efficacy of homoeopathy in AIDS. We have planned to enlarge our sample size with full lab investigations support to prove that homoeopathy holds future key to monstrous AIDS !!

Advantages of Homeopathy in AIDS:

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It can quickly revert CD4 picture in short time of 10 to 20 days

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It has no side-effects , so can be given to infants, children, pregnant women and weak critically ill patients.

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It has high cost effectiveness, so it can reach millions of socially and economically backward .

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Homoeopathy can act both prophylactically and curatively . So ,search for vaccination is not needed .

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It normalizes the patient so much that patient can join his duties within 2 to 3 months. This saves family from economic death.

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Medicines can be manufactured at fast rate without fear of dearth of raw material.

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Homeopathy has higher success rate as compared to Retroviral therapy in statistical comparison.