Of defying AIDS through diet

[Guest guest]

This is a report carried in The New Indian Express, Hyderabad dated

June 28, 2004 ( " setlurs01 " <plha@...>)

" Of defying AIDS through diet "

Reuters

Asmara, June 27: Patient is no ordinary man. Diagnosed of HIV-

positive 21 years ago, the tanned South African has the confidence

of a man who knows that every day he defies medical odds just by

being alive.

He doesn't take anti-retroviral drugs, and puts his longevity down

to a tough dietary regime and an unbending will to live.

Now aged 43, he's taking his message around Africa in the hope of

encouraging other HIV-positive people to do the same and offering

ways for those who are not infected to stay that way.

Nutrition forms the cornerstone of Patient's teaching. He says by

the improving their immune system HIV-positive people increase their

life span and reduce the chance of infecting partners. Zinc, Beta

Carotene and Selenium all boost the immune system so patient's

courses encourage people to find local produce which contains high

levels of those nutrients. At present someone diagnosed as HIV-

positive can hope to live about eight years before developing full-

blown AIDS. Patient says with proper nutrition that can be extended

to 12.

The United Nations estimates some 40 million people around the world

are infected with the disease and more than 25 million people have

died from it. Sub-saharan Africa is the worst affected region with

26 million infected. Returning to South Africa in 1995, Patient

castigated african leaders for failing to take stronger action on

the issue. They have been accused of moving too slowly to combat the

epidemic by failing to provide life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs

to their citizens.

Though he has yet to need the drugs himself, Patient thinks they

should be made more widely available – with one proviso.

" we can't be dishing out these highly toxic medicines without

knowing that food conditions must exist for them to work properly " ,

he said, " otherwise the virus mutates and we are just making the

situation worse " .

Infected in the US in 1983 as a consequence of what he candidly

calls his life as a " promiscuous little drugged out slut " , Patient

has fought for the rights of HIV/AIDS carriers all his adult life.

Evicted from his home and then sacked from his job as a consequence

of his HIV status, Patient went to court and won both times. But

while he has been able to win external fights and challenge

governments, the internal battle has been difficult. In the first 10

years of the disease Patient saw more than a thousand of his friends

die, triggering a " tremendous survival guilt " that he was still

alive.

Medical researchers were equally intrigued and he has been asked to

give numerous samples to long-term, non-progressor tests which aim

to find common elements among HIV survivors.

Now Patient divides his time between inspiring corporate clients and

conducting developmental seminars, mostly in Africa. With an

autobiography in the pipeline, is he surprised he has lasted this

long? " Truthfully no I'm not " , he said. " Apart from smoking, I have

done everything possible to sustain my longevity. I'd have been

pretty fed up if I'd died " .