HIV Alternative Treatment: Vitamins

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a health pandemic. HIV is a virus that breaks down the body's defenses, making the patient highly susceptible to infectious diseases, organ failure, bone degradation and death. HIV-positive patients usually develop AIDS, which kills most patients within one year. AIDS patients require intense anti-retroviral therapy to maintain a semblance of good health and delay the progression of the virus. This therapy can be prohibitively expensive; fortunately, therapy with multivitamins can slow the virus until rigorous treatment can be afforded and administered.

Effect of Vitamins

• Multivitamin cocktails including vitamins A, B, C, and E have been tested on HIV-positive patients. These vitamins have long been known to promote general good health. Vitamin A regulates healthy cell growth and bone formation, while vitamin B promotes a healthy heart. Vitamin C fights infections, while vitamin E minimizes your risk of stroke. In combination, these vitamins lower the viral load of HIV in infected patients while increasing levels of immunoresponse cells.

Dosage

• Taking a daily dose of vitamins can slow down the progression of HIV, but taking too much can lead to other health complications.

Caution

• Vitamins are not an alternative treatment of HIV. If you are HIV-positive and your only medication is a daily regimen of multivitamins, you will almost certainly develop AIDS and face an uphill battle against fatal infections. Vitamins can be used when anti-retroviral therapy is unavailable or far too costly, such as in third world countries with poor resources. As a temporary therapy for HIV until medical treatment can commence, vitamins are a useful and cost-effective solution.