Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - Thursday October 16 7:32 AM EDT
"We hope... we can actually persuade the members of the lauric family to put money forward ... so that we can fund these trials," Jose Romero, chairman of the Lauric Oils Research Institute, told a news conference.
Romero is one of the organisers of the one-day ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Vegetable Oils Club symposium to be held in Manila on Friday.
Lauric oils are derived from the seeds of palm plants, including coconut trees.
U.S.-based bio-chemist Mary Enig, who is attending Friday's conference, said studies had shown that lauric oils might be a suitable supplement in the diet regimens of HIV-infected individuals because of their high lauric acid concentrations.
Lauric acid is used by the body to produce the disease-fighting monolaurin, a substance which attacks or inactivates the HIV virus by causing the disintegration of the virus envelopes, she said.
An AIDS patient, after eating half a fresh coconut every day, was able to lower his viral load to non-detectable levels in 2-1/2 months, Enig said.
"This is a journey of a thousand miles. We have to take some steps. I think that this is a first step that we're taking," Romero said.
Jesus Arranza, chairman of the trade group United Coconut Association of the Philippines, said the fund-raising campaign would be one of the symposium's agenda items.
The lauric oils industry suffered a major setback in the late 1980s when the products were said to cause heart disease.
Oil producers from ASEAN - which groups the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Burma and Laos - were promoting the benefits of lauric oils to boost the industry, conference organisers said.
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