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Aloe
Vera and AIDS
Excerpts
from "Aloe Vera: A Mission Discovered"
by Lee Ritter
One day I got a strange call. Dr. Terry Pulse,
a physician in Texas, was having what appeared to be unbelievable
success treating HIV positive patients with whole leaf aloe
vera juice. I called Dr. Pulse. He told me that he had been
conducting a study of 30 HIV positive patients (one non-compliant
patient dropped out of the study, reducing the number of 29).
Simplified
considerably, the group of 29 broke down as follows: based
on the modified Walter Reed Score (a method of determining
from a set of factors the stage of AIDS development), fifteen
had full blown AIDS. Twelve of the subjects met the criteria
for AIDS Related Complex (ARC), and the remaining two were
HIV seropositive but were asymptomatic. In other words, they
were at three different stages of the infection.
The patients
were put on a daily regimen of nutritional supplements and
a minimum of 1200 milligrams of the active ingredients found
in whole leaf aloe vera juice.
After
six months, 27 of the 28 patients had improved on their Walter
Reed scores. All had improved on the Karnofsky Quality of
Life Assessment Scores. There were substantial improvements
in other medical tests indicating such things as an increase
in the T-4 cell count (which reflects a boosting of the immune
system) and a drop in the P-24 core antigen activity.
I remember
asking Dr. Pulse what he had concluded from his study. He
stated, "Aloe is to an AIDS patient such as insulin is
to a diabetic." He further told me that his study clearly
showed that aloe vera played an active role in halting the
progression of the AIDS virus.
I learned
from Dr. Pulse that another study had been conducted by Dr.
H. Reginald McDaniel, Chief of Pathology at Dallas-Fort Worth
Medical Center. He had treated sixteen AIDS patients using
1,000 mg a day of orally administered aloe. His study reflected
that, after six months, six patients with advanced cases of
AIDS showed a 20% improvement in symptoms while less seriously
ill patients improved by an average of 71%. Dr. Pulse further
confirmed that, like his tests, Dr. McDaniel's also reflected
a drop in HIV antibody positive cell culture. Also, symptoms
such as fever, night sweats, diarrhea, and opportunistic infections
were either eliminated or significantly reduced in all patients.
What I
was hearing was astounding. At that time there were over 50,000
AIDS patients dying each year and the numbers were growing.
The number has now more than doubled.
After
Dr. Pulse shared his research information and the results
of treating AIDS patients with aloe vera, I traveled to his
clinic, interviewed the doctors, the staff, and AIDS patients
and videotaped what was occurring. First Dr. Pulse reviewed
his study as we recorded it on video. Then the patients arrived
and one by one we taped their stories. These were patients
who had previously been very sick with AIDS. They had been
confined to their beds, unable to work. They had the characteristic
symptoms, including night sweats, nausea, and vomiting. They
had been told by doctors that they were nearing the end and
that nothing really could be done for them. The stories they
told were astounding. With T-4 helper cell counts starting
below 200 (frequently substantially below) the counts had
climbed to numbers like 400, 500, 800, and their symptoms
had disappeared.
According
to Dr. Pulse's published report in the Journal
of Advancement in Medicine: "No adverse effects
attributable to the essential fatty acid capsules where observed
nor any side effects of the nutritional supplementation powder
nor of the aloe vera juice. Most patients who were symptomatic
reported that within three to five days their energy levels
improved, fever disappeared, night sweats stopped, cough decreased
or stopped altogether, shortness of breath decreased, lymph
nodes decreased in size, diarrhea stopped, strength improved,
and the only measurable side effect of this particular study
was weight gain, which is a desirable effect. There were no
biochemical abnormalities noted on SMAC in this particular
study. AZT induced anemias improved on this particular regimen.
Chest x-rays remained normal throughout the study. No changes
in EKG from baseline were observed. There was great improvement
in all patients to hypersensitivity skin testing at the end
of 90 days. Not only did the patients improve clinically and
functionally, but their Karnofsky scores improved in 93.1%
of the patients at 90 days and in 100% at 180 days. One hundred
percent of the modified Walter Reed scores improved at 90
days and 96.4% at 180 days. At 90 days, 51.7% of the patient's
T4 helper lymphocytes increased and 32.2% at 180 days, with
25% reactive HIV P24 core antigen converted to negative at
90 days and 180 days."
In a letter
to me, Dr. Pulse stated, "We have recently concluded
that, 18 months after initiating the study, of those patients
who completed it, one-half have now gone sero-negative. This
is an increase from the one-third reported at the end of one
year."
There
is no better determinant of whether a patient is improved
than his or her own feeling over an extended period of time.
I talked to many of the patients. Those I spoke with were
unanimous in their expressions of marked improvement. It would
be interesting to see what the study would have reflected
had the patients taken an even more concentrated daily amount
of aloe vera. My opinion is that the results would have been
even more astounding.
AZT is
the principle drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of
HIV positive patients. The studies that gave rise to its quick
approval are very questionable and not totally accurate, in
my opinion. The drug AZT may in fact kill the patient as it
does damage to kidneys, the liver, and the neurological system,
and develops anemia in patients. It is so toxic that over
50% of AIDS patients cannot tolerate the drug. Whether AZT
prolongs or shortens life is most questionable. Aloe vera
has no toxicity. It damages no organs. I have never heard
of anyone not being able to tolerate taking aloe. The Pulse
study unquestionably indicates that advanced stages, as reflected
by the Walter Reed scores, were reversed by patients who took
aloe vera. Which really prolongs life, AZT or aloe vera?
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