By Rachel Stockton
A veritable “powerhouse” is the term Dr. Jon Kaiser uses to describe the mitochondrion of the human cell; it is here where the rubber meets the road, when it comes to immune system function.
And Dr. Kaiser should know. Currently on the staff at the University of California San Francisco Medical School, he has been actively involved in cutting edge research on the correlative relationship between specific micronutrients and the ability of the human body to heal itself.
Nutrition and the Immune System
Since 1968, the medical community has become increasingly aware of the correlative relationship between nutrition and the body’s immune system, particularly with regards to infectious disease and all of the complications therein.
It was at this point in time when medical research discovered that in direct (and sometimes indirect) response to our environments, both physical and emotional, our bodies are adept at turning against us in protest, whether through infectious disease, cancer or a variety of other ailments. These untoward conditions are a result of our bodies’ determination to rapaciously destroy themselves.
Just a little over a decade after this initial research became mainstream, an unforeseen public health menace appeared on the horizon of American consciousness: the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Worldwide Public Health Enemy #1
By the end of 2001, the World Health Organization estimated that 40 million people worldwide were living with either HIV or full-blown AIDS. Since 1981, WHO estimates that over 20 million people have perished from the complications of AIDS.
Initially, doctors slowed down the progression of the virus by preventing its replication through various anti-viral drugs administered one at a time. Over time, however, the virus began adapting, resulting in frustrating and terrifying immunity against these drugs.
The ball was in the court of researchers at this point, and doctors discovered that by rotating three different types of drugs in high doses, the virus is “tricked” into submission. This therapeutic treatment is referred to as “highly active antiretroviral therapy”, or HAART.
Nutritional Supplementation and HAART
In 2004, the New England Journal of Medicine reported on research that discovered that therapeutic doses of anti-oxidants, specifically vitamins A, B, C and E, assisted in improving the quality of life in AIDS patients. This nutritional cocktail began to reduce the imbalance created by oxidative stress within the cells, providing a powerful adjuvant therapy to HAART, according to Dr. Kaiser.
Dr. Kaiser’s team of researchers took this anti-oxidant research several quantum leaps further. By creating a supplement containing 33 micronutrients, including three amino acids (acetyl-L-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, and N-acetyl-cysteine), patients were becoming stronger, faster.
Specifically, his research showed that HAART patients given this type of supplementation improved significantly over those given a placebo, according to the Journal of AIDS (2006).
Beyond the World of HIV
Certainly, necessity is the mother of invention, as the adage goes; many times knowledge that results from an intense effort to thwart a health crisis can be appropriately applied in other medical contexts.
And so it is with micro-nutrition. Dr. Kaiser’s research is momentous not only for AIDS patients, however. In the next article in this series, Food Consumer will present Dr. Kaiser’s interpretation of his research, and what it means to the health and well being of the general population.
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