Welcome!

About this site:

This site provides information on maintaining and improving health for people, like me, who have chronic HIV infection. Lifestyle modification, nutrition, supplements, and alternative therapies will be discussed.

While I do not personally use antiretroviral medications — my CD4 count is in normal range and normal CD4/CD8 ratio, and my viral load typically below 2,000 copies/mL — I am not an anti-medication advocate nor a so-called “AIDS denialist”. Rather, I’m in favor of taking charge of one’s own health, understanding how and why things work (or don’t work), and making informed choices for harm reduction and health promotion.

This site has been rather neglected of late. It’s now July 2011, and I’ve decided to restructure it over the next three months to be easier to use and to include updated information.

One of the projects I’ve set for myself — and it’s an ambitious one — is to develop a ranking chart for all the lifestyle modifications, supplements, and therapies used for HIV infection management outside of antiretroviral medications. There will be three factors in the system:

• Intended Effect: This is more a categorization than a ranking. Is the action intended to ameliorate a particular medication side effect, such as lipodystrophy? Is it supposed to enhance overall immune function? Etc.
• Evidence of Efficacy: What evidence is there for the efficacy of the action in managing HIV infection or medication side effects? Is it:
  • Demonstrated effective
  • Likely effective
  • Theoretical – Untested
  • Likely ineffective
  • Demonstrated ineffective

  Acceptable evidence consists of publications presented in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Product manufacturer claims, anecdotes, testimonials, and the like are not acceptable evidence.

• Cost: Once efficacy evidence rankings are complete, the approximate cost of the action will be added to rank from low to high cost within each level of efficacy. Cost is a factor for most of us, and may be a deciding factor between two Demonstrated Effective options which have similar effects.

As a user of this site, I only ask three things of you:

Be constructive. If you disagree with a statement, or if you see an error, please speak up, and provide research which backs up your point of view. I’m still building knowledge as well, and hope to refine each section continuously with the best available information. I don’t know everything, nor do I claim to . . . I only know what’s working for me and what the studies say.

Don’t believe anything I tell you. This site isn’t about my opinions; where I express an opinion, it will be stated as such. Rather, believe what the research says.

Don’t take as gospel truth what your doctor tells you, or what the CDC tells you, or what any of the HIV-oriented mass market publications tell you. The truth is in the research, not the spin. XYZ Magazine is not JAIDS any more than The National Enquirer is The Wall Street Journal.