AIDS Treatment News No. 012 - August 29, 1986
John S. James

Some of the highlights:

* Robert McFarland, who had most AIDS symptoms and was bedridden for two years, prepared himself to die in 1982. But instead he began treating himself nutritionally, and has been active and doing well since 1984.

McFarland sought out an alternative healer, and read constantly on AIDS treatments, turning his bedroom into a library. Some of the treatments which he described as most important are:

- Garlic. He chops it up and eats it all the time, often eight to 10 cloves per day. Once, for pneumonia, he boiled a garlic preparation and inhaled the vapors for several days, and also used very large amounts of vitamin C, until the pneumonia was gone. He also uses garlic and ginger tea.

- Vitamin C. He usually takes 20 grams per day, using it every two to three hours, and always takes calcium, magnesium, and potassium with it. He now uses the pill form instead of powders, because pills are convenient to carry around during the day. Some of his many friends call him "The vitamin C and garlic man".

- Taheebo (pau d'arco). He now takes one or two cups of the tea per day, but used to take four or five.

- BHT. He used it for shingles, and reported "fantastic" relief. Although he had a very severe case, the pain went away in several days.

- Macrobiotics. McFarland is a vegetarian, and he combined macrobiotics with other health diets.

- Acupuncture. Sessions gave him more energy, at first just for a day or two, but eventually they seemed to bring lasting improvement.

- Other. The regimens included dozens of other vitamins and herbs, including vitamin A, all of the B vitamins, vitamins D and E, PABA, biotin, pantothenic acid, folic acid, choline, inositol, lecithin, zinc, chromium, selenium, amino acids, glandular extracts, RNA, DNA, evening primrose, shiitake, comfrey, echinacea, Chinese herbs, acidophilus milk, juice fasts for arthritis problems, and GH3. For detailed information, readers can order cassette tapes of McFarland's two talks, from the address given below. Both talks were on Saturday, August 23.

McFarland emphasized that persons with AIDS must take responsibility for their own health, and he was distressed that many of his friends who died would not listen and consider his experiences. Part of the problem, he said, is that you are dealing with both a man and a little boy; the man doesn't want anybody to know he is sick, and the boy wants to roll up in a blanket and let mom handle it. McFarland criticized teaching people to prepare for death.

He emphasized that you do not have to die with AIDS. But you have to work on it yourself. You can't expect the doctors to do it for you, he stated, and there are no magic bullets.

We can only mention a few of the others. Tapes of all talks are available.

* Keith D. Barton, M. D., a physician who practices in Berkeley, has developed an AIDS treatment protocol based on the work of Russell Jaffee. For a list of five categories of lifestyle, diet, and treatment recommendations, see his article in the SF SENTINEL, January 31, 1986. Dr. Barton distributed this article at the conference.

* Robert Cathcart, MD, a physician well known for his use of vitamin C and ascorbate, provided some of the practical and theoretical background of his work. He explained the rationale of bowel-tolerance doses, and why smaller amounts, such as four grams per day, may not be effective. He outlined how to use the large doses properly.

Of particular importance was his use of ascorbate to block allergic reactions to drugs used to treat PCP. This possibility deserves wide attention and prompt investigation, because drug reaction is a major problem in PCP treatment. Dr. Cathcart has never had a patient die purely of PCP if they were a good vitamin C taker.

* Steven Levine, PhD., a research biochemist who has done original and highly-regarded work on allergies, discussed a wide range of subjects, including free radicals, oxygen, and the use of germanium compounds.

* Robert A. daPrato, M. D., has developed a theory of AIDS based on stress and relative excess of adrenal gland cortical output.

* Ranjit K. Chandra, M. D., Professor of Pediatric Research, Medicine, and Biochemistry at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and nominated for a Nobel prize in medicine in 1985, presented detailed evidence of the influence of malnutrition on disease. He said that while some infections, like smallpox or yellow fever, attack anyone regardless of nutrition, others, including PCP and herpes, are known to occur more in persons who are malnourished. Dr. Chandra discussed the role of nutrition in production of thymic factor and mature helper T cells, and mentioned 15 essential trace elements and four toxic elements. Besides his public talks, Dr. Chandra also gave a three-hour intensive for practitioners, also available on tape.

* Jason Serinus, author of PSYCHOIMMUNITY AND THE HEALING PROCESS, sees AIDS as a disease of the heart chakra, which corresponds to the thymus gland. He sees the visualization process in the work of people like Louise Hay as the key to healing this disease. The tape of his sessions includes healing tones.

* Louise Hay, well known for her AIDS services, described her work on self esteem. Serinus particularly recommends that people get the tape of her session, even if they have her other tapes, because here she answered many practical questions from practitioners who work with people with AIDS.

* Patrick Donovan, N. D., and two other naturopathic physicians from John Bastyr College of Naturopathic Medicine in Seattle, WA, presented an AIDS treatment protocol, including lifestyle modification and nutrition, based on a study of over 200 medical, biochemical, and pharmacological articles. This work won one of the two awards for research papers given by the conference organizers. Naturopaths are not allowed to practice in California, but physicians can get the treatment protocol through Dr. Donovan.

* Michael L Culbert, D. Sc., won the other award for his paper on a multi-functional approach to AIDS/ARC. Dr. Culbert is also the author of AIDS: TERROR, TRUTH, TRIUMPH, available from American Biologics in Chula Vista, CA.

* Lawrence Badgley, M. D., a physician practicing in San Bruno and the principal organizer of the conference, also presented a preliminary report of his own study (with mycologist Henry Mee, PhD), on the use of the "Somacin" formula, composed of extracts of several edible Chinese mushrooms. A three-week course of treatment clearly helped at least four out of six patients with ARC or AIDS, and no toxic effects were found.

(We should point out that this study, apparently done with no outside funding, is exactly what is needed to screen new ideas and select treatment options reasonably likely to work. Even a study with only six patients can move a treatment out of the realm of rumor, hearsay, and commercial claims and counterclaims. The Federal research establishment has refused to study most of the promising treatments, making the contribution of individual physicians and other practitioners especially critical.)

There were many other talks which this writer could not attend because two sessions ran simultaneously. Tapes of all the talks are available.

For More Information

To order audio tapes of the "Talks on Natural Therapies for Chronic Viral Diseases", get an order blank from the Conference Coordinating Company, 37 Indian Rock Road, San Anselmo, CA 94960, (415) 457-5713. Most tapes are $6.00, plus a charge for mail order.

You can reach many of the speakers through telephone information. For others, contact Lawrence Badgley, M. D., at the Human Energy Church, 370 West San Bruno Ave., Suite D., (415) 873-0139.

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