Week Eight---HIV and AIDS ....

How do you feel about western approaches to HIV/AIDS? ....To me, it seems Western medicine has an adequate understanding of the HIV lifecycle, however, it is very limited in treatment and prevention options because the virus is actually quite intelligent---it directly attacks the immune system, taking our helper T cells hostage, it tends towards latency, hiding in our genome, and when it does reproduce, it does so recklessly, thus spawning mutant variations of the virus. HAART, while this course of treatment does have many side effects, it does help many people extend their lives. Vaccination as a real means of HIV prevention is not an option at this time---social change, however, is within our means. HIV/AIDS is an epidemic. A pandemic. We know how the virus is transmitted, and we have educated people about these facts, but unfortunately, these facts are often pre-packaged, and not culturally specific. We can teach young women in sub-Saharan Africa to say 'no' to unwanted sexual advances, but does her culture give her the permission to say 'no'? Many women marry when they are young girls, and often to older men who have had many sexual partners---many HIV infected women contracted the virus from their husbands. Navigating cultural norms that are different from our own is a delicate process---to be effective, we must not judge. And we must not judge those who have been stricken with HIV/AIDS. In addition to general education about HIV/AIDS that is culturally specific, I feel that we must also work towards erradicating the social stigma that also affects those who are affected with the virus. Is HIV/AIDS not a ravishing disease that destroys lives like any other disease? In working to heighten awareness of the disease, we have also created panic. People are scared of HIV/AIDS, but with certain precautions, it is actually not that easy to transmit/contract. Think of the polio epidemic in this country---polio was at an all time high at a time when there was mass immigration, and the epidemic was blamed on the "dirty immigrants" whose customs seemed strange. But in fact, polio is a disease of CLEANLINESS. It's route of transmission is fecal-oral, and many contract the disease as babies---funny thing about polio, if you contract it as an infant, you are more likely to fight it off and gain immunity ....if you contract the infection at an older age, its disease is much more severe, often crippling its victims. People were trying to protect themselves from polio infection through excessive cleanliness, but in actuality, they were making themselves more susceptible ...and for a long time, even with this knowledge, people were still happy to ignorantly blame those who had recently immigrated to the country. What am I trying to say?---Medically, HIV/AIDS is challenging, both to treat and prevent; but through sensitive social change, we can both prevent the disease and offer better treatment to those who are infected by working towards eradicating the social stigma that one contracts along with the virus.

Can TCM strengthen our immune systems? ....In thinking about HIV/AIDS and the mechanisms involved in the disease---how we don't really understand why the immune system ceases to fight the infection---it makes me wonder if the immune system just gets 'tired'. That perhaps our lifespan is directly correlated with the strength of our immune system, but that our immune system has a set point at which it has been 'used-up'. This would be our constitution. Even though our constitution is believed to be pre-determined by our pre-natal essence, it does not mean that we can not work with what we are given. By supporting our immune system, we can strengthen our constitution and keep it at peak function---every well-used machine is going to need maintenance. (Ah, but we are more than machines!) By clearing disharmonies in the body through various modalities---such as acupuncture, herbs or lifestyle changes---we are supporting our immune systems. Going back to HIV/AIDS, I think that using TCM to support the body in its attempts to manage the infection could strengthen the immune system, thus improving quality of life as symptoms of the disease would be less severe.

What do you think of "the deal that saved the whale?" ...I think it is a model idea. Not only does this plan have tremendous foresight for long-term environmental concerns, it is also meant to provide sustenance for the native people who populate this region. There are so few natural habitats on this planet untouched by human hands ....human hands can meddle, but they can also protect.