Bio: Cell Biology - HIV and AIDS, how I feel about the western approach to this, thoughts on PreP and can TCM strenghten our immune systems?
Western approaches to HIV/AIDS
I was saddened to read about not having gotten very far with treating HIV/AIDS in the west, and how intensive the HAART treatment that HIV-infected individuals must undergo, including a cocktail of antiretroviral drugs. Unforunately, this seems to be the best way to keep viral load down, for the moment. Yet I was really happy to read this amazing story about the "Berlin patient". I think his case was very lucky and unique, and that perhaps the approach of doing bone marrow transplants might not work for everyone, but the fact that it worked for him means that something out there works. Now I'm wondering if individualized treatment will be the way to go in the future for treating/curing HIV.
Thoughts on PreP
I was also pretty ignorant about PreP. I think the use of PreP is pretty complicated - the crux of the matter being that you are asking healthy people who could potentially get sick to take this pill everyday and with the risk of side effects affecting multiple systems. Some of the side effects were especially concerning, such as kidney failure. I think more and more people are concerned with not having to take pharmaceuticals and not having to tax our bodies with drugs. One person who was quoted in an article on PreP said that if taking this pill meant burdening his liver, then they weren't interested. I think that's fair. At the same time, HIV can be effectively prevented with this pill and asking someone to take a pill daily and maybe get side effects is still a better situation than being infected by HIV and undergo treatment for life or develop into AIDS. So what does one do?
I don't know what it's like to be in this position, but for sure PreP is a good idea for those whose partners are HIV+, because clearly the risk of getting infected is high. I think past that it's arguable as to what an individual feels is the risk vs. the benefit.
Another issue is the stigma surrounding use of PreP. It was very interesting to read how different demographs viewed use of PreP, with white men having at least a Bachelor's degree associating it with promiscuity, whereas men of color age 50 or older with less than a Bachelor's degree associated using PreP with lying about one's HIV status.
If these stigmas are preventing people from using PreP who would really benefit, and those people are well aware of the potential side effects, then I think public health could focus on creating a more sex positive environment in general with more specific messages that help people know that PreP is not a cover for being HIV+, nor is it an indicator of promiscuity in and of itself. It seems to me that these messages, and making the drug accessible would improve our community.
Can TCM Strengthen Immunity?
Yes, I am certain that it can boost our immune systems, but that it may not be enough for those who are very immunocompromised whether that be from cancer, AIDS, or something else that generally requires western medicine to step in. I'm a proponent of integrative medicine, I don't know where on this spectrum exactly, but I do feel that TCM can be really impactful in helping an individual cope with chemo side effects, or complications with HAART therapy.
It's a personal decision we should all be entitled to make whether we want to go through intensive therapies that western medicine offers, but I'd like to think that acupuncturists are all on board with supplementing those therapies with herbs, acupuncture, qi gong...
In terms of what it looks like to boost immunity, from a TCM perspective, I would think that has several meanings. The Taiyang channel comes to mind, as it is first invaded by exterior pathogenic factors, the Lung comes to mind as it contracts exterior wind and this pathogen works its way inwards, but basically afflicts the Lung first. I also think of the Kidneys and the Source Qi which arises from them, helping our immunity. In fact, the complex of Qi that is like our immunity is Zheng Qi - it's also called 'Upright Qi', and this is Source Qi plus Nutritive (Ying) and Defensive (Wei) qi.
When we get a fever, it's our Zheng Qi 'fighting' with the pathogenic (Xie) qi.
So I see a few areas of tonifying or harmonizing that I think would help one's immunity - but of course it depends on their individual presentation. TCM is awesome for so many reasons, one of those reasons, to me, is that influencing health has everything to do with the person, rather than a prescription. It's not about a set of points or a set of herbs as some universal standard which would work for everyone, it's about engaging with an individual to see what their personal needs are. I guess it also happens to be true that just about everyone could use ST 36 ;P !
I was saddened to read about not having gotten very far with treating HIV/AIDS in the west, and how intensive the HAART treatment that HIV-infected individuals must undergo, including a cocktail of antiretroviral drugs. Unforunately, this seems to be the best way to keep viral load down, for the moment. Yet I was really happy to read this amazing story about the "Berlin patient". I think his case was very lucky and unique, and that perhaps the approach of doing bone marrow transplants might not work for everyone, but the fact that it worked for him means that something out there works. Now I'm wondering if individualized treatment will be the way to go in the future for treating/curing HIV.
Thoughts on PreP
I was also pretty ignorant about PreP. I think the use of PreP is pretty complicated - the crux of the matter being that you are asking healthy people who could potentially get sick to take this pill everyday and with the risk of side effects affecting multiple systems. Some of the side effects were especially concerning, such as kidney failure. I think more and more people are concerned with not having to take pharmaceuticals and not having to tax our bodies with drugs. One person who was quoted in an article on PreP said that if taking this pill meant burdening his liver, then they weren't interested. I think that's fair. At the same time, HIV can be effectively prevented with this pill and asking someone to take a pill daily and maybe get side effects is still a better situation than being infected by HIV and undergo treatment for life or develop into AIDS. So what does one do?
I don't know what it's like to be in this position, but for sure PreP is a good idea for those whose partners are HIV+, because clearly the risk of getting infected is high. I think past that it's arguable as to what an individual feels is the risk vs. the benefit.
Another issue is the stigma surrounding use of PreP. It was very interesting to read how different demographs viewed use of PreP, with white men having at least a Bachelor's degree associating it with promiscuity, whereas men of color age 50 or older with less than a Bachelor's degree associated using PreP with lying about one's HIV status.
If these stigmas are preventing people from using PreP who would really benefit, and those people are well aware of the potential side effects, then I think public health could focus on creating a more sex positive environment in general with more specific messages that help people know that PreP is not a cover for being HIV+, nor is it an indicator of promiscuity in and of itself. It seems to me that these messages, and making the drug accessible would improve our community.
Can TCM Strengthen Immunity?
Yes, I am certain that it can boost our immune systems, but that it may not be enough for those who are very immunocompromised whether that be from cancer, AIDS, or something else that generally requires western medicine to step in. I'm a proponent of integrative medicine, I don't know where on this spectrum exactly, but I do feel that TCM can be really impactful in helping an individual cope with chemo side effects, or complications with HAART therapy.
It's a personal decision we should all be entitled to make whether we want to go through intensive therapies that western medicine offers, but I'd like to think that acupuncturists are all on board with supplementing those therapies with herbs, acupuncture, qi gong...
In terms of what it looks like to boost immunity, from a TCM perspective, I would think that has several meanings. The Taiyang channel comes to mind, as it is first invaded by exterior pathogenic factors, the Lung comes to mind as it contracts exterior wind and this pathogen works its way inwards, but basically afflicts the Lung first. I also think of the Kidneys and the Source Qi which arises from them, helping our immunity. In fact, the complex of Qi that is like our immunity is Zheng Qi - it's also called 'Upright Qi', and this is Source Qi plus Nutritive (Ying) and Defensive (Wei) qi.
When we get a fever, it's our Zheng Qi 'fighting' with the pathogenic (Xie) qi.
So I see a few areas of tonifying or harmonizing that I think would help one's immunity - but of course it depends on their individual presentation. TCM is awesome for so many reasons, one of those reasons, to me, is that influencing health has everything to do with the person, rather than a prescription. It's not about a set of points or a set of herbs as some universal standard which would work for everyone, it's about engaging with an individual to see what their personal needs are. I guess it also happens to be true that just about everyone could use ST 36 ;P !
I love your reflections on what TCM herbs and practices might be helpful for treating HIV & AIDS! Inspiring. And I agree with you that one public health angle that could be really helpful is around sex positivity- I actually think that if there was a significant cultural shift around healing from shame around sexuality we might see lower rates of all sorts of STIs, as well as hopefully a decrease in sexual abuse if people were able to talk more openly about creating a healthy sexuality, rather than passing on cycles of abuse that are unresolved and having un-consentual experiences. I really appreciate your use of photos as well! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDelete