Nutrients (as supplements) to help with Neuropathy and HIV

Today's post from larrylands.com (see link below) follows up from yesterday's post and is one of those articles that may come over as somewhat prescriptive...'do this and all will be well' and over the years, HIV-patients have learned to be suspicious of people telling them what's right for them, especially in the area of supplements and non-medication treatments. However, none of the information here (and there's a lot of it!) is disputed by other experts and many of the nutrient supplements mentioned are also recommended by specialists and doctors. There is also a short, CV of the author shown (see below), to add a little more credence to the tale but having said that, in the end, it's all a matter of choice (and often a matter of finance in these difficult times) and whatever you do you should discuss it with a professional first; in that way, you can minimise any potential risks.

For busy readers who are only interested in specific references to neuropathy, the paragraph concerning Mitochondria is printed in italics and stands on its own as useful information.

Using Nutrients to Protect the Body and Counter HIV Symptoms and Drug Side Effects
by Lark Lands

Many studies have shown that people living with HIV/AIDS develop multiple nutrient deficiencies in early disease stages, and that they worsen over time. The nutrient deficiencies contribute to both immune dysfunction and
the development of many different symptoms. Protecting the body with a plentiful supply of nutrients—from both a nutritious diet and nutrient supplements—provides three very important benefits.

* First, optimal levels of nutrients will boost the immune response, both before and after antiretroviral drugs (HAART) are taken. Researchers have shown that people with higher levels of nutrients progress more slowly. The reason is that the immune response is dependent on the nutrients that make up immune cells and chemicals. The body’s need to crank out an immune response to HIV, day in and day out, makes this is a very nutrient-depleting disease. The result is that you rapidly use up your antioxidants and the other nutrient building blocks that are key in your immune response. Thus, it’s very important to always replenish nutrients.

* Second, for those who are on HAART, appropriate nutrient supplementation can greatly decrease or eliminate many drug side effects. In turn, that can help prevent drug failure since you are much more likely to properly adhere to drugs when they aren’t making you feel sick or causing symptoms that you hate. Both studies and anecdotal reports from the community have shown that far too many people are skipping doses to try to lessen side effects. When that happens, it’s highly likely to lead to drug resistance and failure. Using nutrients to help prevent side effects can make it much more likely that drugs will be consistently taken as directed, thus maintaining their effectiveness. That means that your meds—and their ability to save your life—may remain effective for years and years instead of months.

* Third, your quality of life can be immensely improved when life-degrading symptoms are eliminated or, at least, lessened with nutrient supplementation. Whether symptoms are caused by HIV itself or by HAART meds,
nutrients can often help eliminate them and greatly improve quality of life. The result will be that you can gain the benefits that the drugs can give you, while avoiding the side effects that can make taking them so difficult. And that can help you live well with HIV, not just longer.
One of the most important parts of a formula for living well is to do a long-term program that provides protection against (1) oxidative stress, (2) mitochondrial damage, and (3) inflammation.

* Oxidative Stress. A great many studies have shown that oxidative stress begins in early HIV disease stages and worsens over time. In essence, oxidative stress occurs when the body’s supply of antioxidants is insufficient to counter the various body processes—including the body’s immune responses to HIV—that generate unstable molecules called free radicals and reactive oxygen species. These unstable molecules may serve an initial purpose such as destroying organisms like viruses or participating in normal body processes but they can then cause cellular damage when they bounce around through the body, picking off electrons from places they shouldn’t and damaging cells and tissues along the way. So throughout this disease, much higher than normal levels of the antioxidants which can stop these unstable molecules in their tracks are needed to prevent this damage. When there are not enough antioxidants, both immune cells and vital organs like the liver can be harmed.

For example, research has shown that cellular levels of glutathione, the most important intracellular antioxidant, begin to decrease within weeks of HIV infection, and go downhill from there. Those decreased levels of glutathione have been shown to be tied to the death of immune cells. In addition, the liver is absolutely dependent on adequate supplies of glutathione to break down toxic chemicals. If its supply of glutathione is
inadequate, it’s more likely to be damaged when it has to break down drugs. Using the nutrients that help to stabilize glutathione levels—particularly alpha-lipoic acid, N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), glutamine, and vitamins E
and C—can help maintain immune cells, protect the liver through years of taking HAART meds, and support the body, in general, against oxidative stress. In addition to glutathione, there are many other antioxidants in the body which work in different ways and in different places to protect it against oxidative stress, so keeping all the antioxidants—especially vitamin C, vitamin E, superoxide dismutase (SOD), the carotenoids (like beta-carotene and lycopene and lutein), selenium, alpha-lipoic acid, and coenzyme Q-10—at optimal levels is important.

* Mitochondrial Damage. Recent research has shown that the function of mitochondria (the energy factories inside cells) is negatively affected by nucleoside analogues (nukes, the drugs like AZT, d4T, 3TC, abacavir, etc.) It’s been shown that the resulting mitochondrial dysfunction may be a cause of fat changes in the body, especially the lipodystrophy-associated fat loss called lipoatrophy, as well as of neuropathy (nerve damage), myopathy (muscle aches), pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), fatty liver, white blood cell and platelet decreases,
anemia, and, in its severest form, potentially lethal lactic acidosis, a condition in which lactic acid builds up in the blood, sometimes to life-threatening levels. Research has shown that countering oxidative stress, as discussed above, may be one key for preventing the nuke-caused damage to the mitochondria. The mitochondria produce lots of free radicals during normal body processes and without sufficient antioxidant protection, the mitochondria may be damaged. Studies have shown that giving antioxidant nutrients along with the drugs may help prevent this damage, so the antioxidants listed above are an important part of a mitochondria protection program.
Also of great importance is the amino acid carnitine. Acetyl-L-carnitine is a naturally occurring molecule in the body that’s derived from carnitine. It is involved in the normal transportation of free fatty acids into the
mitochondria, and the normal oxidation of free fatty acids. Without carnitine, the mitochondria cannot function properly. The B vitamins are also crucial nutrients for mitochondrial support. In particular, thiamine (vitamin B-1) and riboflavin (vitamin B-2) are needed for proper mitochondrial function. There have been recent reports showing dramatic improvement in people with lactic acidosis (resulting from mitochondrial damage) after administration of these vitamins. Because standard thiamine supplements have to be converted in the body to an active form, the best
supplement to use is benfotiamine. This combination of carnitine, antioxidants, and B vitamins may significantly help to counter mitochondrial toxicity and all the problems that can stem from that.

* Inflammation. Inflammation in the body of HIVers can activate the virus and increase replication, raising your viral load. Inflammation also contributes to the development of a lot of the things that people are most worried about today: bone problems, heart disease, diarrhea, gas and bloating, liver dysfunction, myelopathy (spinal problem), myopathy (muscle aches), nausea, neuropathy, and skin problems. Thus, countering inflammation is crucial. Anti-inflammatory drugs might increase the risk of infections by over-suppressing the inflammatory response (a part of the immune system’s way of countering infections), and can cause gastrointestinal bleeding.
Luckily, a much less risky approach is to use foods that have natural anti-inflammatory qualities. Such foods have been used for thousands of years with no apparent adverse effects on immune responses, so it seems likely that long-term consumption of them would be considerably safer than long-term use of drugs. There are a number of naturally anti-inflammatory foods and seasonings including ginger, turmeric (a seasoning), bioflavonoidrich
fruits (especially all the different berries), and omega-3 fatty acid-rich foods like fatty fish, flaxseed, and walnuts. Out of those, the best way to get the most potent effect is by either eating fatty fish quite often—things
like salmon, mackerel, sardines, cod and halibut—or by taking fish oil supplements. The reason is that fish oil provides the anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids in a ready-to-use form which does not have to be processed by the body in the complex ways that the other omega-3-containing foods do. Thus, you’re more likely to get a consistent effect with fatty fish or fish oil supplements.
In addition to fish oil, antioxidants can help because early in the process in which inflammation is created in the body, oxidative stress plays a key role. So when you take the antioxidants for all the other reasons discussed
above, you’ll also be countering inflammation and all the different problems it can create.

The bottom line is simple. Everyone living with HIV needs to be doing a base program that will replenish all the nutrients that are so often deficient, boost the immune response, counter miserable symptoms, and ensure the presence of adequate amounts of nutrients to help counter the MIO problem: M for mitochondrial toxicity, I for Inflammation, and O for Oxidative stress. When you do that with the combination of a good diet and the proper supplements, you’ll go a very long way toward giving your body long-term protection against the virus and the damage it causes, against the drug side effects, and against life-disabling, misery-making symptoms.
© Lark Lands, 2004

LARK LANDS is well-known for teaching an integrated approach to health for people living with chronic diseases. She has spent the last thirty years educating people living with diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Lyme disease, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other forms of liver disease, neuropathy and other nerve diseases, osteoporosis and other bone problems, and many other long-term health problems such as digestive dysfunction (diarrhea, gas, bloating, constipation), chronic fatigue, nausea (from chemotherapy or drug side effects or other causes), and skin problems how to better manage their diseases with an integrated approach to health.

http://www.larrylands.com/lark/TR4_Core-List-of-Nutrients.PDF